The researchers ofYale University have discovered the three-dimensional structure of Klotho proteins, which could help improve cognitive abilities. The first tests on rats were successful and were published in the journal Nature. Administering the protein through the brain, according to what doctors have found, significantly improves cognitive faculties, although it does not appear to be the only factor involved in this process.
Further investigations are therefore required, which could allow us to improve the experimentation and find a therapeutic use for this protein. Klotho's main action occurs through platelet factors, which should be the agent around which the action of the protein revolves.
Klotho: the discovery of American researchers
An American study appearing in the journal Nature has demonstrated that it has discovered the three-dimensional structure of proteins Klotho. In the past, this type of protein had already been associated with degenerative diseases, as their absence was associated with aging, kidney disease and bone loss. However, the research by US scientists goes beyond these past observations.
At Yale University, a group of scientists was in fact able to clarify the functioning of this entire group of proteins. An extraordinary result, which connected these substances with one of the most important factors present in the regulation of our body: the platelet factor 4. Platelets are blood corpuscles responsible for coagulation, the phenomenon that hardens blood upon contact with air and allows external wounds to heal without further pathogens entering the circulation.
However, platelet factor 4 also influences the way blood flows in the brain. The effect of the Klotho protein on platelet factor 4 could open new frontiers in the treatment of brain diseases and degenerative diseases. The experiments carried out on rats by scientists from Yale they demonstrated just that.
The protein that improves cognitive faculties, improvements
As reported in the journal Nature, one of the main experiments carried out to verify the function of Klotho proteins and their binding to platelet factor 4 was carried out on laboratory rats. When the factor is introduced into the body, especially when it first passes through the brain, the cognitive faculties of guinea pigs, measured through some tests, they improved significantly.
This happened, in a notable way according to what the researchers said, both in the specimens considered young and in the older ones. In the former, in particular, an improvement was observed synaptic plasticity, that is, the ability of brain tissues to return to their initial state after a moment of stress, and in general cognitive abilities. Even more important and promising, however, is the discovery made in the brains of elderly rats.
In this case, the older guinea pigs had some cognitive defects due to their age, similar to what happens in humans. Klotho protein-derived platelet factor it completely normalized the increase in some factors linked in particular to the cognitive performance of the hippocampus of rats. However, the benefits of Klotho proteins are also manifested in mice lacking platelet factor 4, albeit to a lesser extent. This means that other elements could also be involved.
