Ubiquitin gene linked to neurodegeneration:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's may be due to a genetic disorder that allows unwanted proteins to accumulate in neurons, according to researchers at Tokyo's National Neurology and Psychiatry Centre. Mice that are especially susceptible to such diseases lack a gene for the protein ubiquitin, which helps to destroy intracellular waste proteins that would otherwise remain in the cell, according to the study published in the September issue of Nature Genetics.