Toward the Noninvasive Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease: Molecular Basis for the Specificity of Curcumin for Fibrillar Amyloid-β.

ABSTRACT: Recent studies show that curcumin, a naturally fluorescent dye, can be used for the noninvasive optical imaging of retinal amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques. We investigated the molecular basis for curcumin's specificity for hierarchical Aβ structures using molecular dynamics simulations, with a focus on how curcumin is able to detect and discriminate different amyloid morphologies. Curcumin inhibits and breaks up β-sheet formation in Aβ monomers. With disordered Aβ structures, curcumin forms a coarse-grained composite structure. With an ordered fibril, curcumin's interaction is highly specific, and the curcumin molecules are deposited in the fibril groove. Curcumin tends to self-aggregate, which is finely balanced with its affinity for Aβ. This tendency concentrates curcumin molecules at Aβ depositi

SUBMITTER: Khurshid B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9245119 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature