Overview

• Researchers from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Van Andel Institute report the findings in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology on August 21, 2025.
• Midkine prevents amyloid‑β from sticking together by inhibiting elongation and secondary nucleation during assembly formation.
• Thioflavin T fluorescence assays, circular dichroism, electron microscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance support a direct interaction between midkine and amyloid‑β.
• Alzheimer’s model mice lacking the midkine gene show increased amyloid‑β assemblies, indicating a protective role in vivo.
• The work is preclinical, and the team plans to map the binding interface to guide small‑molecule designs that could mimic midkine’s effect.