by hubie on (#5YE3T)
upstart writes:mRNA quality control identified as novel drug target for Alzheimer's and related dementias:Alzheimer's disease and similar disorders are often marked by the presence of pathological forms of proteins that cause neurons to die. Besides the amyloid beta proteins, which have received a lot of attention, there are also the tau proteins. Researchers from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio discovered a new mechanism whereby pathological forms of tau proteins cause cell death, which they believe can be treated with drugs.These proteins are created from messenger RNA (mRNA) that carry nonsense mutations. Clearing out these aberrant mRNAs occurs through a process called nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD). The researchers noticed that pathological tau protein buildup was associated with disruptions in the NMD process. Instead of trying to figure out how to clear out the proteins, they think they can attack the cause of the NMD disruptions.