Nanodevices for the Brain Could Thwart Formation of Alzheimer's Plaques

A study in Advanced Functional Materials detailed how researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, the Korean Institute of Science and Technology, and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology developed a technique to prevent the formation of plaques that cause Alzheimer's disease by creating nano-sized devices that capture ß-amyloid peptides before they achieve cohesion, reports EurekaAlert . "The idea is that, eventually, a slurry of our nanodevices could collect the peptides as they fall away from the cells — before they get a chance to aggregate," said Argonne's Elena Rozhkova. The team coated the spherical surface of the silica nanodevice with fragments of an antibody that detects and binds to Aß peptides. The porous surface of the nanodevice maximizes the available surface area for the antibodies to cover. Experimental observations indicated that the nanodevices appeared to reduce peptide aggregation, and demonstrated that they do not have a toxic effect on cells.