Wednesday 20 Aug/2025 – 03:15 AM
In a remarkable scientific development, researchers from the University of California in San Francisco (UCSF) managed to identify a new protein that speeds up the pace of brain aging, but it is interesting that they also succeeded in finding a way to reduce its effect, although so far on mice only.
Scientists discover a protein associated with the aging of the brain and find a way to reduce its effect
The study, published in the Nature AGing magazine, focused on the horse area, responsible for learning and memory, which is the most sensitive to age -related changes. During the analysis of proteins within this region, scientists noted that a single protein called FTL1 is significantly increasing with age, which leads to a decline in nervous ties and memory loss.
Dr. Sol Felida, the main author of the study and deputy director of the Bakar Institute for Aging Research, said what we have reached is not limited to slowing the symptoms of mental deterioration, but rather exceeds the opposite of some of the imbalances related to age.
How is the protein effect stopped?
The research team relied on advanced techniques in molecular biology, the most prominent of which is RNAI, which allowed them to reduce the levels of FTL1 protein within the neurons of fortresses. This process, known as “genetic projection”, reduced the presence of protein and reactivated some of the functions associated with memory in the elderly mice.
Although the results are promising, the researchers confirm that the road is still long before applying it to humans. But the discovery opens new horizons for understanding nervous aging mechanisms and the ability to develop treatments aimed at slowing down or even reflecting the manifestations of memory deterioration.
