(Press-News.org)
Did you know the same protein that gives blood its red color and carries oxygen throughout the body is also present inside brain cells? Hemoglobin, long celebrated for ferrying oxygen in red blood cells, has now been revealed to play an overlooked — and potentially game-changing — antioxidant role in the brain.
In neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and aging, brain cells endure relentless damage from the aberrant (or excessive) reactive oxygen species (ROS). For decades, scientists have tried to neutralize ROS with antioxidant drugs, but most failed: they couldn’t penetrate the brain effectively, unstable, or indiscriminately damaged healthy cells.
This new study, led by Director C. Justin LEE of the Center for Cognition and Sociality within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) in Daejeon, South Korea, set out to identify the brain’s own defenses against a particularly harmful form of ROS — hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). Using advanced imaging and molecular analysis, the team discovered that hemoglobin exists in the nucleolus of astrocytes — star-shaped brain cells critical for neuronal support — where it acts as a “pseudoperoxidase,” breaking down H₂O₂ into harmless water.
“The key was to uncover hemoglobin’s antioxidant potential in the brain and design a ‘first-in-class’ compound that could selectively enhance it. By boosting a natural defense mechanism rather than introducing an external antioxidant, we achieved strong and lasting protection across multiple disease models associated with oxidative stress,” said first author Dr. WON Woojin.
The team developed KDS12025, a small, water-soluble molecule capable of crossing the blood–brain barrier. KDS12025 binds to hemoglobin’s heme center and boosts its ability to decompose H2O2 by nearly 100-fold, without disrupting its normal oxygen-carrying function. In disease-like conditions in astrocytes, KDS12025 sharply reduced harmful H2O2 levels. In mouse models, oral administration through drinking water protected neurons, calmed reactive astrocytes, and restored brain function.
In animal models, oral administration through drinking water suppressed neuronal death, normalized reactive astrocytes, and restored brain function. ALS model mice showed a delayed disease onset and lived more than four weeks longer than untreated controls. In Parkinson’s models, KDS12025 restored motor function, while in Alzheimer’s models, it recovered memory performance. In aging mice, the treatment extended median lifespan from the typical two years to as long as three years. The drug also alleviated inflammation and joint damage in a rheumatoid arthritis model.
The study also uncovered a damaging feedback loop: excess H2O2 depletes astrocytic hemoglobin, weakening the brain’s natural antioxidant defenses and accelerating degeneration. By boosting hemoglobin’s levels and activity, KDS12025 reversed this trend, reducing oxidative stress, preserving neurons, and maintaining healthy brain function.
No previous treatment has targeted astrocytic hemoglobin as an antioxidant system, nor demonstrated such broad protective effects.
“This is a major step forward in the fight against neurodegenerative diseases. By enhancing the brain’s own hemoglobin to combat oxidative stress, we are opening an entirely new therapeutic avenue,” said Director Lee.
The team now plans to further study the distinct roles of α- and β-globin in the brain, refine KDS12025 derivatives for potential human use, and explore its applications in other oxidative stress–driven disorders.
This work transforms hemoglobin from a familiar oxygen transporter into a precision antioxidant defense system for the brain. It marks a potential paradigm shift in how scientists approach neurodegenerative diseases, age-related decline, and autoimmune conditions.
END
The mystery at Jupiter's heart has taken a fresh twist – as new research suggests a giant impact may not have been responsible for the formation of its core.
It had been thought that a colossal collision with an early planet containing half of Jupiter's core material could have mixed up the central region of the gas giant, enough to explain its interior today.
But a new study published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society suggests its make-up is actually down to how the growing planet absorbed heavy and light materials as it formed and evolved.
Unlike what scientists ...
Researchers have developed a new, data-driven way of fitting prosthetic legs which could lead to better fitting prosthetics, in less time and at a lower cost.
The technology has been developed by Radii Devices and the University of Southampton, and the results of an NHS trial have been published today [22 August 2025] in JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technology.
The study shows that below-the-knee prosthetic limbs designed using the new approach were as comfortable on average as those created by highly skilled prosthetists, but with more consistent results. Crucially, the new method generates a basic ...
Under or over? The twists and turns of genetic research
DNA is a molecule that can get twisted and tangled - a process that must be closely regulated
A research team has developed an automated technique to visualise and measure DNA tangles
Technique is so precise it can tell if one DNA segment passes under or over another
At school, it’s often presented as a tidy double helix but scientists are revealing the varied and intricate shapes of DNA molecules.
DNA is a molecule found in just about every living cell. Because the molecule is long, it ends up twisting on itself and getting tangled. Enzymes in the body try to regulate this process but when that ...
New research from Purdue University reveals how moisture influences atmospheric blocking, a phenomenon that often drives heat waves, droughts, cold outbreaks and floods, helping solve a mystery in climate science and improving future extreme weather predictions.
The study, titled "Blocking Diversity Causes Distinct Roles of Diabatic Heating in the Northern Hemisphere," was published in Nature Communications. Zhaoyu Liu, a PhD student in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, and Lei Wang, an assistant professor in ...
The fourth annual Fork It Alzheimer’s event, hosted by Daryl and Irwin Simon in partnership with the Alzheimer’s Association, took place on July 12, raising funds for groundbreaking Alzheimer’s disease (AD) prevention efforts. During the event, the Simon family announced that the Fork It Fund, created in collaboration with their friend, Stacy Polley, and the Association, awarded $1 million to support a major initiative at the USC Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute (Stevens ...
Cambridge, MA – Optical frequency combs are specially designed lasers that act like rulers to accurately and rapidly measure specific frequencies of light. They can be used to detect and identify chemicals and pollutants with extremely high precision.
Frequency combs would be ideal for remote sensors or portable spectrometers because they can enable accurate, real-time monitoring of multiple chemicals without complex moving parts or external equipment.
But developing frequency combs with high enough bandwidth for these applications has been a challenge. ...
Cambridge, MA – Many things account for Haiti’s modern troubles. A good perspective on them comes from going back in time to 1715 or so — and grappling with a far-flung narrative involving the French monarchy, a financial speculator named John Law, and a stock-market crash called the “Mississippi Bubble.”
To condense: After the death of Louis XIV in 1715, France was mired in debt following decades of war. The country briefly turned over its economic policy to Law, a ...
People recovering from heart failure should consider improving the regularity of their sleep, a study led by Oregon Health & Science University suggests.
The research team found that even moderately irregular sleep doubles the risk of having another clinical event within six months, according to a study published today in the journal JACC Advances. A clinical event could be another visit to the emergency room, hospitalization or even death.
“Going to bed and waking up at consistent times is important for overall health,” said lead author Brooke Shafer, Ph.D., ...
HOUSTON – (Aug. 21, 2025) – Wrinkles can be an asset — especially for next-generation electronics. Rice University scientists have discovered that tiny creases in two-dimensional materials can control electrons’ spin with record precision, opening the path to ultracompact, energy-efficient electronic devices.
If most devices today use the charge of electrons flowing through silicon to process and encode information, future computing may instead harness spin — a quantum property of electrons that takes on either an “up” or “down” value. Computing with spin could overcome the limitations of current silicon-based technology, reducing ...
The brain controls the release of glucose in a wide range of stressful circumstances, including fasting and low blood sugar levels.
However, less attention has been paid to its role in day-to-day situations.
In a study published in Molecular Metabolism, University of Michigan researchers have shown that a specific population of neurons in the hypothalamus help the brain maintain blood glucose levels under routine circumstances.
Over the past five decades, researchers have shown that dysfunction of the nervous system can lead to fluctuations in blood glucose levels, especially ...
