Is Epothilone D the Next Breakthrough Research for Alzheimer’s?

An article released by Medical News Today on March 16th, 2012 announced the results of a recent study conducted at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where lab mice with Alzheimer’s Disease were shown to make cognitive improvements as well as be less affected by development of Alzheimer’s Disease after being treated with the chemical substance called Epothilone D.

According to the article, Epothilone D works in the same way as does the FDA-approved cancer drug paclitaxel (Taxol) by over-stabilizing specialized microtubials involved in the separation of chromosomes during cell division. The scientists in the study believe that this over-stabilizing property of the Epothilone D compound may be as helpful to Alzheimer’s disease as it has been to cancer.