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Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET)-Based ThT Free Sensing of Beta-Amyloid Fibrillation by Carbon Dot-Ag Composites

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Abstract

Amyloid-beta proteins that form cytotoxic aggregates called amyloid-β derived diffusible ligands are responsible for various neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Novel methods for the early detection of such aggregates and inhibition of further fibrillation are highly important and need in the current situation. In this paper, we present a novel method based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) between carbon dots and Ag nanoparticle for sensing various fibrillation stages of beta-amyloid proteins. The addition of Ag nanoparticles to carbon dot colloid is found to significantly enhance the inhibition of beta-amyloid fibrillation due to the modified hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions introduced by Ag nanoparticles and is monitored using thioflavin T (ThT) assay. Further, fluorescence quenching of carbon dots in the presence of Ag particles is found to get reduced with the increase in the incubation time of beta-amyloid fibrils. We could observe a linear trend in the variation of Stern–Volmer constants calculated based on FRET between carbon dots and Ag nanoparticles with the incubation time of beta-amyloid, indicating the potential of using the proposed FRET-based method for sensing beta-amyloid fibrillation.

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Data Availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in the published article (and its supplementary information files).

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Funding

The authors acknowledge NTU, COLE-EDB, and Ministry of Education, MoE Singapore (RG 192/17) for financial support. B.G. and P.P. thank the support from Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine Imaging Probe Development Platform and the support from the Cognitive Neuro Imaging Centre (CONIC) at NTU.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Optical and Laser Engineering (COLE), School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, 639798, Singapore

    Radhika Vadakkini Nair & Murukeshan Vadakke Matham

  2. Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 636921, Singapore

    Parasuraman Padmanabhan & Balázs Gulyás

Authors
  1. Radhika Vadakkini Nair
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  2. Parasuraman Padmanabhan
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  3. Balázs Gulyás
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  4. Murukeshan Vadakke Matham
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Contributions

R.V.N along with V.M.M. conducted the research presented in this manuscript. R.V.N, P.P., and B.G. performed beta-amyloid fibrillation experiments. All authors prepared, corrected, and finalized the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Parasuraman Padmanabhan or Murukeshan Vadakke Matham.

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Nair, R.V., Padmanabhan, P., Gulyás, B. et al. Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET)-Based ThT Free Sensing of Beta-Amyloid Fibrillation by Carbon Dot-Ag Composites. Plasmonics 16, 863–872 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11468-020-01338-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11468-020-01338-w

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