gingipains
Type: molecule Aliases: gingipainprotease enzymes
- Systems Analogy Toxic bacterial enzymes that chop up healthy tissues and evade the immune system.
- Formal Definition Toxic cysteine protease enzymes secreted by Porphyromonas gingivalis that degrade neuronal proteins, trigger microglia activation, and drive tau phosphorylation (targeted by atuzaginstat).
Mentioned In
- Moleculeatuzaginstat
Scientific Sources & Literature Citations
- [1] Empirical Study Dominy SS, et al. Porphyromonas gingivalis in Alzheimer's disease brains: Evidence for disease causation and treatment with small-molecule inhibitors. Sci Adv. 2019;5(1):eaau3333. ↗
"Gingipains are cysteine proteases that mediate P. gingivalis virulence and toxicity."