Researchers have shown that the accumulation of "amyloid beta", one of the two main proteins implicated in Alzheimer's disease, causes the cells to warm up.

Researchers have shown that a buildup of amyloid-beta, one of the two key proteins implicated in Alzheimer's disease, causes cells to overheat to "fry like eggs".

Researchers from the University of Cambridge used sensors small and sensitive enough to detect temperature changes within individual cells, and found that when beta-amyloid misses and clumps together, it causes the cells to overheat.

In an experiment using human cell lines, the researchers found that the heat from the buildup of amyloid beta can cause healthy amyloid beta to build up, causing more and more aggregates to form.

In the same series of experiments, the researchers also showed that the accumulation of "amyloid beta" can be stopped, and the cell temperature lowered, with the addition of a drug compound, and the experiments also indicate that the compound has potential as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease, although extensive testing and clinical trials will be required first. .

The researchers say their test could be used as a diagnostic tool for Alzheimer's disease, or to screen for potential drug candidates. The results were published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Alzheimer's disease affects an estimated 44 million people worldwide and there are currently no effective diagnoses or treatments.

In Alzheimer's disease, beta-amyloid and another protein called tau builds up into tangles and plaques, collectively known as clumps, causing brain cell death and brain shrinkage. This results in memory loss, personality changes and difficulty performing daily functions.

This disease is difficult to study, because it develops over decades and a definitive diagnosis can only be made after examining samples of brain tissue after death. It is still unknown what kind of biochemical changes within the cell lead to the accumulation of amyloid-beta.