Scientists at Shibaura Institute of Technology engineer supercharged vitamin K compound that helps brain regrow neurons
Japanese scientists may have found a new way to help the brain heal itself. Researchers at Shibaura Institute of Technology engineered a vitamin K compound that turned neural stem cells into neurons about three times more effectively than natural vitamin K. In mice, it crossed th
Researchers at Shibaura Institute of Technology in Japan engineered a new class of vitamin K analogues that pushed neural stem cells into becoming neurons about three times more effectively than natural vitamin K. The lead compound combines vitamin K with a retinoic acid side chain and acts through the brain receptor mGluR1. In live mice, the molecule crossed the blood-brain barrier and raised active vitamin K levels inside the brain. The findings were published in ACS Chemical Neuroscience and are based on cell studies and mouse experiments, not human trials. The next step is testing whether the compound can slow neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, or Huntington's disease.