Protein misfolding is considered to be a primary cause of Alzheimer’s Disease, whereby in a multistep process, proteins misfold and accumulate into large extra- or intracellular aggregates – that may be precursors to toxic mature plaques. Jan Bieschke, from the Max Delbrueck Center for Molecular Medicine (Germany), and colleagues have isolated a red dye derived from lichens that has been used for centuries to color fabrics and food. The team found that the dye – a compound called orcein, and a related substance – known as O4, bind preferentially to small amyloid aggregates that are considered to be toxic and cause neuronal dysfunction and memory impairment in Alzheimer’s disease. The study authors report that: “These results support the hypothesis that small, diffusible prefibrillar amyloid species rather than mature fibrillar aggregates are toxic for mammalian cells.”
Natural Dye Obtained from Lichens May Combat Alzheimer’s Disease
German researchers report that a red dye derived from lichens appears to reduce the abundance of small toxic protein aggregates in Alzheimeru2019s disease.
Jan Bieschke, Martin Herbst, Thomas Wiglenda, Ralf P Friedrich, Annett Boeddrich, et al. “Small-molecule conversion of toxic oligomers to nontoxic beta-sheet–rich amyloid fibrils.” Nature Chemical Biology 8, 93-101, 20 November 2011.
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