Amyloid beta plaques accumulated in a mouse hippocampus.
Yale researchers have identified a drinkable cocktail of designer molecules that interferes with a crucial first step of Alzheimer’s and even restores memories in mice, they report Jan. 2 in the journal Cell Reports.
The binding of amyloid beta peptides to prion proteins triggers a cascade of devasting events in the progression of Alzheimer’s — accumulation of plaques, a destructive immune system response, and damage to synapses.
“We wanted to find molecules that might have a therapeutic effect on this network,” said senior author Stephen Strittmatter, the Vincent Coates Professor of Neurology, professor of neuroscience, and director of the Yale Alzheimer Disease Research Center.
Strittmatter and research scientist Erik Gunther screened tens of thousands of compounds looking for molecules that might interfere with the damaging prion protein interaction with amyloid beta. They found that an old antibiotic looked like a promising candidate but was only active after decomposing to form a polymer. Related small polymers retained the benefit and also managed to pass through the blood-brain barrier.
They then dissolved the optimized polymeric compound and fed it to mice engineered to have a condition that mimics Alzheimer’s. They found that synapses in the brains were repaired and mice recovered lost memory.
A collaborating team at Dartmouth University reported a positive response when they delivered the same cocktail to cells modeled to have Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, a devasting neurological condition caused by infection with misfolded prion protein.
The next step is to verify the compounds aren’t toxic in preparation for translation to clinical trials for Alzheimer’s disease.
Learn more: New compound shows promise in treatment of Alzheimer’s
The Latest on: Designer molecules
via Google News
The Latest on: Designer molecules
- Antiviral strategy using synthetic peptoid has promising implications for fighting infectionon August 24, 2021 at 3:00 am
Scientists have manufactured a synthetic form of peptide to combat viral infections, with tests already conducted on HSV-1 as well as SARS-CoV-2.
- Possible new antivirals against COVID-19, herpeson August 24, 2021 at 2:04 am
The immune system deploys peptides to fight viruses and other pathogens. Synthetic peptides could reinforce this defense but don’t last long in the body, so researchers are developing stable peptide ...
- Synthetic Peptide Mimics: Possible New Antivirals Against COVID-19 and Herpeson August 24, 2021 at 2:00 am
In addition to antibodies and white blood cells, the immune system deploys peptides to fight viruses and other pathogens. Synthetic peptides could reinforce this defense but don’t last long in the ...
- Interference leads to inaccurate Raman spectroscopic analysis of vitamin B12on August 23, 2021 at 9:33 am
Many natural products are complicated organic molecules. Despite this complexity, scientists are usually able to investigate them using spectroscopic techniques. However, a team of researchers has now ...
- Redox flow battery retains more than 90% of capacity over 6,000 cycles via new catholyteon August 23, 2021 at 5:40 am
The battery was built with a new catholyte and a symmetry-breaking strategy, which consists of changing the symmetry of the redox-active organic molecules instead of using the common approach of ...
- Cronos Group and Ginkgo Bioworks Announce Achievement of Equity Milestone in Partnership to ...on August 23, 2021 at 4:32 am
Cronos Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRON) (TSX: CRON) (“Cronos Group”), an innovative global cannabinoid company, and Ginkgo Bioworks (“Ginkgo”), which is building the leading horizontal platform for cell ...
- Pfizer to Acquire Trillium Therapeutics Inc.on August 23, 2021 at 3:46 am
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and Trillium Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ/TSX: TRIL) today announced that the companies have entered into a definitive agreement under which Pfizer will acquire Trillium, a ...
- Metal atom–guided conformational analysis of single polynuclear coordination moleculeson August 9, 2021 at 1:16 pm
See allHide authors and affiliations Microscopic observation of single molecules is a rapidly expanding field in ... and properties of metallo-macromolecules is essential for design of functional ...
- Putting the Patient at the Heart of Dosage Form Designon August 2, 2021 at 8:00 pm
“Drug product design is more focused on meeting patient-centric target ... “Additionally, there is mounting interest in inhalation segment, where conventional molecules are converted into inhalation ...
- A library of … organic moleculeson July 27, 2021 at 8:30 am
In OLEDs, thin layers of carbon-based molecules form pixels ... The idea of this library is to streamline the design of new molecular structures and to simulate the properties of the corresponding ...
via Bing News
