Skip to main content
Search
Main content
Trends in neurosciences
Published

Rethinking neurodegeneration through a co-proteinopathy lens

Authors

Yu P Zhang, Shekhar Kedia, David Klenerman

Abstract

Trends Neurosci. 2025 Nov 6:S0166-2236(25)00219-X. doi: 10.1016/j.tins.2025.10.006. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Neurodegenerative diseases have long been considered distinct proteinopathies: amyloid-β and tau in Alzheimer's disease, α-synuclein in Parkinson's disease, and TDP-43 in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. This single-protein paradigm has guided therapeutic development for decades; yet clinical outcomes remain modest. Mounting evidence, however, reveals that protein aggregates rarely occur in isolation; instead, they coexist, colocalise, and modulate each other's pathogenicity. Here, we propose a co-proteinopathy framework that views neurodegeneration as an interactive network of misfolded proteins rather than as isolated disorders. Adopting this framework demands multiplexed quantification of protein aggregates and disease models that better reflect the biological complexity of human neurodegeneration. The co-proteinopathy perspective offers a more realistic foundation for next-generation approaches to neurodegeneration research and treatment.

PMID:41203507 | DOI:10.1016/j.tins.2025.10.006

UK DRI Authors

David Klenerman

Prof Sir David Klenerman

Group Leader

Determining how protein clumps form, damage the brain and change as the different neurodegenerative diseases develop to know which ones to target for therapies

Prof Sir David Klenerman