A new study from the laboratory of Levi Todd, PhD, at Upstate Medical University has found that aging significantly limits the ability of support cells in the retina, called glia, to be reprogrammed into new neurons; a discovery that has important implications for the future of regenerative medicine for age-related neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and glaucoma.

Solute carriers (SLCs) are specialized transport proteins that control the movement of nutrients, ions and neurotransmitters across cell membranes and are essential for brain metabolism and neuronal communication. While some SLCs have been targeted successfully by drugs for decades, most of this large protein family remains therapeutically unexplored. A new review in Nature Reviews Drug Discovery (DOI: 10.1038/s41573-026-01513-4; impact factor: 91), led by Giulio Superti-Furga, founding scientific director of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW) institutes CeMM and Cori, highlights the growing potential of SLC transporters as targets for drugs and gene therapies in central nervous system disorders, including epilepsy, autism spectrum disorders, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.