Progetti di ricerca

The main cause of amyloidosis, degenerative diseases that include Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD) and type II diabetes, is the abnormal folding of specific proteins, resulting in their aggregation into lamellar fibrils and subsequent accumulation as deposits in various tissues of the… Leggi tutto body. In particular, soluble oligomers of amyloid protein beta (Aβ) are known to be among the toxic species for neurons in AD. Formation of the toxic aggregates occurs long before the clinical manifestation of symptoms such as: progressive impairment of cognitive functions (memory, reasoning, and language) and physical, auditory, and visual abilities; mood, orientation, and sleep disturbances. For this reason, oligomers have been tested as possible targets for drug development but, clinical translation from mouse models to humans has only been partially demonstrated. In fact, the FDA has approved the use of antibodies for the early treatment of AD, but their therapeutic efficacy in slowing cognitive decline has been the cause of controversy because of the negative balance between risk and benefit.