Scientists have achieved a groundbreaking discovery in Alzheimer’s research by mapping the molecular structures within a human brain using cryo-electron tomography, focusing on key proteins β-amyloid and tau associated with dementia. This study, conducted at the University of Leeds and published in Nature , provides insights into how these proteins disrupt brain functions and could pave the way for new therapeutic approaches for neurological diseases. Scientists researching Alzheimer’s disease have, for the first time, uncovered the structure of molecules within a human brain.
The findings, published in Nature , detail how researchers utilized cryo-electron tomography, assisted by fluorescence microscopy, to delve into the depths of a brain donated by an Alzheimer’s patient. This gave 3-dimensional maps in which they could observe proteins, the molecular building blocks of life a million times smaller than a grain of rice, within the brain. The study zoomed in on two proteins that cause dementia– ‘β-amyloid’, a protein that forms microscopic sticky plaques, and ‘tau’ – another protein that in Alzheimer’s disease forms abnormal filaments that grow inside cells and spread throughout the brain.
Left, fluorescence image of amyloid in cryo-preserved post-mortem human brain. Middle, 3-dimensional molecular architecture of β-amyloid plaque. Right, in-tissue structure of tau filaments within post-mortem brain.
Credit: University of Leeds This study revealed the.