Discovery of Natural Protection Against Alzheimer’s Disease

An international team of scientists from Washington University in St. Louis and the University of California has discovered a new RNA molecule that helps the brain defend itself against the destructive consequences of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s, and other neurodegenerative conditions. The research was published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry (MP). This discovery revolves around the long non-coding RNA FAM151B-DT, levels of which significantly decrease in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal dementia, and other pathologies. Scientists found that this RNA is involved in regulating the ‘protein balance,’ aiding cells in removing defective tau and α-synuclein proteins, whose accumulation leads to neuron death.