In most of these illness, scientists have recognized the proteins that aggregate, permitting them to target these proteins for diagnostic tests and treatments.But, in around 10% of cases of frontotemporal dementia, researchers had yet to determine the rogue protein.” Now that we have actually identified the essential protein and its structure, we can begin to target it for the diagnosis and therapy of this type of frontotemporal dementia, similar to methods already in the pipeline for targeting the aggregates of amyloid-beta and tau proteins that define Alzheimers disease. The donated brains were identified by Tammaryn Lashley at the University College London Queen Square Institute of Neurology and Bernardino Ghetti at the Indiana University School of Medicine.In this type of dementia, scientists had long thought that a protein called FUS aggregated, based on similarities with other neurodegenerative diseases.Using cryo-EM, the researchers at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology were able to identify that the protein aggregates from each brain had the very same atomic structure.
In most of these diseases, scientists have actually determined the proteins that aggregate, permitting them to target these proteins for diagnostic tests and treatments.But, in around 10% of cases of frontotemporal dementia, researchers had yet to identify the rogue protein.” Now that we have identified the crucial protein and its structure, we can begin to target it for the diagnosis and treatment of this type of frontotemporal dementia, comparable to methods already in the pipeline for targeting the aggregates of amyloid-beta and tau proteins that identify Alzheimers disease. The donated brains were recognized by Tammaryn Lashley at the University College London Queen Square Institute of Neurology and Bernardino Ghetti at the Indiana University School of Medicine.In this type of dementia, scientists had long idea that a protein called FUS aggregated, based on similarities with other neurodegenerative diseases.Using cryo-EM, the scientists at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology were able to identify that the protein aggregates from each brain had the very same atomic structure. Now that we know the essential protein and its structure, we have the possible to establish tools to screen for these abnormal protein aggregates in hundreds of client samples to evaluate how widespread they are.