Scientists may have overlooked a hidden Alzheimer's culprit for decades

For decades, scientists have focused on amyloid beta as a major culprit behind Alzheimer’s disease, spending billions of dollars developing treatments that have often delivered disappointing results. Now, researchers at UC Santa Cruz are drawing attention to a largely overlooked peptide called P3 that could also play a role in the disease. Previously believed to be harmless, P3 can form harmful-looking protein clumps even faster than amyloid beta and may also damage brain cells.

Scientists may have overlooked a hidden Alzheimer’s culprit for decades. Scientists may have overlooked a hidden Alzheimer’s culprit for decades Science News from research organizations Scientists may have overlooked a hidden Alzheimer’s culprit for decades A long-overlooked peptide once thought harmless could be a hidden contributor to Alzheimer’s disease, challenging decades of research and opening new possibilities for treatment. But a biochemist at the University of California, Santa Cruz, believes scientists may have overlooked another potential contributor to the disease: a smaller, closely related peptide that was long considered harmless.

In a new commentary published in ChemBioChem, UC Santa Cruz professor Jevgenij Raskatov highlights research suggesting that this lesser-known peptide, called P3, can form microscopic clumps and threadlike structures known as fibrils. Evidence also suggests that P3 may interact with amyloid beta (Aβ), potentially influencing how it accumulates in the brain and how toxic it becomes. These findings raise the possibility that P3 contributes to the nerve cell damage associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

"The P3 peptide is, most likely, not the innocent bystander it was commonly thought to be.