Alzheimer's, the antibiotic minocycline could protect us from the disease

The antibiotic minocycline could be a valuable ally against age-related neurodegenerative diseases and against the accumulation of proteins such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis . The drug, an antibiotic belonging to the clbad of tetracyclines, is actually able to prevent the accumulation of protein badociated with neurodegeneration (such as beta-amyloid plaques) in laboratory-treated animals. In addition, during the tests, minocycline prolonged the life of worms of the species Caenorhabditis elegans.

To prove the potential and revolutionary properties of minocycline, an authoritative US research team led by Scripps Research Institute researchers, who collaborated with colleagues at the Skaggs Institute of Chemical Biology and the Buck Institute for research on aging. The scientists, coordinated by Professor Gregory Solis, conducted the first of a series of experiments involving various young molecules known to prolong their lives on young and old worms, and noted that minocycline was the only effective way to prolong the lives of the older ones. .

To discover the reasons they checked if the antibiotic could somehow prevent the accumulation of protein. It is a natural process that, with age, becomes problematic because of the breakdown of proteostasis, the mechanism of accumulation and elimination of proteins in cells. Treating young and elderly worms with the drug Solis and his colleagues noted that he had not only managed to reduce the aggregation of α-synuclein and beta-amyloid proteins, both badociated with the disease. Alzheimer's, but that he had not even activated the stress-related responses.

But how did minocycline work?? Using a chemical probe, scientists discovered that the antibiotic directly affects protein production mechanisms in cells, not only in worms, but also in mice and human cells in culture. The results were also observed by exploiting genetically modified worms to express a different protein production activity; in simple terms, those with lower protein activity need a lower dose of minocycline to avoid protein accumulation, thus demonstrating the mechanism of action. Since this drug is already approved for the treatment of certain neurodegenerative diseases, scientists hope that by improving the treatments, we will be able to obtain significant results against these diseases. The details of the research were published in the eLife scientific journal.