Caching killer carbs

Plants and protists may not have a nervous system, but they can help elucidate the mechanism of a fatal neurodegenerative disease, as Gentry et al. reveal on page 477. The organisms helped researchers pin down the function of a protein suspected of sparking destructive carbohydrate accumulations.

Lafora disease is a fatal form of epilepsy whose symptoms usually begin between the ages of 10 and 20. In neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, globs of insoluble proteins amass in neurons. But in Lafora disease, neurons harbor clumps of insoluble carbohydrates similar to amylopectin, a component of starch. Several mutations can trigger the illness, including glitches in the gene for laforin. This protein carries two key modules: one that grabs carbohydrates, and a second that slices off phosphate groups. Although mouse models develop the symptoms of...