Novel pentameric thiophene derivatives for in vitro and in vivo optical imaging of a plethora of protein aggregates in cerebral amyloidoses.

ABSTRACT: Molecular probes for selective identification of protein aggregates are important to advance our understanding of the molecular pathogenesis underlying cerebral amyloidoses. Here we report the chemical design of pentameric thiophene derivatives, denoted luminescent conjugated oligothiophenes (LCOs), which could be used for real-time visualization of cerebral protein aggregates in transgenic mouse models of neurodegenerative diseases by multiphoton microscopy. One of the LCOs, p-FTAA, could be utilized for ex vivo spectral assignment of distinct prion deposits from two mouse-adapted prion strains. p-FTAA also revealed staining of transient soluble pre-fibrillar non-thioflavinophilic Abeta-assemblies during in vitro fibrillation of Abeta peptides. In brain tissue samples, Abeta deposits and

SUBMITTER: Aslund A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2886514 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature