Development of fluorogenic sensor for imaging of Amyloid-? Plaques

Alzheimer’s disease is one of the hardest diseases to detect, even though an estimated 5.3 million Americans had Alzheimer’s disease in 2015, as reported by Alzheimer’s association. Alzheimer’s disease is known to be caused by amyloid-? plaques. Amyloid-? plaques are plaques that form in the spaces between nerve cells, greatly affecting the neuronal network which eventually leads to dementia. This research will develop a fluorescence probe that will attach to amyloid-? plaques, and light up under a specific wavelength. Fluorescence based mapping is one of the best analytical tools used for the detection of proteins. This research will specifically focus on synthesizing a library of 8-10 compounds enriched with nitrile groups, which will be exploited for fluorescence signaling of amyloid-? plaques. In the future, this will allow for bioimaging of probes in the cells, allowing for a quick detection of Alzheimer’s disease in patients.

Faculty Supervisor:

Kingsley Donkor

Student:

Partner:

Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee

Discipline:

Physics

Sector:

University:

Thompson Rivers University

Program:

Globalink Research Award