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In a surprising discovery, researchers at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology have found that a cellular system tasked with disposing of toxic proteins—crucial in preventing Alzheimer’s disease—may actually be helping the disease spread across the brain.
The study, led by Professor Michael Glickman, dean of the Technion’s Faculty of Biology, and postdoctoral researcher Dr. Ajay Wagh, reveals that, instead of breaking down defective proteins inside the cell, neurons may be pushing this “trash” into surrounding brain tissue. Their findings were published recently in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
At the heart of the discovery is a mutated version of the protein ubiquitin, called UBB+1. While healthy ubiquitin helps cells identify and eliminate damaged proteins, UBB+1 disrupts this process and leads to toxic buildup, which is one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease.