Pathological stress granules in Alzheimer's disease.

A feature of neurodegenerative disease is the accumulation of insoluble protein aggregates in the brain. In some conditions, including Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal lobar degeneration, the primary aggregating entities are RNA binding proteins. Through regulated prion-like assembly, RNA binding proteins serve many functions in RNA metabolism that are essential for the healthy maintenance of cells of the central nervous system.