Nanoprobe enables measurement of protein dynamics in living cells
Tuesday, June 14, 2016 - 11:31
in Biology & Nature
A team of researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the Rowland Institute at Harvard University have used a specialized nanoprobe developed by the Harvard/Rowland investigators to directly measure levels of key proteins within living, cultured cells. As described in the journal Nano Letters, the investigators used the device to track levels of the Alzheimer's-disease-associated proteins amyloid-beta (A-beta) and tau in neurons and other cells exposed to an anesthetic known to produce Alzheimer's-like changes in the brains of mice. Their results support the view that the generation of A-beta is among the first steps leading to the characteristic neurodegeneration of Alzheimer's disease.