Elsevier, Materials Science and Engineering: C, 8(32), p. 2529-2535, 2012
DOI: 10.1016/j.msec.2012.07.036
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This study is an investigation of the effect of biocompatible glutathione-covered gold nanoparticles (AuSG_7) with an average size of 3 nm on the amyloid fibrils of hen egg-white lysozyme. The anti-amyloid activity of AuSG_7 nanoparticles on this protein was monitored with thioflavin T assay, atomic force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The study found that AuSG_7 nanoparticles in vitro depolymerize the amyloid aggregates and inhibit lysozyme aggregate formation. The ability to inhibit amyloid formation and promote amyloid disassembly has concentration-dependent characteristics: the concentration of nanoparticles at which inhibition is half maximal (IC50) was found to be 6.19 μg/mL, and the concentration at which depolymerization is half maximal (DC50) was found to be 8.26 μg/mL.