When proteins get stuck at the solid phase: Unlocking the secrets to brain diseases
Originally published by University of Sydney on August 24, 2023 Nanoscale scan image showing protein condensate interaction. Credit: The University of Sydney Many diseases affecting the brain and nervous system are linked to the formation of protein aggregates , or solid condensates , in cells from their liquid form condensate, but little is known about this process . This liquid-to-solid transition can trigger the formation of what are called amyloid fibrils . These can further form plaques in neurons causing neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's . Biomedical engineers at the University of Sydney , in collaboration with scientists at the University of Cambridge and Harvard University , have now developed sophisticated optical techniques to monitor at close range the process by which these protein aggregates form. By testing a protein associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis—ALS disease, which affected astrophysicist Professor Stephen Hawking—...