Chemists make headway in Alzheimer’s research

Chemists at the Ferrier Research Institute have discovered a way to create molecules for controlling the process that leads to Alzheimer's disease.

Victoria University of Wellington researchers have made a significant step forward in the search for a treatment for Alzheimer's disease.

Chemists at the Ferrier Research Institute have discovered a way to create molecules for controlling the process that leads to the brain disease.

In 2013, Ferrier chemists synthesised a type of complex sugar for the same purpose, which involved a challenging 55 step process. The new approach reduces the number of reaction steps by half.

“We wanted to simplify the synthesis without losing potency, which is quite challenging,” says project leader Dr Olga Zubkova. “The new products will be easier and cheaper to make, and allow us to prepare larger amounts for testing.”

Through the joint project, Ferrier chemists Dr Zubkova and Professor Peter Tyler worked with Professor Jeremy Turnbull and Dr Scott Guimond from University of Liverpool to construct new molecules that have critical functions that control enzyme activity in the brain.

“We designed a more simplified core for the molecules by replacing fragments with smaller and cheaper carbon versions,” says Dr Zubkova. “Though we significantly simplified the structures we still saw impressive amounts of bioactivity.”

Dr Zubkova says this provides a highly desirable product that could be used in the development of new treatments.

“These molecules involve sophisticated chemistry processes and have the ability to target specific enzymes, which is crucial for pharmaceutical application. This is useable in the development of treatments, not only for Alzheimer’s disease, but also cancer and diabetes.”

The research, published in prestigious international journal Angewandte Chemie, was supported by funding from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

The team has prepared a large collection of the molecules, including 11 final products as pure single-entities.

“These cluster compounds are much less complex and have the ability to target specific enzymes”, says Dr Zubkova. “That’s a point of difference and what makes our compounds unique.”