Probing the Nongeneralized Amyloid Inhibitory Mechanism of Hydrophobic Chaperone

Unraveling the impact of tungsten disulfide quantum dots on human serum albumin conformational dynamics and fibrillation pathways: An integrated multi-spectroscopic, biochemical, and molecular docking investigation

Herein, the intricate molecular interplay between human serum albumin (HSA) and tungsten disulfide quantum dots (WS2 QDs) was probed using spectroscopic techniques and sophisticated molecular simulation methods. Fluorescence spectroscopy demonstrated that under physiological conditions, WS2 QDs forge a non-fluorescent ground-state complex with HSA, facilitated by hydrogen bonding and van der Waals forces, ultimately resulting in the static quenching of the protein's intrinsic fluorescence. Complementary site competition experiments and molecular docking simulations reinforced a precise 1: 1 binding stoichiometry, predominantly targeting HSA's Site I. Three-dimensional fluorescence spectroscopy revealed that WS2 QDs perturb the HSA polypeptide backbone, subtly modifying the microenvironment surrounding aromatic amino acid residues. This alteration was further corroborated by circular dichroism spectroscopy, marked by a decrease in helical content and a transition towards irregular peptide conformations. Thermal stability assays illuminated the reduced thermal resilience of the HSA - WS2 QD complex. Laser confocal microscopy coupled with thioflavin T staining yielded compelling evidence that WS2 QDs effectively inhibit amyloid fibril formation in both HSA and lysozyme, underscoring their potential as potent anti-amyloidogenic agents. This comprehensive study offers pivotal insights into multifaceted impact of WS2 QDs on protein structure and function, thereby expanding their horizon of potential applications within the burgeoning field of nanomedicine.

Biophysical insight into the binding mechanism of epigallocatechin-3-gallate and cholecalciferol to albumin and its preventive effect against AGEs formation: An in vitro and in silico approach

Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are produced non-enzymatically through the process of glycation. Increased AGEs production has been linked to several diseases including polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). PCOS contributes to the development of secondary comorbidities, such as diabetes, cardiovascular complications, infertility, etc. Consequently, research is going on AGEs-inhibiting phytochemicals for their potential to remediate and impede the progression of hyperglycaemia associated disorders. In this study human serum albumin is used as a model protein, as albumin is predominantly present in follicular fluid. This article focusses on the interaction and antiglycating potential of (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) and vitamin D in combination using various techniques. The formation of the HSA-EGCG and HSA-vitamin D complex was confirmed by UV and fluorescence spectroscopy. Thermodynamic analysis verified the spontaneity of reaction, and presence of hydrogen bonds and van der Waals interactions. FRET confirms high possibility of energy transfer. Cumulative antiglycation resulted in almost 60 % prevention in AGEs formation, decreased alterations at lysine and arginine, and reduced protein carbonylation. Secondary and tertiary structural changes were analysed by circular dichroism, Raman spectroscopy and ANS binding assay. Type and size of aggregates were confirmed by Rayleigh and dynamic light scattering, ThT fluorescence, SEM and SDS-PAGE. Effect on cellular redox status, DNA integrity and cytotoxicity was analysed in lymphocytes using dichlorofluorescein (DCFH-DA), DAPI and MTT assay which depicted an enhancement in antioxidant level by cumulative treatment. These findings indicate that EGCG and vitamin D binds strongly to HSA and have antiglycation ability which enhances upon synergism.

The potential of esculin in ameliorating Type-2 diabetes mellitus induced neuropathy in Wistar rats and probing its inhibitory mechanism of insulin aggregation

Diabetic neuropathy encompasses multiple pathological disturbances, many of which coincide with the pathophysiological mechanisms of neurodegenerative disorders. In the present study, various biophysical techniques like Rayleigh light scattering assay, Thioflavin T assay, far-UV Circular Dichroism spectroscopy, Transmission electron microscopy have unveiled the anti-fibrillatory effect of esculin upon human insulin fibrillation. MTT cytotoxicity assay demonstrated the biocompatibility of esculin and in-vivo studies such as behavioral tests like hot plate test, tail immersion test, acetone drop test, plantar test were performed for validating diabetic neuropathy. Assessment of levels of serum biochemical parameters, oxidative stress parameters, pro-inflammatory cytokines as well as neuron specific markers was done in the current study. Rat brains were subjected to histopathology and their sciatic nerves were subjected to transmission electron microscopy to analyze myelin structure alterations. All these results reveal that esculin ameliorates diabetic neuropathy in experimental diabetic rats. Conclusively, our study demonstrates the anti-amyloidogenic potential of esculin in the form of inhibition of human insulin fibrillation, making it a promising candidate in combating neurodegenerative disorders in the near future and the results of various behavioral, biochemical, and molecular studies reveal that esculin possesses anti-lipidemic, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative and neuroprotective properties which help in ameliorating diabetic neuropathy in streptozotocin induced diabetic Wistar rats.

Biophysical insight into the anti-fibrillation potential of Glyburide for its possible implication in therapeutic intervention of amyloid associated diseases

Protein aggregation is an underlying cause of many neurodegenerative diseases. Also, the overlapping pathological disturbances between neurodegenerative diseases and type-2 diabetes mellitus have urged the scientific community to explore potential of already available anti-diabetic medications in impeding amyloid formation too. Recent study brief out promising potential of an anti-diabetic drug Glyburide(GLY) as an inhibitor of amyloid fibrillation utilizing several biophysical techniques, computational methods and imaging tools. The mechanism of interaction was elucidated and the structural alterations in human serum albumin(HSA) as well as the microenvironment changes of its fluorophores(tryptophan, tyrosine) upon interacting with GLY were studied by spectroscopic techniques like Circular dichroism and synchronous fluorescence. Binding studies detailing about the GLY-HSA complex distance and the energy transfer efficiency was obtained by Fluorescence resonance energy transfer. For aggregation inhibition studies, the existence and size of aggregates formed in HSA and their inhibition by GLY was determined by Turbidity assay, Dynamic light scattering and Rayleigh light scattering along with dye binding assays. The ThT kinetics measurements analysis suggested that GLY deaccelerates fibrillation by decrement of apparent rate(K_app) constant. The inhibitory effect of GLY might be attributed to native structure stabilization of HSA by obstruction into β-sheet conversion as confirmed by CD spectroscopy results. Amyloid inhibition and suppression of amyloid-induced hemolysis by GLY was further delineated by TEM and SEM analysis respectively. All these findings for the first time report the new facet of the anti-amyloidogenic potential of GLY, making it a promising candidate to treat neurodegenerative diseases too in the near future.

Mechanistic insight into inhibition of amyloid fibrillation of human serum albumin by Vildagliptin

Protein aggregation leads to several human pathologies such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), type 2 diabetes (T2D), Parkinson's disease (PD), etc. Due to the overlap in the mechanisms of type 2 diabetes and brain disorders, common effective pharmacological interventions to treat both T2D and AD is under extensive research. Therefore, major aim of research is to repurpose already established treatment of diabetes to cure AD as well. This study evaluates mechanistic insight into anti-amyloidogenic potential of anti-diabetic drug Vildagliptin (VLD) on human serum albumin fibrillation (HSA) by using biophysical, calorimetric, imaging techniques along with hemolytic assay. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) and Rayleigh light scattering (RLS) results showed presence of few small-sized aggregates in the presence of VLD which are formed by deaccelerating the amyloidogenesis as shown by thioflavin T (ThT) fluorescence and Congo red (CR) binding assay. Further, Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), steady state fluorescence quenching, molecular docking results revealed that VLD form complex with amyloid facilitating state of HSA and consequently mask the hydrophobic residues involved in amyloidogenesis as evident from decrease in ANS fluorescence. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results confirm that VLD stabilizes the amyloid facilitating state of HSA. In addition, SEM images demonstrated that VLD alleviates the hemolytic effect induced by fibrils of HSA. This study reports VLD as a potential inhibitor of amyloid fibrillation and provides promising results to repurpose VLD as a drug candidate for the cure of Alzheimer's diseases along with diabetes.

The inhibitory effect of Sunset Yellow on thermally induced Human Serum Albumin aggregates: Possible role in naturopathy

Intensive research in the field of protein aggregation confirmed that the deposition of amyloid fibrils of proteins are the major cause for the development of various neurotoxic and neurodegenerative diseases, which could be controlled by ensuring the efficient inhibition of aggregation using anti aggregation strategies. Herein, we elaborated the anti amyloidogenic potential of Sunset Yellow (SY) dye against Human Serum Albumin (HSA) fibrillogenesis utilising different biophysical, computational and microscopic techniques. The inhibitory effect of sunset yellow was confirmed by Rayleigh Light Scattering (RLS) measurements along with different dye binding assays (ANS, ThT and CR) by showing concentration dependent reduction in scattering intensity and fluorescence intensity respectively. Further, destabilization and anti fibrillation activity of HSA aggregates were characterized through spectroscopic techniques like Circular Dichroism (CD) and other microscopic techniques like Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) for elucidating the structural properties. The SDS-PAGE was also carried out that render the disaggregation effect of the dye on the protein. Moreover, Molecular Docking studies revealed the binding parameters justifying the stable protein-dye complex. Simulation studies were also performed accordingly. Thus, this dye which is used as food additive can serve as a potential aggregation inhibiting agent that can aid in the prevention of amyloidogenic diseases.

Mechanistic In Vitro Dissection of the Inhibition of Amyloid Fibrillation by n-Acetylneuraminic Acid: Plausible Implication in Therapeutics for Neurodegenerative Disorders

A variety of neurodegenerative disorders including Parkinson's disease are due to fibrillation in amyloidogenic proteins. The development of therapeutics for these disorders is a topic of extensive research as effective treatments are still unavailable. The present study establishes that n-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5ac) inhibits the amyloid fibrillation of hen egg-white lysozyme (HEWL) and α-synuclein (SYN), as observed using various biophysical techniques and cellular assays. Neu5ac inhibits the amyloid formation in both proteins, as suggested from the reduction in the ThT fluorescence and remnant structures in transmission electron microscopy micrographs observed in its presence. In HEWL fibrillation, Neu5ac decreases the hydrophobicity and resists the transition of the α-helix to a β-sheet, as observed by an ANS binding assay, circular dichroism (CD) spectra, and Fourier transform infrared measurements, respectively. Neu5ac stabilizes the states that facilitate the amyloid formation in HEWL and SYN, as demonstrated by an enhanced intrinsic fluorescence in its presence, which is further confirmed by an increase in T_m obtained from differential scanning calorimetry thermograms and an increase in the near-UV CD signal for HEWL with Neu5ac. However, the increase in stability is not a manifestation of Neu5ac binding to amyloid facilitating (partially folded or native) states of both proteins, as verified by isothermal titration calorimetry and fluorescence binding measurements. Besides, Neu5ac also attenuates the cytotoxicity of amyloid fibrils, as evaluated by a cell toxicity assay. These findings provide mechanistic insights into the Neu5ac action against amyloid fibrillation and may establish it as a plausible inhibitor molecule against neurodegenerative disorders.

Evaluation of ThT augmentation and RLS inner filter effect caused by highly fluorescent coumarin derivative and establishing it as true inhibitor of amyloid fibrillation

Screening of inhibitors that slow down or suppress amyloid fibrils formation relies on some simple but sensitive spectroscopy techniques. Thioflavin T (ThT) fluorescence assay is one of the most common, amyloid specific and sensitive method. However, if an inhibitor is itself fluorescent in the ThT fluorescence range, its screening becomes complicated and require complementary assays. One of such molecules, 6, 7-dihydroxycoumarin (6, 7-DHC, also known as aesculetin, esculetin, and cichorigenin) is fluorescent in the ThT emission range and absorbs in the ThT excitation range. Therefore, it can produce a subtractive effect attributed to primary inner filter effect and/or additive effect due to its self-fluorescence in ThT assay. Our study shows that 6, 7-DHC produces an additive effect in ThT fluorescence, which is minimized at high concentration of ThT and decrease in ThT fluorescence is solely due to its inhibitory effect against HSA fibrillation. These ThT fluorescence-based results are verified through other complementary assays, such as Rayleigh and dynamic light scattering and amyloid-specific Congo red binding assay. Furthermore, hydrophobicity reduction is studied through Nile red (NR) and kinetics through far-UV circular dichroism (far-UV CD) in place of the most commonly employed ThT assay owing to extremely high fluorescence of 6, 7-DHC during initial incubation period.

Evaluation of heptelidic acid as a potential inhibitor for tau aggregation-induced Alzheimer's disease and associated neurotoxicity

Tau is a major component of protein plaques in tauopathies, especially Alzheimer's disease (AD). The purpose of the present study is to explore the inhibitory effects of heptelidic acid as a bioactive compound from fungus T. koningii on tau fibrillization and associated neurotoxicity. The influences of various concentrations of heptelidic acid on tau fibrillization and underlying neurotoxicity were explored by assessment of the biophysical (ThT/Nile red fluorescence, CR absorbance, CD, and TEM) and cellular (MTT, LDH, and caspase-3) assays. It was shown that heptelidic acid inhibited tau fibrillization in a concentration-dependent manner. On the other hand, cellular assays indicated that the viability, LDH release, and caspase-3 activity were regulated when neurons were exposed to tau samples co-incubated with heptelidic acid. In conclusion, it may be indicated that heptelidic acid inhibited tau fibrillization which was accompanied by formation of amorphous aggregated species of tau with much less neurotoxicity than tau amyloid alone. Thus, heptelidic acid can be considered as a potential candidate in preventive care studies to inhibit the formation of tau plaques as neurotoxic species.