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News Topical, Digital Desk : Science has taken a historic leap toward solving the mystery of Alzheimer's disease. What seemed like an impossible challenge for scientists for decades—accurately measuring clumps of "toxic proteins" hidden in the brain—has now become possible.
Researchers from Israel and the Netherlands have jointly developed a new technique that offers new hope for the medical world. This technique not only helps pinpoint the root cause of the disease but could also open a completely new avenue for diagnosing dementia.
What is this new technology?
This innovative technology is known as a combination of 'Fibrils Paint' and 'Fibrils Ruler'.
This method primarily focuses on the ability to directly measure the length of tau amyloid fibrils. Importantly, this technique works even when these fibrils are floating in liquid and their quantity is extremely low. Since the growth of these fibrils is directly linked to Alzheimer's and dementia, their accurate measurement is a significant advance in understanding this disease.
Why does 'tau protein' become dangerous?
According to this research, the main hallmark of Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative disorders is the abnormal accumulation of 'tau protein' in the brain.
- Normally, tau proteins are essential for the brain. They help maintain the internal structure and function of nerve cells.
- In disease: When tau changes shape, it begins to form abnormal clumps. Over time, these proteins fold incorrectly and form long amyloid fibrils.
Hebrew University professor Asaf Friedler says the length of tau fibrils is not just a description, but a key parameter for understanding the disease process.
Works like a 'smart key'
The key component of this new technology is Fibrilpent-1, a small 22-amino acid peptide specifically designed to act as a fluorescent probe.
- Explaining this, Professor Stefan G.D. Rudiger of Utrecht University said that they wanted a technology that would work like a "smart key."
- It only finds and binds to harmful amyloid fibrils.
- It completely ignores single and normal tau molecules (which are not harmful).
- This allows researchers to distinguish between harmful and safe proteins, even in complex samples.
How is it better than older techniques?
Until now, directly measuring the size of fibrils has been extremely difficult. Older techniques, such as microscopy, had several problems:
- They required large quantities of samples.
- They removed the fibrils from their natural environment.
- She could only make an indirect estimate of the size.
These limitations made it difficult to understand how these fibrils grow or how they respond to drugs. The new technique overcomes all these obstacles.
The research, led by Professor Asaf Friedler of the Hebrew University's Institute of Chemistry and Professor Stefan G.D. Rüdiger of Utrecht University, has been published in the prestigious journal of the National Academy of Sciences. This discovery could open new avenues for the accurate diagnosis of dementia and Alzheimer's in the future.
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