Tell me as a Beginner

We all learned that proteins are fundamental components of all living cells: the cells in our own body, the bacteria and viruses that infect us, the plants and animals we eat.

Proteins can have many forms and functions; the hemoglobin that carries oxygen to our tissues, the insulin that signals our bodies to store excess sugar, the antibodies that fight infection, the molecules that allow our muscles to contract, and the collagen that makes up our tendons and ligaments (and even much of our bones).

Proteins

To make proteins, cells contain instruments known as ‘ribosomes’ that string together amino acids – the building blocks of proteins - into long, linear chains. Like shoelaces, these chains loop around each other in a variety of ways, i.e. they fold. But only one of these folding patterns allows the protein to function properly. Yet lack of function is not always the worst scenario. Similar to shoelace,  a hopelessly misfolded protein could be worse than one that will not stay properly folded. This is because a misfolded protein can actually poison the cells around it.

Misfolded proteins

A common element in misfolded proteins is the crossbeta structure, which provides for a signal to remove these obsolete proteins from the body. This mechanism, also referred to as a clearance pathway, has been discovered and patented by Crossbeta Biosciences and can be used for a variety of applications.

Pathway

This pathway can serve as target for treating diseases which are related to misfolded protein aggregates, i.e. Alzheimer’s disease and type-II diabetes. It is also anticipated that many other diseases may be associated with formation of toxic effects of misfolded protein aggregates. These targets provide new opportunities to prevent or cure illnesses for which there is no effective treatment today.

Alternatively crossbeta structures can be introduced into vaccines to boost their effectiveness and potency. This would diminish the need for chemical boosters which have adverse side effects.