New York : A pill that prevents the accumulation of toxic molecules in the brain and can help prevent or delay Alzheimer’s, can be the next target in the fight against the neurocognitive disease, according to US scientists, says IANS.
The findings showed the need to lower the level of tau- a protein involved in the accumulation of toxic molecules that increases the vulnerability of the brain to develop Alzheimer’s.
“Tau is one of those proteins involved in Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. So maybe if we can find drugs that can keep tau at levels that are not toxic for the brain, then we would be able to prevent or delay the development of Alzheimer’s,” said Huda Zoghbi, Professor at the Baylor University in Texas.
Cells control the amount of their proteins with other proteins called enzymes. To find which enzymes affect tau accumulation, the scientists systematically inhibited enzymes called kinases.
They inhibited about 600 kinases one by one and found one, called Nuak1, whose inhibition resulted in reduced levels of tau.
