Alzheimer’s disease patients lose up to 60% of a component called plasmalogen from the membranes of the cells in their brains, but it’s still not known how or why. In a paper to be published in the June 1 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis provide the first report of an enzyme that breaks down plasmalogens, a breakthrough in understanding the molecular processes that occur during Alzheimer’s and other diseases.