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Conjugated Polyelectrolytes: Conformation-Sensitive Optical Probes for Detection of Amyloid Fibril Formation†
journal contribution
posted on 2005-03-15, 00:00 authored by K. Peter R. Nilsson, Anna Herland, Per Hammarström, Olle InganäsThe in vivo deposition of amyloid fibrils is a hallmark of many devastating diseases known
as the amyloidoses. Amyloid formation in vitro may also complicate production of proteins in the
biotechnology industry. Simple, sensitive, and versatile tools that detect the fibrillar conformation of
amyloidogenic proteins are thus of great importance. We have developed a negatively charged conjugated
polyelectrolyte that displays different characteristic optical changes, detected visually or by absorption
and emission, depending on whether the protein with which it forms a complex is in its native state or
amyloid fibril conformation. This simple, rapid, and novel methodology was applied here to two
amyloidogenic proteins, insulin and lysozyme, and its validity for detection of their fibrillar conformation
was verified by currently used methods such as circular dichroism, transmission electron microscopy,
and Congo red absorption.