Disease Database Drug Database Alt. A newly identified protein that may be essential to early development and maintenance of the brain and other cells may also contribute to Alzheimer's disease late in life. The protein, which St. George-Hyslop and fellow researchers named nicastrin, binds itself to another protein, called presenilin, which is suspected of triggering the formation of deadly plaques, or buildups, in brain cells, causing Alzheimer's . Nicastrin may also play a role in early fetal development by helping to determine how cells specialize into many forms, such as muscle, skin and brain cells.
Proteins typically have very specific functions, such as proteins that act as enzymes or hormones.
Many simply cut or assemble other proteins into larger structures, and nicastrin may play that role with presenilin, researchers say. In an accompanying commentary on the Canadian research, Dale Schenk of Elan Pharmaceuticals in San Francisco said the study could help lead to a new drug to slow or halt the progression of Alzheimer's . The DNA in every living cell is coded to create amino acids that are linked together in chains called proteins. The more complex the protein, generally the larger the chain is. St. George-Hyslop and his group purified the presenilin protein and found two types of other proteins that bound themselves to presenilin and made it larger.