Nucleic Acid Aptamers As Research Tools And Diagnostic Reagents In Amyloid Disease

一些重大疾病，如阿尔茨海默氏症，S，现在已被认为是由我们体内蛋白质行为的错误引起的。通常情况下，可溶性蛋白质会变得粘稠，并开始聚集在一起，形成被称为淀粉样蛋白的聚集体。这种聚集过程会对身体内的组织造成损害，例如，阿尔茨海默病患者S的脑细胞死亡，导致记忆丧失，最终导致痴呆症。我们正在提议生产一种分子，从长远来看，医生可以使用这些分子来筛选淀粉样蛋白的存在，从而能够及早发现，甚至可能治疗这些毁灭性的疾病。

A number of major diseases such as Alzheimer s are now known to be caused by an error in the behaviour of the proteins within our bodies. Normally soluble proteins become sticky and begin to clump together forming aggregates called amyloid. This clumping process causes damage to the tissues within the body, for example the death of brain cells in Alzheimer s disease resulting in memory loss and ultimately dementia. We are proposing to produce molecules that in the long term could be used by doctors to screen for the presence of amyloid, allowing early detection and possibly even treatment of these devastating diseases.