A team of Japanese researchers has identified how proteins collect abnormally in neurons which is a feature of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.
Diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) are known to be accompanied by an abnormal build-up of proteins in neurons.
However, the trigger behind this accumulation remains unknown, according to the study that appeared in the journal eLife.
The team, led by Associate Professor Kanae Ando of Tokyo Metropolitan University, focused on the presence of mitochondria in axons, the long tendril-like appendages that stretch out of neurons and form the necessary connections that allow signals to be transmitted inside our brains.