Alzheimer's disease is often described in numbers, with millions of people affected, cases rising quickly, and costs reaching into the trillions. For families, however, the experience is deeply personal. "It's a slow bereavement," says Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Professor Nicholas Tonks, whose mother lived with Alzheimer's. "You lose the person piece by piece."

A major focus in Alzheimer's research has been the buildup of plaque in the brain. This plaque consists of amyloid-β (Aβ), a peptide that forms naturally but can accumulate and cluster together over time. These deposits are widely believed to play a key role in driving the disease.

Targeting PTP1B To Improve Memory

Tonks, along with graduate student Yuxin Cen and postdoctoral fellow Steven Ribeiro Alves, has identified a new potential strategy.…