- Researchers have developed a new biosensor that can detect structural changes in proteins indicative of neurodegenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
- The sensor could aid early diagnosis of various conditions and help personalize treatment options.
- Further tests are needed to understand how accurate the biosensor is in real-life settings.
The most common neurodegenerative conditions are Alzheimer’s disease, which is estimated to affect 6.7 million people in the United States, and Parkinson’s disease, which affects nearly a million people in the U.S.
Most neurodegenerative conditions begin
While current diagnostic methods identify and quantify protein levels, they are
Structural changes are key to understanding how much neurodegeneration has occurred as misfolded proteins in multiple conditions — including
Oligomers are highly
Dr. Jennifer Bramen, a senior research scientist at the Pacific Neuroscience Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, CA, told Medical News Today:
“Current efforts are focused on exploring therapeutic approaches that target protein misfolding. However, the lack of biomarkers to monitor disease progression and assess treatment response poses a significant challenge to research and development in this field.”
Methods to detect…
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