Alzheimer's disease linked to mitochondrial damage
Thursday, April 2, 2009 - 13:35
in Health & Medicine
Investigators at Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham) have demonstrated that attacks on the mitochondrial protein Drp1 by the free radical nitric oxide -which causes a chemical reaction called S-nitrosylation -mediates neurodegeneration associated with Alzheimer's disease. Prior to this study, the mechanism by which beta-amyloid protein caused synaptic damage to neurons in Alzheimer's disease was unknown. These findings suggest that preventing S-nitrosylation of Drp1 may reduce or even prevent neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's patients. The paper was published in the April 3 issue of the journal Science.