A team led by the Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur (IIT Jodhpur) has developed an efficient fluorescent molecular probe that can be used in the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. It was discovered not only by researchers from IIT Jodhpur, but other institutions were also involved in contributing. This research has been done in collaboration with IIT Kharagpur and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research- Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata.
Alzheimer’s disease is believed to be caused by an abnormal build-up of plaque in and around brain cells. Plaques are aggregates of a type of small protein (peptide) called amyloid-beta (Aβ).
According to the Dementia India Report 2010 by the Alzheimer’s and Related Disorders Society of India (ARDSI), India will have around 7.6 million Indians with Alzheimer’s and other dementia conditions by 2030, IIT Jodhpur statement said.
Highlighting his research, Dr S Ghosh, Professor, Department of Bioscience and Bioengineering and Dean, Research and Development, IIT Jodhpur said: Fluorescence probes can enable rapid and safe analytical sensing due to the absence of radioactive chemicals or costly equipment.
He added that optical imaging systems that use fluorescent or color-based chemicals to target tissues and molecules of interest are considered better diagnostic techniques in the biomedical field of science.
The research results, said a statement from IIT Jodhpur, in a paper recently co-authored by CSIR – Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata and Dr K Pradhan (Senior Research Fellow, CSIR-Indian) in the journal ACS Chemical Neuroscience has been published. Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata.
Dr. S. Ghosh, Professor, Department of Bioscience and Bioengineering, IIT Jodhpur along with his fellows R. Mallesh, J. Khan and R. Roy and Prof. N.R. Jana, Head, Department of Biosciences, IIT Kharagpur, Dr. P. Jaishankar, Head, Division of Organic and Medicinal Chemistry.
Researchers have successfully designed and developed a series of benzothiazole-based fluorescent molecules that can selectively bind to Aβ aggregates.
All these molecules were observed to emit fluorescence in one color when unbound, and the emission color shifted to red with a concomitant increase in fluorescence intensity in the visible light (rainbow-purple indigo blue green yellow orange red) spectrum.
