Thermo Fisher Scientific and BrainMet Center Collaborate on Dementia Research

Thermo Fisher Scientific is collaborating with the Bioimaging of Metals in Brain and Metallomics (BrainMet) center in Germany to advance dementia research. This is to be achieved by studying the effects of metals and metalloproteins in ageing and in the origin of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases and Wilson's syndrome.

To carry out the challenging research in the BrainMet laboratory, a Thermo Scientific XSERIES 2 inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) was installed, combining third-generation collision cell and protective ion extraction technologies

with an ergonomic, compact design.

Analysts at the center are researching the quantitative distribution of essential and toxic metals in thin native tissue sections on the brain.

When combining the studies on the bioimaging of metals to metallomics it is possible to explore the relationship between

metal ions and metalloproteins in brain tissue and neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease.