Submitted by administrator on
Sticky plaques of proteins called amyloids mark several different, though related degenerative brain diseases including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Creutzfeld-Jacobs. The symptoms of these disorders overlap and methods to diagnose and monitor them are not advanced.
Scientists in San Diego have devised several new fluorescent probes that change color depending on what type of amyloid they come into contact with. Because amyloids accumulate in the eye as well as our brain, their discovery offers hope that one day neurodegenerative diseases could be diagnosed with simple eye drops , ointment and an eye examination.
The small differences in the proteins that make up different forms of amyloid interact differently with the fluorescent probes to result in different colors measurable of the emitted light. The colors vary depending on the physical properties of pockets in the various amyloid proteins.
Among the few available diagnostics for Alzheimer's disease are radioactive molecules. These target amyloid, which can then be detected in the brain using positron emission tomography( PET scans). However this test only says whether amyloid has formed in the brain without actually distinguishing between the various types.
The study approach represents a significant step towards developing diagnostics to distinguish between different, but closely related diseases where symptoms and pathological characteristics may show up similarities. This may prove to be very important for deciding on effective treatment strategies for each specific disease.
Now that they have learned how physical properties of amyloid control the colors of their markers, they will expand their catalog to create probes for discriminating between other forms of amyloid.
The technology has already been licensed for commercial development of diagnostic tests for human neural disease.