Discovery may ease degenerative illnesses

SANTA BARBARA, Calif., Jul 12, 2005 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- A recent discovery in the cellular processes of Alzheimer's disease and other degenerative illnesses might lead to the development of new drugs.

The discovery was reported by Ratnesh Lal, a scientist in the Neuroscience Research Institute at the University of California-Santa Barbara,

His research describes a new way of understanding brain cell degeneration in patients with Alzheimer's, Huntington's, and Parkinson's diseases, as well as other degenerative illnesses.

Lal and co-researchers said misfolded proteins in the cell membrane, and subsequent changes in the electrical properties of cells, provide the explanation for the degeneration.

"It has long been thought amyloid plaque, which has been studied for 30 years, was the cause of Alzheimer's disease," said Lal. "Plaque isn't the cause."

He said plaque fibers are too large to directly affect small cells and the answers might come from small globs of misshapen, misfolded proteins that make well-defined holes in cell membranes and disrupt their electrical activity.

The research appears in the current online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.