ETH facilitates more targeted research into Alzheimer’s disease

It is only over the past few years that scientists have discovered that what are known as non-membrane-bound organelles play a hugely important role in organizing cellular processes. Non-membrane-bound organelles are “tiny droplets formed in a self-organized process that resembles the separation of oil droplets in water”, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH) explains in a press release. According to the ETH, there is now a great deal of evidence to suggest that these non-membrane-bound organelles may be involved in the development of some 40 neurodegenerative diseases – including Alzheimer’s disease, Huntingdon’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) – in other words, in diseases which are currently incurable.

Against this background, researchers at the ETH have now examined the principle underpinning the formation of non-membrane-bound organelles and how this process is regulated. Their findings indicated, among other things, that what are known as DEAD-Box-ATPases are tasked with ensuring that the organelles are kept in a fluid state. This prevents the formation of dangerous aggregates in the cells that trigger neurodegenerative diseases. The ETH findings should now facilitate more targeted research as to how neurodegenerative diseases develop. The research group itself will also be participating in this process.