Researchers at ETH Zurich have found a new chemical compound that slows down Alzheimer’s symptoms in mice. The substance protects nerve cells, helps the animals live longer, and shows some anti-aging effects.

The team calls it “Compound 10.” It is the result of nearly 20 years of research, which started when Ursula Quitterer, a professor of molecular pharmacology, received brain tissue samples from a colleague in Cairo. During sample studies and work on mice, her team focused on an enzyme called GRK2. This enzyme usually helps brain cells handle stress, but the researchers found that it stops working properly in dementia patients.

Slowing Down Alzheimer’s

When GRK2 becomes inactive, it clumps together inside brain cells. These clumps block the pores of mitochondria, which act as the powerhouses of the cells.

“The GRK2 aggregates block the pores of the mitochondria, reducing the amount of energy they can supply and leading to a situation of stress inside the cells,” Quitterer explained.

This stress triggers the production of amyloid beta, a protein fragment linked to Alzheimer’s. More amyloid beta creates more stress, which deactivates even more GRK2. To break this loop, the team developed Compound 10 which stops the enzyme from clumping, keeps the powerhouses working, and protects the nerve cells. Surprisingly, the mice also showed better heart function and grew less gray hair as they aged.

A Long Road Ahead

The study took two decades because Alzheimer’s is connected to aging. Therefore, the researchers had to wait for mice to grow old, which takes up to two years per experiment.

“It took so long simply because everything takes so long in Alzheimer’s research,” Quitterer said. “It’s all a great deal slower than in cancer research, for example.”

The basic research is done, and the team has applied for a patent. Now, they need a company to help make Compound 10 into a commercialized medicine.

“Alzheimer’s is a very complex disease,” says Quitterer. “That’s why it’s so important that we’ve now identified a new target protein in the form of GRK2, as well as an active ingredient that operates via GRK2 and therefore via a different mechanism than existing Alzheimer’s drugs.”