Amyloid fibers--those clumps of plaque-like proteins that clog
up the brains of Alzheimer's patients--have perplexed scientists
with their robust structures. Researchers don't yet have a way
to assail these resilient molecules. Now a team from MIT and the
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research reports that yeast
may succeed where scientists have not.  In a study published
online this week in the journal Science, the researchers
describe a natural biological process by which yeast cells
dismantle amyloid fibers.  "These proteins are remarkably
stable," said Susan Lindquist, director of the Whitehead
Institute, an MIT professor of biology and lead researcher on
the project. "This is the first time that anyone has found
anything that can catalytically take apart an amyloid fiber."
Although the fibers are not necessarily the cause of
Alzheimer's, they are associated with it and with many other
neurological conditions.  The finding follows years of study on
a yeast protein called Sup35, which helps cells tran