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                      -- The Cure For Brain Diseases Might Be Right Under Our Nose

"Back in 2013, research done at the University of Cambridge in the U.K. by Prof. Giovanna Mallucci and her team hit the limelight when they discovered a substance that could halt the unfolded protein response in mice with prion disease.

Prion disease occurs when prion proteins become abnormal and cluster in the brain, resulting in brain damage and all kinds of neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer's, Huntington's and Parkinson's disease. As part of the brain's defense mechanism, unfolded protein response inhibits new protein production in brain cells to prevent build-up of harmful viral proteins. When over-activated – like in the brains of patients afflicted with Alzheimer's, frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and Parkinson's — this defense mechanism becomes counter-productive as it eventually starves and kills brain cells. Depending on the type of disease, this can lead to impaired movement, memory loss, and in the extreme case – death.

While the experimental drug was successful in reactivating brain cell protein production and stopping brain cell death, testing it on humans could not be done because the drug had a damaging effect on the pancreas.

Four years later, Prof. Mallucci is back in the limelight as a research team she is heading at the Medical Research Council (MRC) in the United Kingdom has identified two new compounds that successfully prevented brain cell death, minus any major side effects."