"We have found that two peptides, must be in balance for normal function," said Chunyu Wang, lead researcher and assistant professor of biology at Rensselaer. "They are like the Yin and Yang in Taiji, an ancient Chinese philosophy. When the peptides are produced in the correct proportions, the brain is healthy; but when that delicate balance is changed, pathological changes will occur in the brain and the person¡¯s memories become hazy, leading to eventual dementia."

Wang expects that this imbalance could be the main factor in the progression of Alzheimer's disease. If correct, the addition of 40 may stop the disease's development. Wang notes that further research is needed, but his preliminary results challenge the current mode of thinking about how these peptides contribute to the progression of the disease.

The research will be published in the June edition of the Journal of Molecular Biology.

Peptides are formed by the linking of different amino acids. The two peptides that Wang investigated were both Amyloid peptides -specifically those composed of 40 and 42 amino acids. These two peptides have been previously found in deposits, called senile plaques or amyloid plaques, in brains afflicted with Alzheimer's disease. These plaques, mainly composed of 42 fibrils, are a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease.