A test that exploits the abnormal stickiness of misfolded proteins could one day be used to diagnose Alzheimer's disease, reports a team led by Claudio Soto at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston.

The team adapted an amplification assay, originally developed for prion diseases. The new test used certain proteins as seeds that trigger clumping of malformed amyloid-β proteins, creating aggregates that are typical of the disease. When tested on patient samples from three centres, the assay distinguished the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with Alzheimer's from that of people with other neurological diseases, with 90% sensitivity and 92% specificity. The researchers are investigating why the test did not work on samples from a fourth centre.

Cell Rep. http://doi.org/r3b (2014)