New mechanism detected in Alzheimer's disease

Researchers have discovered a cellular mechanism that may contribute to the breakdown of communication between neurons in Alzheimer's disease. In the brain tissue of Alzheimer's patients, the RNAs that encode synaptic proteins are degraded more rapidly than in healthy brain cells, the researchers found. Their findings indicate that inadequate levels of a protein known as RBFOX1 may be a factor in the faulty connections that are a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease.