Researchers Discover New Protein, in Likely Breakthrough Against Alzheimer’s Disease

Researchers in the United States have identified a new gene and associated protein in a groundbreaking discovery that may help slow down the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

The research team, led by associate professor Xinlong Wang and professor Xiaofeng Zhu of the Case Western University School of Medicine, found that reducing the levels of the newly-discovered ‘aggregatin’ protein could potentially be therapeutic.

“Based on the data we have, this protein can be an unrecognized new risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease (AD),” says Wang, an associate professor of pathology. “We also see this as a potential novel therapeutic target for this devastating disease.”

“We’re very excited about this,” adds Zhu, professor of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, “because our study is likely the first systematic work combining the identification from a genome-wide association study of high dimensional brain-imaging data and experimental validation so perfectly in Alzheimer’s disease.”