Researchers from the Russian Academy of Sciences and the startup Lifemission have studied a peptide called HAEE that can inhibit the formation of amyloid plaques associated with Alzheimer’s disease. In a surprising discovery, they found that the substance occurs naturally in human blood, with levels approximately twice as low in patients with the disease as in healthy individuals. The findings were published in the journal PNAS Nexus.
The HAEE peptide (Ac-His-Ala-Glu-Glu-NH2) was developed to combat the accumulation of beta-amyloid in the brain. It binds zinc ions, which promote the aggregation of amyloid molecules into clusters. Experiments in mice also showed that synthetic HAEE directly reduced the number of amyloid plaques — protein deposits that can interfere with neuronal function.
While developing a method to measure the peptide’s concentration in blood ahead of potential clinical trials, the researchers detected it in samples from all 150 healthy volunteers. However, average HAEE levels in people with Alzheimer’s disease were found to be approximately half those observed in healthy participants.
The researchers suggest that the lower concentration may be associated with impaired peptide production or increased consumption in response to processes accompanying the disease. However, the precise role HAEE plays in the development of Alzheimer’s disease remains unknown.
In the future, the peptide could provide a basis for developing a new drug or serve as a biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease. However, further research is needed to establish its diagnostic value. In particular, the diagnoses in the current study were based on clinical signs and were not confirmed through neuroimaging or biomarker tests.
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