Chemists develop new method for selective binding of proteins

A new method of selectively binding proteins to nanoparticles has been described by a team of German and Chinese researchers headed by Prof. Bart Jan Ravoo, a chemist at the University of Münster (Germany). The nanoparticles automatically recognize specific peptides, i.e. small proteins, and enter into highly selective binding with them. Among the model peptides the researchers examined were amyloids. Deposits of amyloids play a major role in Alzheimer's disease, for example, so the researchers are hoping that the mechanism they have discovered might provide a new approach to treating diseases in which such deposits occur. The study has been published in the latest issue of Nature Chemistry.

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