Developing novel materials that capture the Alzheimer's disease associated protein Abeta for therapeutic & detection applications.

Since Alois Alzheimer first discovered the pathology of the disease bearing his appellation in 1906, the number of people diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been on the rise.

AD is a progressive neurodegenerative disease and the most common cause of dementia in the US.

In 2005 more than 4.5 millions people were reported to have AD.

At the present time there is no cure or definitive diagnosis for AD.

Upon autopsy, the disease can be diagnosed by the presence of senile plaques surrounded by dead or dying neurons in the cortex.

The primary protein component found within the senile plaques is called beta-Amyloid peptide (Abeta).

Abeta has been implicated as the neurotoxic agent in AD.

As a potential strategy to either sequester Abeta, thereby preventing its neurotoxicity, or capture Abeta for the purpose of detection and disease diagnosis, new materials have been synthesized that bind Abeta.

These materials are inspired by the cell surface molecules to which Abeta binds and contain multivalent sialic acid.

Materials were tested in both toxicity prevention and detection assay formats.

Mathematical models of Abeta interaction with materials were developed to explore the mechanism of action of these materials in toxicity prevention.

Experimentally, materials were optimized for Abeta binding on a substrate appropriate for in vitro assay development.

This work provides the foundation for the design of new therapeutic and diagnostic approaches for use in AD.