Unlocking the Puzzle of Neurodegenerative Diseases

Postnova Analytics reports that the Department of Molecular Biology & Biotechnology at the University of Sheffield is using their AF2000 Field Flow Fractionation system to investigate the mechanism of amyloid formation, a protein mis-folding process implicated to be the cause of Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Dr Rosie Staniforth, Head of the research group at University of Sheffield commented: "It is exciting to think that understanding the mechanism of amyloid formation may be a step towards a universal cure since, so far, therapies have only been targeted at alleviating symptoms but cannot prevent or halt the onset of these devastating diseases."

Dr Staniforth added: "Postnova was a real surprise to us! We obtained money from the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) to buy this equipment and knew the real challenge was going to be working with amyloid beta, notorious as “the peptide from hell. We set the bar high by challenging different suppliers to produce data for us within a few days. Postnova came up trumps as their AF2000 FFF machine is truly user-friendly. It gave us the confidence that we were not facing a long period of method optimisation to get to where we needed. We particularly liked the frit-inlet option and the stream splitter which has allowed us to minimise concentrating the peptide on the system, something which leads to artefactual aggregation and incorrect conclusions. Postnova produced some very exciting preliminary data which we are now able to reproduce."

Despite having only had their AF2000 system for a matter of weeks, the University of Sheffield has already produced great data on amyloid beta protofibrils that match the information they had from electron microscopy but now reveals their contribution to the sample quantitatively. Sheffield researchers can now answer the question as to how significant the species they observe by electron microscopy is to the process of protein assembly and what percentage of the whole sample is in this oligomeric form.

The Postnova AF2000 is a high-performance Flow Field-Flow Fractionation (FFF) platform for separation of proteins, macromolecules and nanoparticles. Modular in design, the AF2000 incorporates the combined experience, expertise and technological advances from Postnova Analytics' nearly two decades of leadership in FFF. Incorporating a range of FFF modules in a single integrated system to provide universal separation, the AF2000 offers more flexibility, better performance and more robust results than any system before.

For further information on Field Flow Fractionation please visit www.postnova.com/af2000-overview.html.