Body-own substance against Alzheimer's

Body-own substance against Alzheimer's

03/15/2014

An endogenous molecule could strengthen the defense mechanisms against neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's. This has been discovered by researchers from the Max Planck Institute (MPI).

New approach to therapies
As scientists from the Max Planck Institute (MPI) have discovered for biology of aging in Cologne, an endogenous molecule could strengthen the defense mechanisms against neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's. In experiments with roundworms (Caenorhabditis elegans), N-acetylglucosamine dissolved protein clumps and prevented new ones from forming. In addition, feeding the small roundworm with this metabolic product promotes the breakdown of harmful protein aggregates in the body and prolongs the life of the worm. Since the substance also occurs in the human body, it could be a new approach for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, as the German researchers in the journal „Cell“ to report.

No effective therapies for Alzheimer's and Co.
The number of Alzheimer's patients is steadily increasing in our aging society. In this disease, nerve cells die and the brain can no longer perform many functions. This process is called neurodegeneration. Proteins tend to aggregate during aging in the human body, altering their structure, so to speak „sticky“ and „get lumpy“. This protein aggregation becomes harmful at some point and overloads the cell so that it can no longer function normally. But not only Alzheimer's disease, but also Parkinson's disease or Huntington's disease arise through the aggregation of proteins. So far there is no effective therapy for these neurodegenerative diseases. Therefore, the researchers of the MPI have gone in search of a substance that can stop the neuron dying.
Amazing effect on three diseases
The small nematode Caenorhabditis elegans was the model organism with which the scientists worked. „We can not measure dementia in worms“, explains Martin Denzel from the MPI, „but we can observe proteins that we know play a damaging role in human diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.“ In their study, the researchers measured their effect on neuromuscular function and discovered an endogenous antagonist for these harmful proteins. The body's own molecule, which showed quite astonishing effects on three different diseases in the experiments, is called N-acetylglucosamine. This substance was fed to diseased worms in the investigations. „We have observed a general effect in studies with C. elegans that relieves the deleterious protein aggregation in Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's disease. And it even extends the lifespan of the worms“, describes one of the study authors, Nadia Storm the results.

Open question whether applicable to humans
This molecule apparently plays a crucial role in quality control, which aims to keep the body healthy, researchers suggest. It helps the organism to reduce the harmful protein aggregates: on the one hand, it prevents them from forming at all, and on the other hand, in some cases already existing aggregates could be eliminated. One consequence of this molecular effect was that delays were delayed in neurodegeneration studies. It is still unclear how exactly the molecule achieves this effect. „And we still do not know if it works for more sophisticated animals and humans“, said Adam Antebi, another participant in the study. „But since we also have these metabolic products in our cells, we suspect that similar mechanisms work in humans.“ Glucosamine, a substance similar to N-acetylglucosamine, is already being used to treat joint problems. However, its effectiveness is controversial. Therefore, it is still an open question whether N-acetylglucosamine can be used to treat dementia or other age-related human diseases. (Ad)

Picture: Angela Parszyk