Abstract
Soluble and toxic oligomers of amyloid β (Aβ) protein have been identified as the true neurotoxic species involved in Alzheimer's disease and considering them as targets to inhibit Aβ aggregation might have a therapeutic value. We previously set up a CE method that enables the separation and quantification of transient oligomers of Aβ protein-containing 42 amino acids (Aβ1-42) 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 Aβ 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 Aβ1-42 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 Aβ1-42 neurotoxicity.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1418-1429 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Electrophoresis |
Volume | 30 |
Issue number | 8 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2009 |
Keywords
- Alzheimer's disease
- Amyloid β
- CE
- Mitoxantrone
- Pixantrone
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biochemistry
- Clinical Biochemistry