Human tau fibrillization and neurotoxicity in the presence of magnesium oxide nanoparticle fabricated through laser ablation method

Abstract

In this study, the acceleratory effect of magnesium oxide nanoparticles (MgO NPs) on the amyloid fibrillization of human tau protein, a major protein involved in the onset of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) was investigated. The MgO NPs were fabricated through laser ablation synthesis in solution (LASiS), well-characterized, and explored further for tau aggregation and relevant neurotoxicity by different assays. The results showed that the MgO NPs have a size of around 30 nm, a hydrodynamic radius of 57.09 nm, and a zeta potential of −18.06 mV. The data from ThT and ANS fluorescence-based assays along with circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy clearly indicated that MgO NPs could significantly promote tau fibrillization, concentration-dependently. Considering the acceleratory effect of MgO NPs against tau fibrillization, cellular assays including cell viability, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and caspase-3 assays indicated that the neurotoxicity of tau amyloid fibrils formed with MgO NPs was higher than that of tau samples aged alone against N2a neuron-like cells. Therefore, it was concluded that the interaction of MgO NPs with tau can lead to acceleration of tau aggregation and underlying neurotoxicity. This study, then can provide useful information about the direct effect of MgO NPs against memory proteins and subsequent adverse effects.