Hybrid molecules may treat Alzheimer's

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Nov. 5 (UPI) -- University of Michigan scientists say they have developed new molecular tools that hold promise in Alzheimer's disease treatment.

The researchers, led by Professor Mi Hee Lim, said one of the mysteries of Alzheimer's disease is how protein-like snippets called amyloid-beta peptides can clump together, causing cell death, that leads to the disease's memory loss and other mental difficulties.

Although the exact mechanism for amyloid-beta clump formation isn't known, scientists do know that copper and zinc ions are somehow involved. Lim and coworkers said they used a new strategy to develop "bi-functional" small molecules that not only grab metal ions, but also interact with amyloid-beta.

"The idea is simple," said Lim. "We found molecules known for amyloid-beta recognition and then attached metal binding sites to them."

The scientists showed the bi-functional molecules were able to regulate copper-induced amyloid-beta aggregation, not only disrupting the formation of clumps, but also breaking up clumps that already had formed.

The research that included Associate Professor Ayyalusamy Ramamoorthy; postdoctoral fellow Sarmad Hindo; and Allana Mancino, Joseph Braymer, Yihong Liu and Subramanian Vivekanandan, appears in the early online edition of The Journal of the American Chemical Society.