13 November 2000. In today's Journal of Cell Biology, researchers of the University
of Maryland Biotechnology Institute (UMBI) report that a molecule called ubiquilin
regulates levels of presenilins, and is "highly expressed" in human neurons and
associated with tangles and plaques in Alzheimer's-afflicted brains. "Ubiquilin
is the first molecule, to our knowledge, that has been found to increase presenilin
levels in cells," said Mervyn Monteiro, a coauthor on the paper. "Now, we want
to see how ubiquilin regulates presenilin proteins carrying Alzheimer's disease
mutations. This is an important step in understanding presenilins." The finding
may have important consequences to many cellular functions, because presenilins
have been linked to diverse biological processes, including calcium regulation,
apoptosis, cell cycle regulation, and neurodevelopment.-June Kinoshita.
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New ALS Genes Implicate Protein Degradation, Endoplasmic Reticulum
