Targeting the LANDO Pathway Holds a Potential Clue to Treating Alzheimer's Disease

A study in Science Advances investigated a potential Alzheimer's disease treatment by targeting LC3-associated endocytosis (LANDO) and its role in neuroinflammation, reports Medical Xpress . Previous research uncovered a LANDO pathway in microglial cells, and the deletion of genes required for this pathway caused Alzheimer's progression to accelerate in a mouse model. Furthermore, LANDO guards against neuroinflammation, a telltale of Alzheimer's. In their continuing research, the authors learned the protein ATG16L, which plays a major role in autophagy, also plays a role in LANDO; deleting the protein's WD domain inhibits LANDO without impeding autophagy. "This work solidifies LC3-associated endocytosis as a pathway that prevents inflammation and inflammatory cytokine production in the central nervous system," said Bradlee Heckmann with St. Jude Children's Hospital. "While much of the data on LANDO suggests a significant role in neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases, there is also a strong possibility that it could be targeted as a therapy against cancer or even infectious diseases that rely on similar processes for survival."