‘Nanosweepers’ could degrade beta amyloid to treat Alzheimer’s

Researchers at Beijing’s National Center for Nanoscience and Technology and colleagues published a paper in Nature Communications describing a self-destructive "nanosweeper" based on multifunctional peptide-polymers that improved memory deficits after capturing and degrading extracellular deposits of beta amyloid in the brains of mice, suggesting a potential new strategy to treat Alzheimer's disease.

Recent clinical data for several anti-beta amyloid mAbs, including solanezumab (LY2062430) from Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE:LLY), have not shown a correlation between plaque clearance and cognitive benefit (see BioCentury, Dec. 16, 2016)...