Nanoletters doi:10.1021/nl0808132 (2008)

Researchers have worked out how to detect trace amounts of amyloid-β protein that has undergone the conformational change seen in people with Alzheimer's disease.

Gerard Coté of Texas A&M University in College Station and his co-workers built a nanofluidic device able to concentrate amyloid-β proteins and gold nanoparticles at the entrance of a tiny channel by exploiting capillary flow. They then performed surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy on the concentrated amyloid-β proteins, searching out any with a structure predominantly composed of β-sheets, a common folding arrangement.

This may allow doctors to test the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with cognitive decline and identify those who will go on to develop Alzheimer's disease, the authors say.