Making soluble proteins that mimic Alzheimer’s amyloid surfaces
Official title: Patching Amyloid Surface onto Soluble Protein
Funded at Brandeis University · NIH-11379754 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Researchers are creating soluble protein copies of the amyloid surfaces seen in Alzheimer's and related dementias to help find drugs and understand different disease forms.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Brandeis University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Waltham, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2024 |
| Project end | August 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $244,022 |
| NIH project number | 4R00AG084926-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11379754 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
The research is relevant to people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease or Alzheimer’s-related dementias and to those willing to donate samples or participate in future translational studies.
✕Less likely to help
Patients looking for immediate treatment or symptom relief are unlikely to benefit directly from this basic laboratory research.
What this research studies
This project will design small, water-soluble proteins that present the same surface shapes found on insoluble amyloid clumps in Alzheimer’s and related dementias, using high-resolution structures from patient-derived samples. Scientists will test how tau and other amyloid-forming proteins interact with these designed mimics to recreate disease-specific molecular shapes in the lab. By making large amounts of soluble, stable mimics, the team aims to enable drug screening and mechanistic studies that are hard to do with insoluble deposits. This is laboratory-focused work that could support future patient-facing studies rather than providing direct treatment now.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could speed development of therapies that target the specific amyloid shapes driving different forms of dementia.
How similar studies have gone: Researchers have recently solved many amyloid structures with cryo-EM, but using de novo designed soluble protein mimics for mapping and drug screening is a relatively new and still experimental approach.
Where this research is happening
-
Brandeis University
Waltham, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Yang, Hyunjun — Brandeis University
- Study coordinator: Yang, Hyunjun
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.