Amyloid Peptide Conjugates: Visit to Argentina to Develop Collaboration

我们建议启动一项合作计划，在体外和体内检测多肽/聚合物结合物对淀粉样蛋白纤化的影响。这种结合物有望与淀粉样蛋白结合，并破坏纤维化。雷丁团队的成员将访问阿根廷布宜诺斯艾利斯的Leloir研究所，进行细胞存活/细胞毒性实验。Leloir研究所是由诺贝尔奖获得者Luis Federico Leloir创立的，是南美洲致力于生物化学的主要机构之一，确实具有领先的国际形象。Leloir团队的成员将访问雷丁进行X射线、中子和电子显微镜实验。阿尔茨海默病和II型糖尿病等疾病对发达国家老龄化人口的重要性与日俱增。它们是由淀粉样蛋白形成的结果，在淀粉样蛋白中，蛋白质和多肽形成基于β-片状结构的纤维，其中肽的主干与纤维轴垂直(交叉β-结构)。我们建议启动一项合作计划，在体外和体内检测多肽/聚合物结合物对淀粉样蛋白纤化的影响。这种结合物有望与淀粉样蛋白结合，并以刺激反应的方式破坏纤维化。人类淀粉样多肽Abeta与阿尔茨海默病有关。

We propose to initiate a collaborative programme to examine the effect of peptide/polymer conjugates on amyloid fibrillisation in vitro and in vivo. The conjugates are expected to bind to amyloid and to disrupt fibrillisation. Members of the Reading team will visit Instituto Leloir (Buenos Aires, Argentina) to perform cell viability/cytotoxicity experiments. The Instituto Leloir was founded by the Nobel laureate Luis Federico Leloir and is one of the premier institutions devoted to biochemistry in South America, indeed it has a leading international profile. Members of the Leloir team will visit Reading for x-ray, neutron and electron microscopy experiments. Diseases such as Alzheimer's and type II diabetes are of increasing importance to the aging population in the developed world. They result result from the formation of amyloid in which proteins and peptides form fibrils based on a beta-sheet structure in which the peptide backbone is orthogonal to the fibril axis (cross beta structure). We propose to initiate a collaborative programme to examine the effect of peptide/polymer conjugates on amyloid fibrillisation in vitro and in vivo. The conjugates are expected to bind to amyloid and to disrupt fibrillisation in a stimuli-responsive fashion. The human amyloid peptide, Abeta is implicated in Alzheimers.