Selectively Removing Mutant Proteins by Binding them to Autophagy Components

Researchers here demonstrate a proof of principle for an interesting approach to tackling the aggregation of damaged, altered, or misfolded proteins that is a feature of most neurodegenerative conditions. They target the mutant huntingtin protein, which is probably an easier task than targeting, say, a misfolded protein with a normal sequence. The basic idea is to deploy a linking molecule that binds to the problem protein with high specificity, and also binds to an essential component of autophagy - in this case LC3B, involved in the generation of autophagosomes responsible for carrying materials to lysosomes. This ensures that the whole linked set of molecules is dragged into an autophagosome and transported to a lysosome where it is broken down and recycled. Several neurodegenerative diseases involve the slow accumulation of a misfolded protein in neurons over many years. The proteins involved in these diseases might differ, but the result is similar - eventually, the neurons die from the build-up of toxic misfolded proteins. Scientists have long been searching for ways to reduce the levels of the disease-driving proteins without also clearing their wild-type counterparts, which typically have myriad crucial functions. Researcher snow show that this can be accomplished using compounds that interact specifically with both the misfolded part of the protein and the neuron's protein-clearance machinery. The researchers chose to focus on Huntington's disease, wh...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs