2013-2014 Alzheimer’s and Related Diseases Research Award*

*The Virginia Center on Aging which administers the Alzheimer’s and Related Diseases Research Award Fund for the Commonwealth of Virginia, provides seed money to researchers in Virginia to stimulate innovative research into biomedical and psychosocial aspects of dementia, including cell biology, caregiving, and animal modeling.

The Multiple Molecular Appearances of Amyloid-β Aggregates in Alzheimer’s Disease 

Dexian Ye, Ph.D. and Joseph Reiner, Ph.D.

Virginia Commonwealth University 

Amyloid-beta (Aβ) proteins undergo structural changes in patients with AD. The proteins become misfolded and aggregate to form larger structures which cause dysfunction in the brain. How the structures are formed is not clear due to the lack of suitable detection techniques. In this project, the investigators will study the structure of Aβ assemblies by combining two nanotechnology methodologies. Extremely small holes and metallic needles will be engineered for the detection of these assemblies. The combined methodology will be used to examine Aβ aggregates in situ during their misfolding and aggregation processes. The success of this project could offer an ultrasensitive diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease at very early stages.

(Dr. Ye may be contacted at 804/827-1718, dye2@vcu.edu; Dr. Reinter may be contacted at 804/828- 7079, jereiner@vcu.edu)

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