New Study Links ITCH Protein to a Common Trigger in Alzheimer’s and ALS

Packard-funded investigator Jiou Wang, MD, PhD, of Johns Hopkins University, has helped uncover a surprising culprit behind a shared hallmark of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS): a protein called ITCH. In a new Science Advances study, researchers report that when ITCH accumulates abnormally inside cells, it disrupts the Golgi apparatus—the cell’s “post office”—fragmenting it and interfering with the proper sorting and delivery of proteins. This breakdown in cellular logistics then impairs the lysosome, the cell’s “cleanup crew,” making it harder to clear misfolded proteins. Because protein buildup is a defining feature of many neurodegenerative disorders, the findings suggest that this ITCH-driven pathway may represent a common trigger across multiple diseases.

Read more: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.ado4330