REST and stress resistance in ageing and Alzheimer's disease.

Lu T, Aron L, Zullo J, Pan Y, Kim H, Chen Y, Yang T-H, Kim H-M, Drake D, X Liu S, et al.
Nature. 2014 Mar 27; 507(7493):448-54. PMID: 24670762. Abstract
Top50 Topics: 
Amyloid beta, Oxidative stress

Comments

The authors demonstrate that a protein called repressor element 1 silencing transcription factor (REST), which is normally expressed at low levels in the neurons of young human brains, is profoundly elevated in aged brains. 

The paper I selected deserves considerable interest because it addresses its full attention, not on neurodegenerative aspects, but on those of neuroprotection. Alzheimer’s disease, in addition to be the most common cause of dementia, is today a pathology with no cure; to turn, then, the scientific research on neuronal protection, acting upstream of the pathology, may be more productive to implement possible therapeutic strategies.