Virginia Tech researchers discovered a new function for a common protein in the brain — a development that sheds new light on the mysteries of the mind and holds promising implications for the treatment of memory loss and post-traumatic stress disorder.
The protein normally performs necessary housekeeping in the brain’s hippocampus by working as part of a larger protein complex called the proteasome to destroy other proteins.
But researchers in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ School of Animal Sciences recently noticed this protein, called RPT6, behaving in a previously undetected way.
“We found that RPT6 is capable of this completely different function where it can bind to DNA and increase the expression of other genes or proteins during memory formation,” said Tim Jarome, associate professor of neurobiology. “This indicates that RPT6 plays a unique dual role in memory…
