Reductive stress in neuroblastoma cells aggregates protein and impairs neurogenesis

(University of Alabama at Birmingham) Cells require a balance among oxidation-reduction reactions, or redox homeostasis. Loss of that balance to create oxidative stress is often associated with neurodegeneration. Less is known about how loss of that balance at the other end of the spectrum -- reductive stress -- may affect neurons. Now researchers show for the first time that reductive stress promotes protein aggregation in neuroblastoma cells and impairs neurogenesis.