A Cap That Blocks Disease
Treatments that inhibit the actions of certain protein molecules can stop feared diseases such as Alzheimer's and AIDS in their tracks. Similar structures are implicated in other fatal illnesses, so the technique may prove to have even broader effects.
Some of the molecules, called tau proteins, form amyloid fibers, watertight, elongated, interlocking protein chains that, in many ailments, destroy brain cells from the inside. This appears to be the mechanism behind Alzheimer's disease, Lou Gehrig's disease, Parkinson's disease, type II diabetes, mad cow disease and others, although the details are unclear.
Researchers were able to create a sort of cap that prevents the formation of these fibers, thereby preventing them from attacking the brain. The cap also works on another molecule, one that creates structures implicated in the transmission of HIV. If successful, it could nearly eliminate transmission risk.