Apoaequorin is a winner of the Nobel prize in chemistry

Apoaequorin (Pronounced: ā-poe-ē-kwôr-ĭn) was first discovered in jellyfish in 1962 in glowing jellyfish. Turns out these proteins caused the jellyfish to glow when the proteins bound to calcium ions, the same calcium ions in our nervous system. We’ve learned a lot about how calcium functions in the body by using apoaequorin. The Princeton professor who discovered this protein and colleagues who helped develop the research won the Nobel prize in 2008. Prevagen does not cause any glowing!

Apoaequorin is a suitable replacement in the human nervous system

Apoaequorin comes from jellyfish, nature’s most simple nervous system and is able to help in humans who have the most complex nervous system in all creation. Apoaequorin is classified as a “calcium-binding protein” which is necessary for the process of calcium regulation in nerve cells.

Our brain cells manufacture an ample supply of calcium-binding proteins when we are in our twenties and thirties but as we age, the supply of these protective proteins diminish and leave the cells vulnerable to calcium overload which results in cell damage. Apoaequorin has proven to protect cells from the damage of calcium overload.

Apoaequorin is neuroprotective

Neuroprotection simply means the ability to keep brain cells (or nerve cells) from dying. Like many other processes that slow down in aging, like hormone production, calcium-binding protein production also slows. The result is an increase in the amount of calcium in the cell which can lead to cell death.

Calcium is a critical part of cell communication. Without calcium providing the “electricity” to the cell, we wouldn’t be able to think, move, or experience emotion. Excess calcium can cause overstimulation in the cell and trigger other mechanisms which lead to a break down in cell function.

Pre-clinical research at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee demonstrated that pre-treatment with Prevagen was able to protect an incredible 50% of the cells from dying from an induced toxic calcium overload.