A research team at Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) find that Wipi3, a protein involved in cellular waste disposal, is crucial for neuronal health

Tokyo, Japan – A little mess never killed anyone, right? Wrong. Researchers at Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU) have recently shown that a build-up of cellular “trash” in the brain can actually cause neurodegeneration, and even death.

Reporting their findings in Nature Communications, the researchers describe how defects in a cellular waste disposal mechanism, called “alternative autophagy”, can lead to a lethal build-up of iron and protein in brain cells.