Tiny particles helped mouse brains clear the protein linked to Alzheimer's by nearly half

In Barcelona and Chengdu, researchers have built microscopic particles that help the brain's border control do its clearing job better. The particles support a gateway protein in the blood-brain barrier that ferries amyloid-beta — a protein that builds up in Alzheimer's disease — out of the brain and into the blood. In mice bred to develop Alzheimer's-like changes, brain amyloid fell by nearly 45 percent within two hours of treatment, blood levels rose eightfold, and memory-test benefits were still detectable six months later. The work, in Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy, is in animals only — human testing lies ahead.

SDG 3 · Good health and well-being — Mechanism: tech innovation