Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Disease, Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China.
J Mater Chem B. 2019 Apr 21;7(15):2434-2441. doi: 10.1039/c9tb00121b. Epub 2019 Mar 13.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most serious health threats in our aging society. The major pathological feature of AD is excessive extracellular aggregation of β-amyloid (Aβ) protein in the form of Aβ fibrils or plaques. The simultaneous detection of Aβ fibrils and inhibition of their neurotoxicity is highly desirable for study of Alzheimer's disease. Although various fluorophores have been developed for imaging of Aβ fibrils or plaques, they suffer from serious self-quenching at high concentration and a lack of neuroprotective functions. To tackle these challenges, we herein develop a multi-functional probe of Cur-N-BF with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics for light-up detection of Aβ fibrils and plaques, inhibition of Aβ fibrillation, disassembly of preformed Aβ fibrils, and protection of neuronal cells. The AIE-active theranostic probe is thus promising for study of Aβ fibrils and plaques in Alzheimer's disease.
阿尔茨海默病（AD）是老龄化社会面临的最严峻的健康威胁之一。AD 的主要病理特征是β-淀粉样蛋白（Aβ）以 Aβ纤维或斑块的形式过度聚集在细胞外。同时检测 Aβ纤维及其神经毒性对于研究阿尔茨海默病是非常理想的。尽管已经开发了各种荧光团用于 Aβ纤维或斑块的成像，但它们在高浓度下会严重自猝灭，并且缺乏神经保护功能。为了解决这些挑战，我们设计了一种具有聚集诱导发光（AIE）特性的多功能 Cur-N-BF 探针，用于 Aβ纤维和斑块的点亮检测、Aβ纤维形成的抑制、已形成的 Aβ纤维的解聚以及神经元细胞的保护。因此，这种 AIE 活性治疗性探针有望用于研究阿尔茨海默病中的 Aβ纤维和斑块。
