Nanoparticles help untangle Alzheimer’s disease amyloid beta plaques

Nanoparticles help untangle Alzheimer's disease amyloid beta plaques
The amyloid beta protein that tangles to form the hallmark Alzheimer’s brain plaques, cling to ultra-small “bowls,” called nanobowls, scientists find. They can use these nanobowls to remove the toxic amyloid aggregates and further study them. Credit: Vrinda Sant.

Scientists are still a long way from being able to treat Alzheimer’s Disease, in part because the protein aggregates that can become brain plaques, a hallmark of the disease, are hard to study. The plaques are caused by the amyloid beta protein, which gets misshapen and tangled in the brain. To study these protein aggregates in tissue samples, researchers often have to use techniques that can further disrupt them, making it difficult to figure out what’s going on. But new research by Vrinda Sant, a graduate student, and Madhura…

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