How does TDP-43 bog up the brains of ALS, FTLD patients? AC Immune enlists Penn scientists to find out
AC Immune, the Swiss biotech known for its tau approach to Alzheimer’s, is shining light on another misfolding protein believed to be responsible for other neurodegenerative diseases in a new research pact with the University of Pennsylvania.
The transactive response (TAR) DNA binding protein, or TDP-43 in short, is found in most human tissues but its misfolded form was identified in 2006 as a common pathologic substance linking frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Researchers have since suggested that when in the wrong shape, the protein activates the “cell autophagy gene” ATG7, which prompts neurons to decompose.
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