SOBA: Development and testing of a soluble oligomer binding assay for detection of amyloidogenic toxic oligomers

Early detection and disease-modifying treatments are necessary to combat Alzheimer's disease. A first step in that process is early diagnosis to intervene before irreparable damage occurs, which is estimated to begin 10 to 20 y before the presentation of symptoms. The earlier discovery of α-sheet structure during conformational changes associated with amyloidogenesis led to a potential target for selective and early detection of these oligomers. Here we show that a de novo designed α-sheet peptide neutralizes the toxic effect of Aβ oligomers on neuronal signaling and serves as a capture agent for their detection. The presence of α-sheet Aβ oligomers in plasma, as detected with SOBA, is highly correlated with Alzheimer's disease.