Alzheimer's disease is characterized by the presence of amyloid plaques* in the patient's brain. These plaques sequester copper, and contain approximately five times as much as a healthy brain. Two CNRS scientists from the Coordination Chemistry Laboratory recently developed, with their colleagues from the Guangdong University of Technology and Shenzhen University (China), a molecule that regulates the circulation of copper in the brain. This patented molecule** extracts the copper trapped in amyloid plaques, and reintroduces it in the brain's normal enzymatic circuit (which needs copper to function). Administered orally to "Alzheimer" mice,*** this molecule inhibits memory loss among sick mice. These results, which were published in ACS Chemical Neuroscience, open a new therapeutic avenue that could prove effective in early stages of Alzheimer's disease among humans. The scientists are now seeking a pharmaceutical partner to develop preclinical trials for this drug candidate.
