ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, August 30, 1996 TAG: 9608300054
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-2 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ORLANDO, FLA.
Deposits of a rogue protein clog the brain tissue of people with Alzheimer's disease, snuffing out memory, judgment and the sense of space and time.
But scientists announced Thursday that they are on the path to compounds that can slow the development of protein plaques and spare the agony of a disease that destroys the mind.
Speaking at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society, researchers from SIBIA Neurosciences, a California pharmaceutical research company, said new brain-sparing compounds are in the works.
Dr. Ian McDonald and colleagues say they are developing medications specifically designed to stop the progression of so-called amyloid plaques.
Since Alzheimer's was first described at the beginning of this century, scientists have been aware of the massive protein plaques that overwhelm the brain in the disease.
The problem, McDonald said, has been in inhibiting their development.
SIBIA Neurosciences' new compounds are being designed to target enzymes that spark the linking of tiny molecules into long, brain-killing chains of amyloid protein.
Scientists have isolated some compounds that work well in the laboratory to stunt development of amyloid protein. They have not been tested in patients.
Alzheimer's affects an estimated 4 million Americans, the majority of them over age 65.
- Knight-Ridder/Tribune
LENGTH: Short : 37 linesby CNB