RESEARCHERS at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute have discovered a set of brain proteins believed to be responsible for some of the most common and devastating brain diseases.
The proteins are believed to underlie epilepsy, depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disease, mental retardation and neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s diseases.
Researchers at the institute say the proteins are important to so many diseases because they are at the heart of how brain cells function.
The scientists involved in the study developed a method which allowed them to find whole sets of proteins which bind to each other and form microscopic molecular machines.
The study hoped to find the nerve cell engine room known to be inside the connections between nerve cells called synapses. These synapses are believed to be where learning, memory and other behaviours are controlled.
The researchers claim not only did they find disease proteins within the molecular machines but also proteins which control the communication between nerve cells and the mechanisms of learning and memory.
The study is hoped to be a key step toward new ways to fight mental illness.
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