Membrane-associated structure and the effect of metals on Abeta peptide from Alzheimer's disease

阿尔茨海默病目前影响着5%的65岁以上的澳大利亚人，如果没有有效的治疗方法，到2050年将增加两倍。许多研究都集中在患者脑组织中发现的独特的淀粉样蛋白沉积物上，以了解这种疾病的原因。最近的证据表明，神经细胞死亡实际上是由形成这些沉积物的蛋白质片段和金属的可溶形式直接引起的。我们将研究这些片段的具体分子结构与金属有关的囊泡模仿神经细胞表面。这些信息可能有助于未来的生物医学工作，以开发治疗方法，以及开发通用技术来研究类似的结构问题。

Alzheimer's disease currently affects 5% of Australians over 65, and will triple by year 2050 without an effective therapy. Much research to understand the causes of the disease has focused on the distinctive amyloid deposits found in patients' cerebral tissue. Recent evidence suggests that nerve cell death is actually directly caused by soluble forms of the protein fragments and metals that form these deposits. We will investigate the specific molecular structure of these fragments with metals in relation to vesicles which mimic the nerve cell surface. This information may facilitate future biomedical efforts work to develop therapies, as well as develop general techniques to study similar structural problems.