Yin and yang -- Balance could play key role in progression of Alzheimer's disease
... of AB42, or monomers, combine to form oligomer or fibril chains. This process is called aggregation. But the role of AB40, which is also found in senile plaques and generated from the same protein as AB42, has not been clearly established. Wang set out to determine what role this peptide played in the gene...Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, type 2 diabetes similar at molecular level
...teins associated with Alzheimers and other amyloid fibril diseases as "transformer" proteins that instead of...doing their normal work start forming pathological fibril structures. Eisenbergs research team used a sophisticated computer algorithm to analyze proteins k...Scripps research study reveals structural dynamics of single prion molecules
...sms as well as those that lead to abnormal amyloid fibril conversion. The new insights may lead to the discovery of novel therapeutic targets for neurodegenerative diseases. Intriguingly, certain prions and amyloids can play beneficial roles. The subject of the new study, Sup35, enables protein-based inhe...Targeting tau: Inflammation study suggests new approach for fighting Alzheimer's
...muscles, and later muscle atrophy. Hence, blocking fibril formation or eliminating misfolded proteins have become targets for drug discovery for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and related disorders. "The ultimate aim of this work is to develop diagnostics to detect earlier stages of Alzheimer's disease to opti...News tips from the Journal of Neuroscience
... of factors can affect the initiation of synuclein fibril formation. In cell-free systems, dopamine interacts with -synuclein and inhibits fibril formation by stabilizing oligomeric -synuclein intermediates. The authors developed a cellular model...Amazing nanotech in Boston: Weighing DNA, digital heat flow, electromechanical butterfly images
...us points in a biological sample, such as a single fibril of the protein collagen. The electromechanical response at various points of the sample enabled the researchers to build up images of the collagen fibrils, with details less than 10 nanometers in size. This resolution surpasses the level of detail th...Researchers get first peek at amyloid's spine
...bular domains that decorate the spine and give the fibril its thickness and bumpiness. Once these amyloid fi...this study, the crucial peptide subcomponents. The fibril spine elongates as pairs of the short beta-sheet segments stack up like teeth in a zipper. When Bal...'Molecular zipper' may hold important clues to Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and mad cow disease
...ter, but here all the water is squeezed out as the fibril is sealed and zipped up," Eisenberg said. "Our hyp...eins associated with Alzheimer's and other amyloid fibril diseases as "transformer" proteins that instead of doing their normal work, start forming pathologic...JBC study shows that bigger isn't necessarily better for amyloid proteins
...that the small oligomers that are intermediates in fibril formation, rather than the large fibrillar aggregates, are the culprits in neurotoxicity. Now, in their JBC paper, Dr. Glabe and his colleagues provide evidence to implicate these soluble intermediates and to explain just how the oligomers exert thei...Why do amyloid diseases strike different tissues?
... into the rod-like amyloid fibrils. The process of fibril formation causes the disease FAP by compromising p...However, this has often proven ineffective because fibril formation is strongly favored once an initial, misfolded "seed" fibril forms. A few years ago, Kell...Fibril shape is the basis of prion strains and cross-species prion infection
...vered that the particular shape of a prion amyloid fibril was the determining factor in whether one species ...case with the preseeded mice fibrils, a particular fibril shape in Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast allowed prion transmission to Candida albicans yeast. The tr...