How A Misfolded Protein Can Result In Alzheimer’s Developments

It’s amazing how such a small molecule, practically invisible to the naked eye, can cause so many cognitive issues.

There are so many different types of proteins in the body. In fact, it is estimated that the human body contains 80,000–400,000 different types of proteins, and these proteins are present for different purposes in the body.

Now, the cells in our body can manufacture these proteins via the activity of specific genes within its deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) identifier. These proteins are peptide polymers that contain multiple amino acids all fused together. “Peptides” refer to shorter chain/simpler amino acid polymers, while “proteins” refer to longer chain/more complex amino acid polymers.

Interestingly, while the production of the protein may not be problematic, it’s the retention of protein function that is key. We don’t like purchasing household appliances that malfunction too quickly, do we?

Our blood, for instance, contains haemoglobin proteins that exist to transport oxygen from our lungs to the cells in our body via the blood streams. We want to ensure that our haemoglobin proteins are able to carry oxygen about in our blood properly, of course.

But diabetics with high HbA1c readings have their oxygen transport mechanism impaired — and that’s what happens when excess glucose in the blood reacts with those haemoglobin proteins. These haemoglobin proteins essentially lose their function of transporting oxygen to the cells in the body.

A protein contains a long chain of amino acids. These amino acids within the protein chain are able to interact with each other and cause the protein to have a specific folding pattern.

For example, the keratin proteins in our hair are able to form disulfide bonds that can result in the development of curly hair — the proteins tend to curl or fold in different ways. Straight hair, on the other hand, has less of these disulfide bonds present and won’t curl up as easily.

When there is excess heat applied, or when the acidity/alkalinity of the protein’s surrounding environment is changed up, it will refold into its next most stable configuration. Under extreme circumstances, the protein will undergo denaturation and may end up changing its conformation permanently.

If we do look at what happens when we cook an egg white, for instance — a raw egg white is translucent and liquidy, but a cooked egg white is opaque and white. Is that a permanent denaturation though? Scientists suggest otherwise.

The idea being that proteins do require a specific folding configuration to work properly, and this configuration can be easily maintained in a healthy body.

Even if some proteins lose their configurations upon denaturation, there is a cleanup mechanism to eliminate these faulty dysfunctional proteins before they accumulate.