A breakdown product of aspirin blocks cell death associated with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's

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A new study finds that a component of aspirin binds to an enzyme called GAPDH, which is believed to play a major role in neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases.

Researchers at the Boyce Thompson Institute and John Hopkins University discovered that salicylic acid, the primary breakdown product of aspirin, binds to GAPDH, thereby stopping it from moving into a cell's nucleus, where it can trigger the cell's death. The study, which appears in the journal PLOS ONE, also suggests that derivatives of salicylic acid may hold promise for treating multiple neurodegenerative diseases.

Senior author Daniel Klessig, a professor at Boyce Thompson Institute and Cornell University, has studied the actions of salicylic acid for many years, but primarily in plants. Salicylic acid is the critical hormone for regulating the plant immune system. Previous studies have identified several targets in plants that are affected by salicylic acid, and many of these targets have equivalents in humans.

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-11-breakdown-product-aspirin-blocks-cell.html
 
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