The therapeutic response to aging-related diseases may be within reach of researchers. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the start-up TyrNovo indicate that they have taken an important step in the treatment of Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and even Parkinson’s. Their hope rests in a barbaric name, NT219. This compound could inhibit the aging process in order to protect the brain from neurodegenerative diseases, without affecting the lifespan of the patient.
The Israeli team started from the observation that these three pathologies (Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s) have in common that they are triggered by the accumulation of toxic proteins in the brain from an advanced age. This aggregation results in a deregulation of the aging process which disrupts the brain’s protective mechanisms, making it vulnerable to disease.
The researchers therefore tested NT219 on worms and human cells in the laboratory. This compound has been successful in preventing the abnormal formation of protein blocks.
In the scientific journal Aging cell, the researchers explain that this opens a way to treat neurodegenerative diseases, for which no curative treatment exists.
Research is progressing on these pathologies linked to aging. Recently, Americans announced that they had successfully experimented with an anticancer drug in mice with Alzheimer’s disease.
But for this American study as for that of Israeli researchers, none has yet succeeded in passing the stage of the clinical trial.
