Rockefeller University Researchers Identify Compound That Could Treat Alzheimer's
Researchers at Rockefeller University’s Sidney Strickland’s Laboratory of Neurobiology and Genetics have announced the identification of a compound that could eventually be developed into an Alzheimer’s drug. The compound, RU-505, has shown the ability to stop the amyloid-β protein from being able to bind to a clotting agent in the blood, causing the memory loss and other symptoms that affect Alzheimer’s disease patients.
Hyung Jin Ahn, a lab research associate, commented on the results of the study. “We tested RU-505 in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease that over-express amyloid-β and have a relatively early onset of disease. Because Alzheimer’s disease is a long-term, progressive disease, these treatments lasted for three months,” Ahn says. “Afterward, we found evidence of improvement both at the cellular and the behavioral levels.”
The research team studied 93,716 different candidates from various compound libraries, but RU-505 proved to be the most effective at interfering with the interaction between fibrinogen and amyloid-β. The Rockefeller University High Throughput Resource Center was used for the automated screening process. RU-505’s ability to bind to amyloid-β and prevent abnormal blood clots in the brain made it an attractive compound.
Sidney Strickland, the lead researcher on the project, commented on the study results. “Our experiments in test tubes and in mouse models of Alzheimer’s showed the compound, known as RU-505, helped restore normal clotting and cerebral blood flow. But the big pay-off came with behavioral tests in which the Alzheimer’s mice treated with RU-505 exhibited better memories than their untreated counterparts,” Strickland said. “These results suggest we have found a new strategy with which to treat Alzheimer’s disease.”