Associate Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering Regina M. Murphy and Assistant Professor of Chemistry Laura Kiessling have discovered a possible way to inhibit the formation of plaques in the brain, a primary characteristic of Alzheimer's disease. In studying the aggregation of beta-amyloid peptide (Aß) in the brain, Murphy and Kiessling identified specific factors that allow Aß to clump together. Aß has oily parts and water-soluble parts. Aß's oily parts stick together, leading to formation of large toxic clumps. The researchers designed and synthesized molecules which bind to Aß; when these molecules are added to Aß, Aß no longer forms the kind of fibrils that are found on the brains of Alzheimer's patients. Instead, Aß forms short bundles that are no longer toxic in cell cultures.

Murphy and Kiessling are working to increase the specificity of the hybrid molecule that prevents fibril formation and toxicity. Eventually they hope to create a compound that can be synthesized into an injectable treatment for Alzheimer's disease. Pictured: Murphy uses dynamic light-scattering techniques to analyze properties of proteins in solutions.