Long-circulating Janus nanorods to inhibit amyloid aggregation and toxicity – JAROD

The misfolding and aggregation of peptides and proteins into beta-sheet-enriched amyloid fibrils are associated with severe human diseases including Alzheimer’s disease, spongiform encephalitis, type 2 diabetes and Parkinson’s disease. The objective of this proposal is to elaborate and test smart nanoparticles that will be able to clean the blood from aberrant peptides and thus avoid their aggregation. These nanoparticles are Janus nanorods with two faces that can be functionalized differently and independently. One face will be functionalized to selectively interact with and trap the soluble forms of aberrant amyloid peptides, and the other face will be functionalized to interact with serum albumin (in order to increase circulation time and orient the amyloid peptide biodistribution to the liver for destruction).