Sjors Scheres has created an algorithm to look in detail at the proteins that cause brain disease

The first images of these accumulations in the brain of an Alzheimer’s patient were taken nearly a century ago

If I’m being really honest, I’m basically seeing a black and white box of blocks…

“Yes, The real magic happens on the inside…It’s running now so we can’t look at it. But imagine it this way: a robot arm holds the frozen grid in place and then shoots all kinds of electrons through it. We can then see these protein images in 3D down to the atomic scale on a computer. The microscope here is specially placed on the ground floor, on a thick concrete slab – if you’re working with atomic precision, you don’t want unwanted vibrations.

“Here, for example, you see a beautiful thread of tau protein. Elongated fibers that look innocent enough in themselves. But unwanted accumulations of these threads are occurring in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. They appear to differ in shape from the tau proteins found in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. In healthy people, in cross-section it has a distinctive C-shape: the “Alzheimer’s structure.”

Thanks to this microscope and your algorithm, we can study this structure in 3D?

“The first images of these accumulations were taken in the brain of an Alzheimer’s patient nearly a century ago, using polarized light. Later, these individual strands were studied in more detail using X-rays and ‘regular’ electron microscopy.” Cryo-EM was initially produced Very low accuracy.It was not without reason that it became the method blobology The name of the thing. But around 2013, a decision revolution occurred. On the one hand, electron detectors have become more precise, and on the other hand, Relion has allowed us to make good 3D images of proteins for the first time. Including tau proteins from the brains of deceased Alzheimer’s patients.

My father was a village vet, and I wanted to be one too

What is the function of tau proteins?

“In the brains of healthy people, they appear to ensure the stability of microtubules, which are the transport tubes in cells. In principle, our genes determine the order of amino acids, which in turn determines the three-dimensional structure and function of the final proteins. But sometimes something goes wrong. Then some proteins fold.” “Into a different form, there seems to be a snowball effect where you encourage other proteins to do the same thing. They eventually accumulate.”

So, Alzheimer’s isn’t the only disease where things go wrong?

“Strikingly, you also see C-shaped strands of tau proteins in chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a disease in which nerve cells die due to repetitive traumatic brain injury, for example in professional rugby players or boxers. But the C-shaped strands are different in shape: “They’re less closed than they are in Alzheimer’s disease. You also have neurodegenerative diseases in which another protein causes problems. Parkinson’s disease, for example. Proteins can take different shapes in different diseases.”

The MRC laboratory is built in the shape of an X – “a reference to the shape of chromosomes”. It is a world-renowned research institute in the field of molecular biology. It is no coincidence that vaccine developer AstraZeneca is moving to Cambridge. “They’re across the street now.” Sheris takes the stairs to the top floor. “From the restaurant there you can enjoy a beautiful view of Cambridge.”

Shires grew up in northern Limburg. “My father was a village vet, and I wanted to be one too. But when I was selected for veterinary medicine, I decided to study chemistry. While doing his PhD, he wanted to unravel the structure of a protein, but laboratory research – purifying proteins – did not suit him. “A lot of absurdity. Then I started developing software to help uncover those structures.

We can already take images of solid protein molecules with an atomic resolution of 0.1 nanometers

At first I worked mainly with X-rays.

“Yes, but it was already automated to the point that there was little possible in terms of software improvement. That’s when I started focusing on cryo-EM. This method was still in its infancy.”

but now…

“…The squors of twenty years ago would also find that this is not challenging enough, haha. Yes, we have come a long way with cryo-EM technology. But there are still challenges. We can already take images of solid protein molecules with an atomic resolution of 0.1 nanometers. Just: Most proteins are very mobile. That’s why we now want to use artificial intelligence to ensure that these molecules can also be imaged down to the atomic level. At the same time, we want to reveal the protein structures of neurodegenerative diseases in more detail. If we can recreate these structures, We hope this will lead to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms behind them, and who knows, this may one day lead to better diagnosis and treatment.