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Apr 30, 2020

Nanodevices for the brain could thwart formation of Alzheimer’s plaques

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, engineering, nanotechnology, neuroscience

Alzheimer’s disease is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, affecting one in 10 people over the age of 65. Scientists are engineering nanodevices to disrupt processes in the brain that lead to the disease.

People who are affected by Alzheimer’s disease have a specific type of plaque, made of self-assembled molecules called β-amyloid (Aβ) , that build up in the brain over time. This buildup is thought to contribute to loss of neural connectivity and . Researchers are studying ways to prevent the peptides from forming these dangerous plaques in order to halt development of Alzheimer’s disease in the brain.

In a multidisciplinary study, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, along with collaborators from the Korean Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), have developed an approach to prevent plaque formation by engineering a nano-sized device that captures the dangerous peptides before they can self-assemble.

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  1. cacarr says:

    Except that the plaques seem to be caused by Alzheimer’s, not the other way around.