A New but Familiar Drug Target for Treating Memory Impairment
This article was originally published in Start Up
Executive Summary
Inhibitors of histone deacetylases have been developed as cancer drugs, with only limited use because of toxicities. Now, a research team has shown that HDAC2 impairs memory and learning, suggesting that inhibitors targeting only that molecule could be used to treat neurodegenerative diseases. Buoyed by these new observations, companies with HDAC inhibitors in hand can screen their libraries specifically for activity against this newly-understood target.