𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐀𝐭𝐥𝐚𝐬:
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Researchers have uncovered how a certain molecular pathway triggers the breakdown of nerve fibers in neurodegenerative diseases – and more importantly, how to potentially switch it off. The find could lead to a new class of drugs that slows the progression of these debilitating disorders.
The focus of the study was an enzyme called SARM1, which is expressed in neurons and plays a role as an immune regulator. However, it also functions as a sensor of metabolic stress, and at a certain point it sparks a cascade of processes that eventually begins to break down axons, leading to some of the issues associated with Parkinson’s disease, ALS, neuropathy, and other neurodegenerative diseases.
But exactly what is going on during that process has remained murky, so the researchers on the new study investigated closer using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, cryo-electron microscopy and X-ray crystallography.
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