Neurotransmitter levels in the brain can indicate brain health and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's. However, the protective blood-brain barrier (BBB) makes delivering fluorescent sensors that can detect these small molecules to the brain difficult.
Neurotransmitter levels in the brain can indicate brain health and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's. However, the protective blood-brain barrier makes delivering fluorescent sensors that can detect these small molecules to the brain difficult. Now, researchers demonstrate a way of packaging these sensors for easy passage across the BBB in mice, allowing for improved brain imaging.
It is common for neurotransmitter levels to decrease with age, but low levels of the neurotransmitter adenosine triphosphate can be an indication of Alzheimer's disease. To measure the location and amount of ATP in the brain, researchers have developed fluorescent sensors from pieces of DNA called aptamers that light up when they bind to a target molecule.
In mouse models of Alzheimer's disease, the exosome-delivered sensors identified the location and concentration of ATP in different regions of the brain. Specifically, they observed low levels of ATP in the hippocampus, cortex and subiculum regions of the brain, which are indicative of the disease.
The blood-brain barrier is an imposing foe for gene therapy. Formed of cells wedged tightly together, the BBB keeps toxins and pathogens that may be present in the blood from entering brain ...
Alzheimer's Research Nervous System Brain-Computer Interfaces Alzheimer's Disorders And Syndromes Detectors Wearable Technology Medical Technology
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