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Amyloidogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein

Amyloidogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein
Infection with SARS-CoV-2 leads to patients developing the COVID-19 disease, which is a complex hyperinflammatory syndrome, characterised by acute respiratory distress (ARD). Aside from these severe respiratory symptoms, we now know that the virus can present in unexpected, varied, and long-lasting manners. Recent studies hint towards the amyloidogenicity of the...
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Lewy body formation in seeding based neuronal models

Lewy body formation in seeding based neuronal models
Parkinson’s disease is a brain disorder that causes unintended or uncontrollable movements, such as shaking, stiffness, and difficulty with balance and coordination. Symptoms usually begin gradually and worsen over time. As the disease progresses, people may have difficulty walking and talking. The basis of these symptoms is progressive neurodegeneration and...
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Prolonged stress leads to accumulation of misfolded proteins in the nucleolus

Prolonged stress leads to accumulation of misfolded proteins in the nucleolus
The nuclear proteome is rich in proteins which are prone to aggregate upon conformational stress. This might explain why intranuclear inclusions can often be found in neurodegenerative disorders associated with protein aggregation. Using a combination of fluorescence imaging, biochemical analyses, and proteomics, researchers at Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry around...
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Amytracker can be used for intracerebral multiphoton microscopy

Amytracker can be used for intracerebral multiphoton microscopy
A team of researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School as well as Linköping University have used a fluorescent probe of the same type as Amytracker for multiphoton imaging of Amyloid-β deposits in transgenic mice in vivo. The fluorescent molecule clearly targeted and labeled core plaques in the...
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The clue to detect multiple systems atrophy?

The clue to detect multiple systems atrophy?
In a study, recently published in Nature, a fluorescent tracer molecule similar to Amytracker has been used to detect α-synuclein aggregates in cerebrospinal fluid from patients with synucleopathy. Interestingly, the fluorescent tracer molecule was binding aggregates from patients with Multiple Systems Atrophy with higher affinity than aggregates from patients with...
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Anomalous fibrin amyloid formation

Anomalous fibrin amyloid formation
Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) from the Gram-negative cell envelope can be shed from dormant bacteria or from continual bacteria entry into the blood and serve to contribute to the chronic inflammation. The presence of highly substoichiometric amounts of LPS from Gram-negative bacteria caused fibrinogen clotting to lead to the formation of an...
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Amyloids in type-2 diabetes

Amyloids in type-2 diabetes
Type-2 diabetes is a progressive condition marked by resistance towards the blood-sugar regulating hormone insulin. Recently, Type-2 diabetes is become recognized as an inflammatory condition which is often accompanied by cardiovascular complications. The teams around Prof. Etheresia Pretorius from Stellenbosh University and Prof. Douglas B. Kell from the University of...
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Advanced imaging

Advanced imaging
In a new study in the Journal of visualized experiments, the team around Prof. Peter Nilsson and Prof. Per Hammarström from Linköpings University describe how luminescent conjugated oligothiophenes (LCOs) can be used with Hyperspectral Imaging (HIS) and Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging (FLIM) to detect amyloid species. In a practical approach, the...
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Protein engineering for better PET radioligands

Protein engineering for better PET radioligands
An approved method for visualization of Amyloid β (Aβ) plaques in patients suffering from Alzheimer's disease is Positron Emission Tomography (PET). This method requires a radiolabeled amyloid ligand. A frequently used molecule is Pittsburgh Compound B (PIB) which is a derivative of Thioflavin T. Radiolabeled PIB is well-suited to visualize...
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Artifical amyloids

Artifical amyloids
A team of scientists around Frederic Rousseau from Switch Laboratory at KU Leuven have designed a biologically active amyloid from a peptide sequence occurring in vascular endothelial growth factor 2 (VEGFR2). The peptide, which the researchers named vascin forms artificial amyloids. The results show, however, that vascin amyloids are not...
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