Dye from lichens may help combat Alzheimer’s Washington: A red
coloured dye derived from Lichens, which has been used for
centuries to colour fabrics and food, may help to reduce the
abundance of small toxic protein aggregates in Alzheimer’s
disease, a new study has claimed. The dye, a compound called
orcein, and a related substance, called O4, bind preferentially
to small amyloid aggregates that are considered to be toxic and
cause neuronal dysfunction and memory impairment in Alzheimer’s
disease. O4 binding to small aggregates promotes their
conversion into large, mature plaques which researchers assume
to be largely non-toxic for neuronal cells. Protein misfolding
is considered to be the cause of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and
also Huntington’s disease. In a multistep process, proteins
misfold and accumulate into large extra- or intracellular
plaques. Erich Wanker and his team of researchers from Berlin
assume that small misfolded protein aggregates that are
precursors of mature plaques are toxic for nerve c