Protein Regge Trajectories, Phase Coexistence and Physics of Alzheimer's Disease

Abstract: Alzheimer's disease causes severe neurodegeneration in the brain that leads to a certain death. The defining factor is the formation of extracellular senile amyloid plaques in the brain. However, therapeutic approaches to remove them have not been effective in humans, and so our understanding of the cause of Alzheimer's disease remains incomplete. Here we investigate physical processes that might relate to its onset. Instead of the extracellular amyloid, we scrutinize the intracellular domain of its precursor protein. We argue for a phenomenon that has never before been discussed in the context of polymer physics: Like ice and water together, the intracellular domain of the amyloid precursor protein forms a state of phase coexistence with another protein. This leads to an inherent instability that could well be among the missing pieces in the puzzle of Alzheimer's disease.