Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, type 2 diabetes similar at molecular level

Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, type 2 diabetes, the human version of mad cow disease, and other degenerative diseases are more closely related at the molecular level than scientists realized, a team reports this week in an advanced online publication of the journal Nature. The researchers studied the harmful rope-like structures known as amyloid fibrils--linked protein molecules that form in the brain. The fibrils contain a stack of water-tight "molecular zippers." "With each disease, a different protein transforms into amyloid fibrils, but all of these diseases are similar at the molecular level," Eisenberg said. If the molecular zipper is universal in amyloid fibrils, as Eisenberg believes, is it possible to pry open the zipper or prevent its formation? Eisenberg's research team used X-ray analysis and a sophisticated computer algorithm to study proteins known to be associated with human diseases. When the computer said a protein will form an amyloid fibril, it almost always did. And one team member is experimenting with various compounds to break up the fibrils.... Whole article "PhysOrg":[ www.physorg.com]

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