Professor Zoya Leonenko’s team studies molecular mechanism of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In AD, amyloid peptides interact with the cellular membrane and kill neuronal cells. Using atomic force microscopy and other biophysical methods, her team studied various model lipid membranes that mimic healthy as well as diseased neuronal membranes, and put forward the hypothesis that changes in the lipid membrane due to aging may trigger amyloid toxicity and thus initiate the disease. Considering that there is currently no cure or prevention for AD, an understanding of these mechanisms may open a new avenue for the development of prevention strategies with the focus of keeping the neuronal membrane in a healthy state.
