The Aggregation Inhibitor Peptide QBP1 as a Therapeutic Molecule for the Polyglutamine Neurodegenerative Diseases

Figure 1

Misfolding and abnormal aggregation of proteins as a common molecular pathogenesis of the protein misfolding diseases. The genetic mutations responsible for the inherited forms of various neurodegenerative diseases render the proteins prone to misfold and aggregate, or lead to the overproduction of aggregation-prone proteins, which accumulate as inclusions inside and outside neurons in the diseased brains, and eventually cause neurodegeneration. These facts indicate that the misfolding and abnormal aggregation of proteins are crucial in the pathogenesis of these diseases, which are known as the “protein misfolding diseases.”