Understanding the antimicrobial activity of amyloid peptides

微生物对大脑的攻击被认为是痴呆症的潜在根源，包括阿尔茨海默氏病（AD），它现在是英国的第二大死因。AD的定义诊断标志是大脑中淀粉样β蛋白（ABeta）斑块的存在。这些斑块的确切生理作用尚不清楚，但最近的研究表明与细菌浸润大脑有直接联系。在这个项目中，你将探索ABeta肽的抗菌特性，并确定它们的作用机制。

Microbial attack on the brain has been suggested as a potential root-cause for dementia,including Alzheimer's disease (AD), which is now the second leading cause of death in the UK.The defining diagnostic marker of AD is the presence of amyloid-Beta (ABeta) plaques in the brain.The precise physiological role of these plaques remains unclear, but recent work issuggesting a direct connection to bacterial infiltration of the brain. In this project you willexplore the antimicrobial properties of ABeta peptides and determine their mechanisms ofactivity.