European researchers have unveiled a new brain peptide that may play a role in Alzheimer’s disease.
The peptide has been named eta-amyloid – and its discoverers say it plays a complementary role to beta amyloid.
While the beta peptide makes neurons hyperactive, the newly-discovered eta peptide antagonises this effect, the researchers reported in Nature last night.
The findings could have major implications for the search for therapies as these tend to be targeted at beta-amyloids, the researchers say.
Researcher Professor Christian Hass, of the Technical University of Munich, Germany, said: “The processing pathway that produces it has been overlooked for 30 years.
"This is because investigators including myself have focused their attention on elucidating the origins of the beta-amyloid and on attempts to cure Alzheimer’s by inhibiting production of this peptide.”
Professor Hass said treatments aimed at blocking the enzyme, beta-secretase, could massively increase the amount of eta-amyloid.
He said: “This could result in attenuation of neuronal activity and might therefore compromise brain function."
Secretase processing of APP inhibits neuronal activity in the hippocampus Nature 31 August 2015; doi: 10.1038/nature14864 [abstract]
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