title: Dye-binding assays for evaluation of the effects of small molecule inhibitors on amyloid (aβ) self-assembly.
abstract: Dye-binding assays, such as those utilizing Congo red and thioflavin T, are among the most widely used tools to probe the aggregation of amyloidogenic biomolecules and for the evaluation of small molecule inhibitors of amyloid aggregation and fibrillization. A number of recent reports have indicated that these dye-binding assays could be prone to false positive effects when assessing inhibitors' potential toward Aβ peptides, species involved in Alzheimer's disease. Specifically, this review focuses on the application of thioflavin T for determining the efficiency of small molecule inhibitors of Aβ aggregation and addresses potential reasons that might be associated with the false positive effects in an effort to increase reliability of dye-binding assays.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas 76129, United States.
authors.forename: Laramie P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Jameson
authors.forename: Nicholas W
authors.initials: NW
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Sergei V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Dzyuba
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000188:drug therapy; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D052160:Benzothiazoles; D004396:Coloring Agents / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D003224:Congo Red / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D055808:Drug Discovery / Q000379:methods*; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D006801:Humans; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013844:Thiazoles / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*
chemical_list: D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D052160:Benzothiazoles; D004396:Coloring Agents; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D013844:Thiazoles; C009462:thioflavin T; D003224:Congo Red