CE can identify small molecules that selectively target soluble oligomers of amyloid beta protein and display antifibrillogenic activity.

Soluble and toxic oligomers of amyloid beta (A beta) protein have been identified as the true neurotoxic species involved in Alzheimer's disease and considering them as targets to inhibit A beta aggregation might have a therapeutic value. We previously set up a CE method that enables the separation and quantification of transient oligomers of A beta protein-containing 42 amino acids (A beta(1-42)) along the pathway leading to fibrils and we now demonstrate how this method can be successfully applied to examine the in vitro inhibitory effects of small molecules on A beta oligomerization. To this end, we investigated mitoxantrone and pixantrone, two well-known anticancer drugs, as well as suramin and a suramin-like compound. By using CE, it is here shown how mitoxantrone and pixantrone either reduce or block A beta(1-42) oligomerization, while Thioflavin T spectrofluorimetric assay and transmission electron microscopy demonstrate how these two compounds also display antifibrillogenic activity. Interestingly, in vitro cell viability experiments indicated that pixantrone significantly reduces A beta(1-42) neurotoxicity.