Study gives new hope for the treatment of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases

Study gives new hope for the treatment of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases

Nanosized molecules of a specific chemical element can inhibit the formation of plaque in brain tissue. This new discovery by researchers at Umeå University, Sweden, in collaboration with researchers in Croatia and Lithuania offers new hope for novel treatments for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, for example, in the long term.

This is indeed a very important step that could form the basis for new and efficient treatments for neurodegenerative diseases in the future.”

Ludmilla Morozova-Roche, Professor, Umeå University

When proteins misfold, they form insoluble fibrils called amyloids, which are implicated in several serious diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, Corino de Andrade and mad cow disease. Amyloid aggregates kill neuronal cells and form amyloid plaques in brain tissue.

What researchers in Umeå in Sweden, Vilnius in Lithuania and Rijeka in Croatia have discovered is that certain nanoscale molecules can hinder the amyloid formation of the pro-inflammatory protein S100A9. These molecules are even capable of dissolving preformed amyloids, as demonstrated using atomic force microscopy and fluorescence techniques. The molecules are nanoscale polyoxoniobates, i.e. so-called polyoxometalate ions with a negative charge that contain the chemical element niobium.

“More research is needed before we can say with certainty that working treatments can be derived, but the results so far are proving very promising,” says Ludmilla Morozova-Roche.

The researchers worked with two different polyoxoniobate molecules, Nb10 and TiNb9. It turns out that both SI00A9 inhibit amyloids by forming ionic interactions with the positively charged areas on the protein surface, which are crucial for amyloid self-assembly.

The polyoxoniobate molecules examined are relatively chemically stable and water-soluble. The molecules are nanoscale, i.e. extremely small. Due to their high biocompatibility and stability, these nanomolecules may also be interesting for other medical applications such as implants.

At Umeå University, two research groups from the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Chemistry collaborated by looking at the problem from different angles and applying a wide range of biophysical and biochemical techniques as well as molecular dynamics simulations.

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