Alzheimer’s therapy has click chemistry use, then remove, brain copper build-ups

Illustration of amyloid-beta peptide accumulating on amyloid fibrils which build up as dense amyloid plaques, as seen in Alzheimer's disease

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In situ drug synthesis catalysed by endogenous copper

Excess copper linked to Alzheimer’s disease can facilitate its own removal by catalysing the synthesis of a drug that sequesters copper, new research shows. The drug also photo-oxygenates amyloid-β plaques, causing them to break up. Tests on Alzheimer’s disease models, using the common laboratory worm Caenorhabditis elegans, showed that the therapy could suppress amyloid-β-mediated paralysis.