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New treatments could be found for long-term health problems such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease thanks to the ultra-powerful microscope technology.
Scientists at the University of Leeds have used multi-million-pound electronic microscopes to breakthrough in understanding the causes of disease.
State-of-the-art instruments have allowed them to reveal the structure of amyloid, an accumulation of abnormal proteins in the body related to Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's and Huntingdon.
The research team said drug companies could use their findings to develop treatments for amyloid diseases.
Professors Sheena Radford and Neil Ranson led a five-year project using two 10-foot cryo-electron microscopes at the University's Astbury Center for Structural Molecular Biology.
Professor Radford said, "We have used cryogenic microscopy to discover not only the shape and structure of amyloid proteins, but also how they develop and intertwine, like the strands of a rope, to form larger assemblies.
"This knowledge will be crucial to knowing how to handle them."
High-resolution images of proteins have been published in Nature Communications.
Prof Ranson said, "Until about a year ago, scientists knew that the structure looked more or less on a scale, but we have now shown that it was much more complex than that. We are now starting to see how different proteins bend into different shapes and how they vary with each disease they cause.
"The additional details we have uncovered allow us to begin to understand the abilities of these proteins to cause disease."
The team worked with Professor Bob Griffin of the Massachusetts Institute for Technology on the study.
Professor Ranson added that further research is being considered that could involve a drug manufacturer.
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