A team of researchers, with participation of CIC biomaGUNE, CIC bioGUNE, University of Antwerp, University of Extremadura and University of Vigo, has developed a new method for the detection of amyloid fibers from proteins that are usually implicated in Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s or those from prions.

Amyloid fibers are structures based on misfolded proteins which get organized into a helicoidal fiber. The misfolded proteins comprising these fibers are characterized by a strong union to each other, creating structures that are extraordinarily resistant to elimination. This type of structuras are observed in the encephalon of people affected by various neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s or prionic diseases (mad cow, etc.), in which neuronal death occurs because of the presence of such fibers. One of the features that these diseases share is the propagation of a specific protein that does not fold properly and accumulates in the form of the amyloid fibers.

The results of this work, which has been published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, open the door to new diagnostic methods for these neurodegenerative diseases. “Although the damage is made in the brain, it is believed that the fibers also form in other parts of the body and therefore we can think of an analysis system that helps complementing existing tests. Furthermore, from a more fundamental perspective, this technique allows us to carry out kinetic studies, i.e. investigating the rate of formation of the fibers under different conditions and, perhaps, understanding which are the parameters that can accelerate the process or even those that can stop it”, explains Luis Liz-Marzán, scientific director of CIC biomaGUNE, where he also works as a researcher of the Ikerbasque program, and coordinator of the work entitled “Detection of Amyloid Fibrils in Parkinson´s Disease Using Plasmonic Chirality”.