Research team for decomposing substances that cause dementia
From left, Dr. Lee Dong-taek, Professor Jeong-Hoon Lee, Professor Gyu-do Lee, and Dae-Sung Yoon [한국연구재단 제공. 재판매 및 DB 금지]
The Korea Research Foundation announced on the 27th that the research team of Professor Dae-Sung Yoon of Korea University has developed a technology to screen (search) for compounds that can decompose the causative agent of Alzheimer’s disease.
In the brains of Alzheimer’s disease patients, many plaques (neural plaques) are found in the form of lumps due to the entanglement of thread-shaped amyloid beta protein.
These amyloid beta plaques and fibrils (a form of fibers linked to amyloid beta proteins side by side) have been pointed out as the cause of dementia.
Recently, a study has shown that amyloid beta oligomer (a low polymer in which several monoliths are entangled) causes toxicity to nerve cells and destroys synapses, which are the linking sites for signaling between nerve cells, causing dementia.
[윤대성 교수 제공. 재판매 및 DB 금지]
Oligomers are an early stage before plaque formation, in which 2-3 amyloid beta proteins are linked. Unlike plaques, oligomers are known to move freely without accumulating in the brain.
For early diagnosis of dementia, it is necessary to find a compound that can decompose amyloid beta oligomer by artificially synthesizing it, but the synthesis was difficult because the amyloid beta protein was expensive at around 40 million won per gram.
The research team succeeded in coating only pure amyloid beta oligomer by synthesizing the amyloid beta protein monomer on the surface of metal nanoparticles in the form of a protein corona (agglomerates formed by gathering proteins in a crown like a solar corona on the surface of the nanoparticles).
[윤대성 교수 제공. 재판매 및 DB 금지]
It can be synthesized with just 1-50 of the amount of existing amyloid beta protein used.
Subsequently, when the candidate compound decomposes the oligomer on the surface of the nanoparticles, the surface of the metal nanoparticles is exposed and the particles aggregate with each other, and the color changes through absorption.
When light is shot on metal nanoparticles, the’localized surface plasmonic phenomenon’ was used, which absorbs only light of a specific wavelength depending on the size and structure of the particle.
Using the technology developed this time, the research team discovered 3 to 4 candidate compounds that can improve dementia, such as curcumin (a major component of turmeric).
Professor Daesung Yoon said, “We found a compound that selectively decomposes only oligomers through color change without treatment with fluorescent substances that can label oligomers,” he said. “It will contribute to early diagnosis of dementia.”
The results of this study, which were jointly participated by Kwangwoon University Professor Jeonghoon Lee, Korea University Gyudo Lee, and Kyunghee University Professor Hwang Gyosun, were published on the date of the international journal Nature Communications.
–
