In Alzheimer’s disease, the degeneration of brain cells is linked to formation of toxic protein aggregates and deposits known as amyloid plaques. Similar processes also play an important role in type 2 diabetes. A research team under the lead of the Technical University of Munich has now developed “mini-proteins,” so-called peptides, which are able to bind the proteins that form amyloids and prevent their aggregation into cytotoxic amyloids.