New test paves way for potential treatments to target Alzheimer's and other conditions
The new methodology involves easily trapping proteins that bear a specific modification that can provide potential markers for conditions. The specific modification is based on sugar and when attached to a protein affects how the protein functions. Protein modification is a normal, carefully regulated cellular function, but in some instances this can go wrong. Alzheimer's, along with other conditions including cancers, type 2 diabetes, and cardio-vascular disease, is affected by dysregulation (abnormal or imperfect regulation) of these sugar modifications to proteins. Identifying such proteins is a key step in understanding their involvement in these various conditions. The newly developed methodology could open the way for treatments that target these protein alterations, and ultimately the condition. Previously, capturing these proteins has been very difficult as the sugar modification was prone to falling off the protein. In order to capture them, researcher's req...