Blood test reads protein shapes to detect early Alzheimer’s
Feb 28th 2026
A study in Nature Aging shows that profiling protein shapes in plasma from 520 people can classify healthy aging, mild cognitive impairment, and Alzheimer’s disease with a three-protein structural signature, though larger and longer studies are still needed.
- Researchers used chemical tagging and mass spectrometry to map which parts of blood proteins are exposed or buried, revealing structural changes linked to cognitive decline.