Patching Amyloid Surface onto a Soluble Protein
Official title: Patching Amyloid Surface onto Soluble Protein
Funded at Brandeis University · NIH-11396540 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A study to create a new soluble protein model that mimics Alzheimer’s-related amyloid shapes so researchers can better understand how these harmful forms behave and test potential treatments.
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 | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $249,000 |
| NIH project number | 5R00AG084926-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11396540 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
This grant is a preclinical tool development project and does not involve patient recruitment; however, it could ultimately benefit patients by advancing drug discovery for AD/ADRD.
✕Less likely to help
Healthy individuals or researchers not working on amyloid-related diseases may not directly benefit.
What this research studies
This project aims to build a soluble protein that presents Alzheimer’s disease amyloid shapes observed in patients, enabling lab study without dealing with insoluble aggregates. By leveraging de novo design and advanced structural insights from cryo-EM, researchers will create reversible models of tau-associated amyloid structures. The approach could streamline drug screening by providing a workable system to test how potential therapies interact with disease-relevant conformations. The work is designed to bridge basic science with tools that support future therapeutic discovery in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this model could accelerate the discovery of treatments by enabling easier screening and characterization of compounds that target disease-relevant amyloid conformations.
How similar studies have gone: Previous work shows that reproducing disease-relevant amyloid conformations is challenging, and this project proposes a novel soluble model to address that gap.
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.