Overview

• Researchers analyzed over 2,500 proteins in the hippocampi of 17 aged rats and identified more than 200 misfolded exclusively in cognitively impaired subjects.
• The misfolded proteins avoid proteasomal degradation without forming traditional A-beta or tau amyloid aggregates.
• These findings expand Alzheimer’s models by revealing a broader landscape of protein misfolding linked to memory loss.
• The research group plans to use high-resolution imaging to map molecular deformities and pinpoint how they escape cellular quality control.
• Insights from this study offer new therapeutic and diagnostic targets beyond amyloid-centric approaches to dementia.