the words weren't mine

In people with Alzheimer’s, amyloid-beta proteins accumulate and form clusters that disrupt communication between brain cells. While metals are essential for normal brain function, problems can arise when their levels become unbalanced.

“Too many of some metal ions, like copper, can interact with amyloid-beta proteins in ways that lead to protein aggregation, but most experiments have only shown the end result, not the interactions and aggregation process itself,” Mackiewicz said. “We developed a method that lets us observe those interactions live, second by second, and directly measure how different molecules interrupt or reverse them. It shifts the question from ‘does something work?’ to ‘how does it work, and when?’” read more

IMAGE: the gentle author