PDI: The Repair-It For All Cells

Until now, scientists didn’t know why PDI sometimes appeared in the nucleus. For the first time, it’s shown that it acts like a glue or catalyst, helping to repair broken DNA in both dividing and non-dividing cells.

Now, the team is looking at various methods of gene therapy using PDI on cells, including mRNA treatment to better direct PDI in DNA repair. The university team may be focused on motor neuron disease (MND), but it can be applied to all conditions where damaged DNA contributes to advancing neruodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.