Nanopore diagnostic tool to diagnose neurodegenerative diseases, investigating the protein molecules tau and tubulin that cause Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.
Tau and tubulin are the main cause of many neuro degenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Most of the progression of neurodegenerative diseases is associated with the accumulation of these proteins in the brain.
Inspired by one of his doctoral students who wanted to investigate protein tau and tubulin, Jiali Li, professor of physics at the University of Arkansas, and his team developed a unique detection device based on silicon nitride nanopores.
In the Journal of Applied Physics, from AIP Publications, Acharjee et al present this device, designed to provide quantitative information about tau and tubulin protein molecules and their aggregate state at the single molecular level in their environment (Nanopore diagnostic tool to diagnose neurodegenerative diseases).
To create the sensor, the team investigated how the protein changes the current and voltage passing through the nano pore system.
“Ohm’s law is the fundamental physics that allows nano pore devices to detect protein molecules,” Li said. When placed in a solution with salt ions, the application of an electrical voltage causes the ions to pass through the hole, or nano pore. This, in turn, results in an open-pore ion current.
When a charged protein molecule – several thousand times as much as an ion – is close to the nanopore, it is drawn into the nanopore and blocks certain ions. This causes the lens hole to collapse.
Li said: “How much current is produced by the protein molecule is proportional to the volume or size and shape of the protein.” “This means that if protein A binds to protein B, it will cause the current drop to correspond to the volume. of A + B, and the total protein A will cause something like the current amount.
This allows Li and his team to investigate protein binding and aggregation in nanopore devices. The length of time a protein stays in a nanopore is proportional to its charge, which also provides valuable information about the protein molecule.
“Our study shows that the silicon nitride nanopore device can measure the volume of tau and tubulin protein molecules and their aggregation under different biological conditions, which gives us a better understanding of the protein aggregation process, and the development of drugs or other. therapeutic methods . to treat neurodegenerative diseases,” said Li.
Using their powerful nanopore device, along with other nanotechnology tools, “we plan to carefully analyze the protein aggregation process under different biological conditions, such as temperature, pH, and concentration. and salt ,” he said.
