The discovery of cell death could lead to next generation of neurodegenerative diseases

Millions of cells are programmed every day so that they die in our body. However, excessive cell death can cause degenerative diseases, including Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease, with the premature death of brain cells being a cause of symptoms in these diseases.

Professor Grant Dewson, employee author and director of the Weihi Parkinson's disease research center:

The new study aimed to find new chemicals that could block cell death and be useful to treat degenerative diseases in the future.

In order to identify new little molecules, the team worked with researchers in the National Drug Discovery Center based in Wehi.

A high throughput screening of over 100,000 chemical compounds identified one that was effective when the cells were died by disturbing a well-understood cell death protein.

With correct author professor Guillaume Lesse said: “We were thrilled to find a small molecule that aims at a killer protein called BAX and no longer works.

“Although it is not the case in most cells, neurons alone can be enough to limit cell death.”