A role for PKC  in Alzheimer's disease

Neurodegeneration The neurodegeneration that occurs in Alzheimer's disease is thought to be due to the accumulation of a protein called amyloid-β (Aβ). Alfonso et al. identified activating mutations in protein kinase Cα (PKCα) in a large cohort of families in which late-onset Alzheimer's disease was diagnosed. Pharmacologically inhibiting PKCα or deleting the gene encoding it prevented Aβ from impairing synaptic activity in mouse hippocampal tissue slices. Thus, PKCα variants may mediate the pathological effects of Aβ in some patients with late-onset Alzheimer's disease. Sci. Signal. 9 , ra47 (2016).