Quantum dots as ultrasensitive nanoactuators and sensors of amyloid aggregation in live cells.
Quantum dots multifunctionalized with the amyloid protein alpha-synuclein act at nanomolar concentrations as very potent inducers of the aggregation of micromolar-millimolar bulk concentrations of the protein in vitro and in cells. Fibrillation in live cells, a process diagnostic of Parkinson's disease, is accelerated up to 15-fold with only approximately 100 nanoparticles. The combination with a tetracysteine-tagged form of alpha-synuclein specific for fluorogenic biarsenicals constitutes a very sensitive system for studying pathological amyloid formation in cells.
Roberti
M Julia
MJ
Departamento de Química Orgánica, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, CIHIDECAR, CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Morgan
Marcos
M
Menéndez
Guillermo
G
Pietrasanta
Lía I
LI
Jovin
Thomas M
TM
Jares-Erijman
Elizabeth A
EA
D000682:Amyloid / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D015374:Biosensing Techniques; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry*; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D045663:Quantum Dots; D051844:alpha-Synuclein / Q000737:chemistry
D000682:Amyloid; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D051844:alpha-Synuclein