This is how protein aggregates can trigger neurodegenerative diseases

It’s quite obvious that they are involved. The latest findings show one possible way.

Neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by the deposition of clumped proteins in the brain and progressive neuronal cell death. Although the causal link between protein aggregates and neurodegeneration is clear, it is still unclear in what way misfolded proteins trigger cell death. A team headed by Professor Jörg Tatzelt, head of the Department of Biochemistry of Neurodegenerative Diseases at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, showed that misfolded prion proteins can inactivate the TDP-43 protein. TDP-43 is essential for maintaining protein balance in all cell types, especially in nerve cells. ...