Scientists develop new mathematical model of Alzheimers disease

Scientists have used a mathematical model to reveal how toxic proteins cluster together inside the brain during the early stages of Alzheimer’s.

The researchers, from the University of York’s School of Physics, Engineering and Technology, say the discovery could have important implications for future treatments.

The study revealed that a major class of proteins implicated in Alzheimer’s disease — so called amyloids — condense into objects that resemble liquid droplets, before forming clusters that impact normal brain activity.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia. Over 50 million people worldwide have the disease, and that number is expected to triple by 2050.

On the nanoscale, toxic amyloid proteins inside the brain cluster together around 10-15 years before the first symptoms arise, but the precise way in which they do so has remained unclear. By understanding precisely how the protein clusters form, scientists may be in a far better position to develop targeted drug treatments to block them.

Dr Steve Quinn, an Alzheimer’s Research UK Fellow and Lecturer in Biophysics at the University of York, said: “Understanding the precise molecular-level ways through which amyloid clusters form may help us to design better anti-cluster drugs that combat Alzheimer’s disease at the earliest possible stage.

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