The Effect of 3,4-Dihydroxymandelic Acid and Normetanephrine on Amyloid-beta 40 Monomer Aggregation in Alzheimer's Disease Using Molecular Modeling

Abstract

Alzheimer’s disease is the one of the most common types of degenerative dementia. It is known to cause memory loss and loss of other intellectual abilities. The formation of neurotoxic plaque composed of amyloid beta fibrils has been found in a relatively high portion of Alzheimer patient’s brains. Investigation into the mechanism of beta amyloid protein aggregation discovered that the initial amyloid beta monomer structure misfolds to form oligomers and fibrils as the disease progresses. 3,4 – Dihydroxymandelic acid and normetanephrine are metabolites of norepinephrine found in the brain. These chemical have been found to have an effect on fibril formation and aggregation through in vitro experiments. In this study, molecular dynamic modeling methods will be used to discover the effect of 3,4 – dihydroxymandelic acid and normetanephrine have on the amyloid beta 40 monomer as well as try to understand its mechanism.