{"id":78845,"date":"2018-05-02T14:53:53","date_gmt":"2018-05-03T00:53:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=78845"},"modified":"2020-03-05T15:05:06","modified_gmt":"2020-03-06T01:05:06","slug":"new-approach-to-potentially-stop-alzheimers-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2018\/05\/02\/new-approach-to-potentially-stop-alzheimers-disease\/","title":{"rendered":"New approach to potentially stop Alzheimer\u2019s disease discovered by UH<\/abbr> scientists"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> < 1<\/span> minute<\/span><\/span>
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Robert Nichols in his laboratory at the John A. Burns School of Medicine. (Photo courtesy of JABSOM<\/abbr>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Robert Nichols<\/strong><\/a> at the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa\u2019s John A. Burns School of Medicine<\/a> (JABSOM<\/abbr>) and collaborators may have discovered a potential new way to combat the destructive effects of Alzheimer\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n

They observed that applying a smaller, non-toxic fragment taken from an already microscopic protein fragment called a “beta amyloid” peptide, or compound consisting of two or more amino acids linked in a chain, can actually protect the nerve cells and restore normal memory processing.<\/p>\n

The discovery was unexpected, because high levels of the beta amyloid peptide, in its larger form, are associated with developing Alzheimer\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n

“We believe this is an exciting, new approach, because we are trying to modulate how amyloid is actually acting and causing toxicity in the brain rather than simply lowering it,” Nichols said. “So we\u2019re delivering this small fragment, but the bonus is that this fragment itself seems to be driving neuroprotection in the brain.”<\/p>\n

Currently, Nichols is working with scientists at the University of Arizona to design and screen compounds based on the peptide fragment for future drug development.<\/p>\n

Alzheimer\u2019s is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S., according to the Alzheimer\u2019s Association. In Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>, the number of people ages 65 and older affected by this disease is expected to rise 25 percent by the year 2025.<\/p>\n

—By Deborah Manog Dimaya<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Robert Nichols and research collaborators observed that applying a smaller, non-toxic fragment taken from an already microscopic protein fragment called a \u201cbeta amyloid\u201d peptide can actually protect the nerve cells and restore normal memory processing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[972,165,31,9],"class_list":["post-78845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-alzheimers-disease","tag-health","tag-john-a-burns-school-of-medicine","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t