Benjamin Miller, Ph.D., and Itender Singh, Ph.D.
Researchers have taken another crack at a promising approach to stopping Alzheimer's disease that encountered a major hurdle
last year. In research published this week in the ,
scientists have developed a compound that targets a molecular actor known as RAGE,
which plays a central role in mucking up the brain tissue of people with the disease.
Scientists at the Â鶹ÊÓƵ and the University of Southern California synthesized a compound that stops
RAGE in mice - reversing amyloid deposits, restoring healthy blood flow in the
brain, squelching inflammation, and making old, sick mice smarter. But the scientists caution that the work has a long way to go before it's
considered as a possible treatment in people.
In the latest work, Zlokovic and colleagues screened thousands of compounds for
anti-RAGE activity and identified three that seemed promising. Then the team turned
to chemists , and graduate student Nathan Ross. The pair analyzed the compounds' molecular
structures, then used that knowledge to create dozens of candidates likely to have activity against RAGE.