CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Researchers report that they are the first to show in molecular detail how one gene evolved two competing functions that eventually split up — via gene duplication — to pursue their separate destinies.
The study, in th…
Opening a new front in the battle against Alzheimer’s disease, scientists at the University of Pennsylvania have found that a protein long associated with the disease inflicts grave damage in a previously unimagined way: It seals off mitochondria in affected neurons, resulting in an “energy crisis” and buildup of toxins that causes cells to die. This pathway, the first specific biochemical explanation for pathologies associated with Alzheimer’s, is detailed in the April 14 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology.