Repurposed drugs prevent neurodegeneration in mice in breakthrough study

A team of MRC scientists have identified two repurposed drugs that block a translational repression pathway that has previously been linked to neurodegeneration. In the study, published in Brain, the anticancer and antidepressant drugs prevented neurodegeneration and caused minimal side effects in mice; findings that have been described as “extremely exciting”. In 2013, MRC researchers demonstrated that the accumulation of misfolded proteins in mice with prion disease over-activates an intrinsic defense pathway, leading to an inhibition of the production of vital proteins in brain cells. They found that ‘switching’ protein production back on with an experimental new drug halted neurodegeneration;...