Protein fibrillogenesis model tracked by its intrinsic time-resolved emission spectra

Monitoring the Assembly and Aggregation of Polypeptide Materials by Time-Resolved Emission Spectra

Polypeptide assembly and aggregation are the common forms of its physiological and pathological activity, and monitoring them on a molecular level is critical for resolving numerous medical (e.g., onset of neurodegenerative diseases) or biological problems. Sensitivity of the intrinsic fluorescence of protein to its assembly, aggregation, or complexation offers a noninvasive methodology for identifying and determining different stages of these processes. In this protocol, we present the approach based on the time-resolved emission spectra (TRES), which reveals the number of fluorescent residues, the presence of dielectric relaxation, and the changes in fluorescence kinetics during aggregation.

Tracking Insulin Glycation in Real Time by Time-Resolved Emission Spectroscopy

The application of time-resolved fluorescence sensing to the study of heterogenic biomolecular systems remains challenging because of the complexity of the resulting photophysics. Measuring the time-resolved emission spectroscopy (TRES) spectra can provide a more informative alternative to the modeling of the fluorescence decay that is currently employed. Here, we demonstrate this approach by monitoring real-time changes in intrinsic insulin fluorescence by TRES as a straightforward probe to directly measure kinetics of insulin aggregation and glycation. Our findings hold promise for monitoring the storage of insulin and its application in the control of diabetes and may support the development of more effective therapeutics against amyloidosis.