Scientists have developed a new technique that could eventually lead to new potential treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. As a “target,” the scientists took a protein, or rather its specific form, called p38. When p38 undergoes a modification process called phosphorylation, it is converted to the active form of the protein known as p-p38.
After screening a number of compounds that could target p-p38, the team identified one called PRZ-18002 that was effective at not only blocking the protein but also destroying it.
In tests in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease, the team found that PRZ-18002 successfully downregulated the p38 pathway. This improved the animals’ cognitive abilities, such as spatial reasoning, and reduced disease-related brain chemistry, such as amyloid-beta plaque deposition.
Of course, results in mice are not always passed on to humans, and this method, like its predecessors, can fail in clinical trials. But the main thing is that the process has begun.
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Source: Ferra
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