Imagine you are a research scientist studying Alzheimer\'s disease (AD). which i
ID: 15577 • Letter: I
Question
Imagine you are a research scientist studying Alzheimer's disease (AD). which is believed by some to be caused by (he aggregation and accumulation of misfolded beta-amyloid protein outside of brain neurons, leading to the death of these neurons. The result is the formation of beta-amyloid plaques. ( As a side note, there are also scientists who believe the beta-amyloid plaques are the result, rather than the cause. of the defect which causes AO.) Think of at least two potential cellular processes which may have gone awry, thus leading to the production of the misfolded hela-amvloid protein in the brain. The idea is to come up with your own theories, so please do not look up actual Al) research findings on the internet!Explanation / Answer
Two cellular processes which may go awry and lead to misfolded proteins: Brainstorm 1: RNA has a short half-life--less than half an hour. Maybe in AD the mechanism for recycling the RNA has gone awry and the RNA continues producing longer than it should. Brainstorm 2: As we age our brains begin to utilize alternate energy sources, namely ketones. It seems plausible that reduced, but not drastically reduced, insulin response could ultimately lead to damage by ketones, particularly in the brain--where we have not evolved to handle ketones as well. Ketones are quite acidic and they interfere with oxygen delivery, which would obviously lead to even more shortage of ATP. In the brain, this cycle could get out of control much quicker than in most of the rest of the body (due to the large energy requirements of the brain...) Back to the more direct answer--protein folding will not be correct without perfect ph. The process depends on hydrogen bonding. Where acidity and oxygen deprivation exist, protein folding errors occur.
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