Neuroscience

New solutions for neurodegenerative diseases needed

The aetiology of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, dementia and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease are still not fully understood, and most existing drugs only treat symptoms. Further understanding of the molecular processes in particular the triggers and early stages of the disease are important to identify potential new drugs. Plate readers can help clarify mechanisms and to identify new drugs.

The disruption of mitochondrial function is known to be linked to neurodegenerative diseases. The presence and progressive accumulation of specific protein aggregates in the brain is the most defining feature across all major neurodegenerative diseases. Aggregation-prone proteins include α-synuclein, amyloid-β, tau, prion and polyglutamine-containing proteins. Solving the molecular basis of protein misfolding and aggregation is a crucial step towards the comprehension of the factors that trigger the onset of these diseases and for the development of efficient therapeutical strategies. One of these could be the development of inhibitors of aggregation as highlighted in the application note ‘Peptidic inhibitors of α-Synuclein that prevent Parkinson-associated fibrilization and cytotoxicity’.

Besides human health, prion research has also an economic relevance as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies do not only affect humans but also livestock such as cattle and sheep.

Explore the content below to understand how BMG LABTECH instruments can support research in neurobiology including aggregation assays, viability assays and toxicity assays to assist in understanding neuronal death and in degeneration biomarker quantification. Microplate readers can also be used to analyse hyper-bilirubinemia levels to determine the risk of encephelopathy.