Abstract
Curcumin is a polyphenolic phytonutrient that has antineurodegenerative properties. In this study, we investigated the anti‐amyloidogenic properties of curcumin. Following incubation with curcumin, intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence emission of apolipoprotein (apo) A‐I was strongly quenched. At the same time, curcumin fluorescence emission was enhanced. The fluorescence emission spectra of curcumin in the presence of amyloid‐like aggregates formed by methionine‐oxidized (ox) apoA‐I varied, depending on whether curcumin was added before, or after, aggregate formation. The impact of curcumin on the structure of the aggregating material was revealed by the lower amount of β‐structure in ox‐apoA‐I amyloid‐like aggregates formed in the presence of curcumin, compared to aggregates formed without curcumin. However, the kinetics of ox‐apoA‐I amyloid‐like aggregate formation was not altered by the presence of curcumin. Moreover, electron microscopy analysis detected no discernable differences in amyloid morphology when ox‐apoA‐I amyloid‐like aggregates were formed in the presence or absence of curcumin. In conclusion, curcumin interacts with apoA‐I and alters the structure of ox‐apoA‐I amyloid‐like aggregates yet does not diminish the propensity of ox‐apoA‐I to form aggregates.
Highlights
Curcumin is a polyphenolic phytonutrient that has antineurodegenerative properties
ApoA-I was employed in experiments to test the hypothesis that curcumin possesses intrinsic anti-amyloidogenic properties
Neither curcumin nor the DMSO vehicle, at the same concentrations used for the experiments in Fig. 1, displayed any significant fluorescence emission when excited at 280 nm
Summary
Curcumin is a polyphenolic phytonutrient that has antineurodegenerative properties. In this study, we investigated the anti-amyloidogenic properties of curcumin. Curcumin is known to interact with proteins, a property hypothesized to mediate its antineurodegenerative effects [4]. Upon interaction with amyloidogenic proteins, such as a-synuclein and amyloid-b peptide, curcumin undergoes a dramatic blue shift in wavelength of maximum fluorescence emission (WMF) along with a large enhancement in quantum yield [8,9]. This property of curcumin is similar to other fluorescent dyes known to interact with amyloid including 1-anilinonaphthalene 8-sulfonic acid (ANS), thioflavin T (ThT), Congo red, and Nile red [10,11,12]
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