Cross-Reactive Fluorescent Sensor Array for Discrimination of Amyloid Beta Aggregates

Binding activated single molecule burst analysis highlights amyloid sensing interaction of dye SYPRO orange

Mode of interaction between fluorescent probe and local binding site on fibril architecture is central to the design of efficient amyloid sensors. SYPRO orange (SO) is reported to have two binding modes with two distinct binding configurations, namely weakly bound inclined and strongly bound surface hugging populations. Though two distinct sites for non-radiative relaxation, i.e. central π-bridge site and the electron donor amino site is evident from the molecular framework, it is unclear which site dictates fluorescence enhancement upon binding. We recommend employing the inherent sensitivity of fluorescence lifetime to alterations in non-radiative pathways for different binding configurations. In this contribution an attempt has been made to segregate binding activated single molecule bursts recorded with pulsed excitation into requisite weak and strong binding events, which were subsequently correlated with their corresponding excited state lifetimes. Comparison of fluorescence decays for these two binding modes suggest minor role of non-radiative relaxation at π-bridge site in deciding excited state decay of bound SO molecules. On the contrary, plausible hydrophobic interaction of aliphatic tails at the electron donor site with the fibril imparts configurational restrain at the amino group site, hindering its non-radiative pathways leading to increased fluorescence intensity and lifetime. This sensing behaviour of SO is consistent for fibrils of amyloidogenic proteins lysozyme and insulin. Present work has the relevance in the rational design of amyloid sensor as well as better super-resolution imaging probes for localization microscopy.

Conjugated Polyelectrolyte-Based Sensor Arrays: from Sensing Mechanisms to Artificial Sensory System Conceptualization

In the past decades, conjugated polyelectrolytes (CPEs) have become prominent in sensing applications due to their unique properties, including strong and tunable light absorption, high sensitivity, water solubility, and biocompatibility. Inspired by mammalian olfactory and gustatory systems, CPE-based sensor arrays have made significant strides in discriminating structurally similar analytes and complex mixtures for various applications. This review consolidates recent advancements in CPE-based sensor arrays, highlighting rational design, controllable fabrication, and effective data processing methods. It covers the fundamentals of CPE fluorescence sensing, emphasizing design strategies for sensor array units and data processing techniques. The broad applicability of CPE-based sensor arrays is demonstrated across diverse domains, including environmental monitoring (e.g., detecting metal ions and explosives), medical diagnostics (e.g., sensing disease markers and analyzing biological samples), and food safety (e.g., assessing the freshness, quality, and source of food products). Further, challenges and future directions in the field are discussed to inspire further research and development in this area.

Fluorescent Fingerprint Identification of Protein Structural Changes and Disease-Specific Amyloid Beta Aggregates Based on a Single-Nanozyme Sensor Array

The misfolding of amyloid β (Aβ) peptides into an aggregation state is a central hallmark of the onset of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, conventional methods are mainly focused on detecting a specific Aβ peptide, which makes it difficult to recognize multiple analytes with different topological features and unfolded states at the same time. Here, we propose a simple and universal sensing strategy to construct a fluorescence sensor array by using a single-nanozyme probe combined with three fluorescent substrates as three recognition units to probe the protein structural changes and identify between multiple Aβ assemblies. In this sensor system, the fingerprint-like patterns are produced from the nonspecific interactions between topological proteins and the sensing units. As a result, this sensor array can accurately identify 13 kinds of proteins and their mixtures at different ratios. Moreover, the sensor array can discriminate against proteins with unfolded states and diverse conformational forms. Most importantly, the sensor array successfully distinguishes between multiple Aβ species, even in artificial cerebrospinal fluid samples and human serum samples. This work provides an attractive and reliable strategy for predicting pathologically relevant proteins and clinical diagnosis of AD.

Tuning multispectral fluorescence quantum dot-based identification of short-length amyloid β peptides by applying Cu(II) ions

Currently available methods for detecting amyloid β (Aβ) derivatives are mainly dedicated to determining the long forms Aβ1-42 and Aβ1-40. At the same time, the number of physiologically occurring Aβ analogs is much higher, including those truncated at the N- and C-termini. Their identification using standard methods is challenging due to the structural similarity of various Aβ analogs, but could highly benefit from both biomarkers discovery and pathophysiological studies of Alzheimer's disease. Therefore a "chemical tongue" sensing strategy was employed for the detection of seven Aβ peptide derivatives: Aβ1-16, Aβ4-16, Aβ4-9, Aβ5-16, Aβ5-12, Aβ5-9, Aβ12-16. The proposed sensing system is based on competitive interactions between quantum dots, Cu(II) ions, and Aβ peptides, providing unique fluorescence fingerprints useful for the identification of analytes. After carefully evaluating the Aβ sample preparation protocol, perfect determination of all studied Aβ peptides was achieved using partial least square-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA). The developed PLS-DA models are characterized by excellent accuracy, sensitivity, precision, and specificity of analyte determination, emphasizing the potential of the proposed sensing strategy.

Cavity Lasing of Thioflavin T in the Condensed Phase for Discrimination between Surface Interaction and β-Sheet Groove Binding in Alzheimer-Linked Peptides

This study investigates the lasing effects in a Fabry-Perot cavity to discern the binding interactions of thioflavin T (ThT) with various peptides associated with Alzheimer's disease, including Aβ(1-42), KLVFFA, and diphenylalanine (FF) in the condensed phase. Utilizing kinetic lasing measurements, the research explores ThT emission enhancements due to specific groove binding in β-sheet structures and highlights additional contributions from weak surface interactions and solvent-solute interactions. Lasing spectroscopy reveals a lack of transition of the FF system from its native state to an amyloid-like structure, challenging traditional ThT assay interpretations. These findings show the potential of lasing spectroscopy in elucidating the molecular basis of amyloid fibril formation and the development of diagnostic tools for amyloidogenic diseases.

Strategies for measuring concentrations and forms of amyloid-β peptides

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is affecting more and more people worldwide without the effective treatment, while the existed pathological mechanism has been confirmed barely useful in the treatment. Amyloid-β peptide (Aβ), a main component of senile plaque, is regarded as the most promising target in AD treatment. Aβ clearance from AD brain seems to be a reliably therapeutic strategy, as the two exited drugs, GV-971 and aducanumab, are both developed based on it. However, doubt still exists. To exhaustive expound on the pathological mechanism of Aβ, rigorous analyses on the concentrations and aggregation forms are essential. Thus, it is attracting broad attention these years. However, most of the sensors have not been used in pathological studies, as the lack of the bridge between analytical chemist and pathologists. In this review, we made a brief introduce on Aβ-related pathological mechanism included in β-amyloid hypothesis to elucidate the detection conditions of sensor methods. Furthermore, a summary of the sensor methods was made, which were based on Aβ concentrations and form detections that have been developed in the past 10 years. As the greatest number of the sensors were built on fluorescent spectroscopy, electrochemistry, and Roman spectroscopy, detailed elucidation on them was made. Notably, the aggregation process is another important factor in revealing the progress of AD and developing the treatment methods, so the sensors on monitoring Aβ aggregation processes were also summarized.

Ensuring food safety by artificial intelligence-enhanced nanosensor arrays

Current analytical methods utilized for food safety inspection requires improvement in terms of their cost-efficiency, speed of detection, and ease of use. Sensor array technology has emerged as a food safety assessment method that applies multiple cross-reactive sensors to identify specific targets via pattern recognition. When the sensor arrays are fabricated with nanomaterials, the binding affinity of analytes to the sensors and the response of sensor arrays can be remarkably enhanced, thereby making the detection process more rapid, sensitive, and accurate. Data analysis is vital in converting the signals from sensor arrays into meaningful information regarding the analytes. As the sensor arrays can generate complex, high-dimensional data in response to analytes, they require the use of machine learning algorithms to reduce the dimensionality of the data to gain more reliable outcomes. Moreover, the advances in handheld smart devices have made it easier to read and analyze the sensor array signals, with the advantages of convenience, portability, and efficiency. While facing some challenges, the integration of artificial intelligence with nanosensor arrays holds promise for enhancing food safety monitoring.

A Coumarin-Based Array for the Discrimination of Amyloids

Self-assembly of misfolded proteins can lead to the formation of amyloids, which are implicated in the onset of many pathologies including Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. The facile detection and discrimination of different amyloids are crucial for early diagnosis of amyloid-related pathologies. Here, we report the development of a fluorescent coumarin-based two-sensor array that is able to correctly discriminate between four different amyloids implicated in amyloid-related pathologies with 100% classification. The array was also applied to mouse models of Alzheimer's disease and was able to discriminate between samples from mice corresponding to early (6 months) and advanced (12 months) stages of Alzheimer's disease. Finally, the flexibility of the array was assessed by expanding the analytes to include functional amyloids. The same two-sensor array was able to correctly discriminate between eight different disease-associated and functional amyloids with 100% classification.

Advances in targeted tracking and detection of soluble amyloid-β aggregates as a biomarker of Alzheimer's disease

Misfolding and aggregation of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides are key hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD). With accumulating evidence suggesting that different Aβ species have varied neurotoxicity and implications in AD development, the discovery of affinity ligands and analytical approaches to selective distinguish, detect, and monitor Aβ becomes an active research area. Remarkable advances have been achieved, which not only promote our understanding of the biophysical chemistry of the protein aggregation during neurodegeneration, but also provide promising tools for early detection of the disease. In view of this, we summarize the recent progress in selective and sensitive approaches for tracking and detection of Aβ species. Specific attentions are given to soluble Aβ oligomers, due to their crucial roles in AD development and occurrence at early stages. The design principle, performance of targeting units, and their cooperative effects with signal reporters for Aβ analysis are discussed. The applications of the novel targeting probes and sensing systems for dynamic monitoring oligomerization, measuring Aβ in biosamples and in vivo imaging in brain are summarized. Finally, the perspective and challenges are discussed regarding the future development of Aβ-targeting analytical tools to explore the unknown field to contribute to the early diagnosis and treatment of AD.

Quantum dots-based "chemical tongue" for the discrimination of short-length Aβ peptides

A "chemical tongue" is proposed based on thiomalic acid-capped quantum dots (QDs) with signal enrichment provided by excitation-emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy for the determination of close structural analogs-short-length amyloid β (Aβ) peptides related to Alzheimer's disease. Excellent discrimination is obtained by principal component analysis (PCA) for seven derivatives: Aβ1-16, Aβ4-16, Aβ4-9, Aβ5-16, Aβ5-12, Aβ5-9, Aβ12-16. Detection of Aβ4-16, Aβ4-16, and Aβ5-9 in binary and ternary mixtures performed by QDs-based chemical tongue using partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) provided perfect 100% accuracy for the two studied peptides (Aβ4-16 and Aβ4-16), while for the third one (Aβ5-9) it was slightly lower (97.9%). Successful detection of Aβ4-16 at 1 pmol/mL (1.6 ng/mL) suggests that the detection limit of the proposed method for short-length Aβ peptides can span nanomolar concentrations. This result is highly promising for the development of simple and efficient methods for sequence recognition in short-length peptides and better understanding of mechanisms at the QD-analyte interface.

Are fibrinaloid microclots a cause of autoimmunity in Long Covid and other post-infection diseases?

It is now well established that the blood-clotting protein fibrinogen can polymerise into an anomalous form of fibrin that is amyloid in character; the resultant clots and microclots entrap many other molecules, stain with fluorogenic amyloid stains, are rather resistant to fibrinolysis, can block up microcapillaries, are implicated in a variety of diseases including Long COVID, and have been referred to as fibrinaloids. A necessary corollary of this anomalous polymerisation is the generation of novel epitopes in proteins that would normally be seen as 'self', and otherwise immunologically silent. The precise conformation of the resulting fibrinaloid clots (that, as with prions and classical amyloid proteins, can adopt multiple, stable conformations) must depend on the existing small molecules and metal ions that the fibrinogen may (and is some cases is known to) have bound before polymerisation. Any such novel epitopes, however, are likely to lead to the generation of autoantibodies. A convergent phenomenology, including distinct conformations and seeding of the anomalous form for initiation and propagation, is emerging to link knowledge in prions, prionoids, amyloids and now fibrinaloids. We here summarise the evidence for the above reasoning, which has substantial implications for our understanding of the genesis of autoimmunity (and the possible prevention thereof) based on the primary process of fibrinaloid formation.

Vertical Graphene-Based Printed Electrochemical Biosensor for Simultaneous Detection of Four Alzheimer's Disease Blood Biomarkers

Early detection and timely intervention play a vital role in the effective management of Alzheimer's disease. Currently, the diagnostic accuracy for Alzheimer's disease based on a single blood biomarker is relatively low, and the combined use of multiple blood biomarkers can greatly improve diagnostic accuracy. Herein, we report a printed electrochemical biosensor based on vertical graphene (VG) modified with gold nanoparticles (VG@nanoAu) for the simultaneous detection of four Alzheimer's disease blood biomarkers. The printed electrochemical electrode array was constructed by laser etching and inkjet printing. Then gold nanoparticles were modified onto the working electrode surface via electrodeposition to further improve the sensitivity of the sensor. In addition, the entire printed electrochemical sensing system incorporates an electrochemical micro-workstation and a smartphone. The customized electrochemical micro-workstation incorporates four electro-chemical control chips, enabling the sensor to simultaneously analyze four biomarkers. Consequently, the printed electrochemical sensing system exhibits excellent analytical performance due to the large surface area, biocompatibility, and good conductivity of VG@nanoAu. The detection limit of the sensing system for Aβ40, Aβ42, T-tau, and P-tau181 was 0.072, 0.089, 0.071, and 0.051 pg/mL, respectively, which meets the detection requirements of Alzheimer's disease blood biomarkers. The printed electrochemical sensing system also exhibits good specificity and stability. This work has great value and promising prospects for early Alzheimer's disease diagnosis using blood biomarkers.

Dextran-assisted ultrasonic exfoliation of two-dimensional metal-organic frameworks to evaluate acetylcholinesterase activity and inhibitor screening

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is regarded as a biomarker of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and its inhibitors show great potential in AD therapy as AChE can increase the neurotoxicity of the amyloid component that induces AD. Because of this, it is crucial and significant to develop a simple and highly sensitive strategy to monitor AChE levels and screen highly efficient AChE inhibitors. Herein, we synthesize an ultrathin two-dimensional (2D) metal-organic framework (MOF) based on copper-catecholate (Cu-CAT) via dextran assisted ultrasound exfoliation, followed by construction of a sensitive sensor for the monitoring AChE and screening of its inhibitors. By adding AChE, the acetylthiocholine (ATCh) substrate is hydrolyzed to be thiocholine (TCh), which decreases the peroxidase-like activity of Cu-CAT nanosheets (Cu-CAT NSs), impairing the signal reaction of 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) to oxidized-TMB (ox-TMB). In the presence of an AChE inhibitor, the signal can be gradually restored. The newly developed sensor shows high sensitivity and selectivity for AChE and huperzine A (HA, an effective drug for AD, an acetylcholine receptor antagonist), as well as for AD drug discovery from traditional Chinese herbs. The limit of detection of the sensor for AChE is 0.01 mU mL^-1 and the average IC₅₀ value of HA is 30.81 nM under the optimal of catalysis conditions. Compared with the 3D bulk Cu-CAT, the current 2D Cu-CAT NSs exhibit higher peroxidase activity due to more catalytic active site exposure. This study provides a strategy to prepare an ultrathin 2D MOF with high catalytic activity and new insights for the construction of a biosensor to monitor AChE and new AD drugs.

A Multichannel Fluorescent Tongue for Amyloid-β Aggregates Detection

Attention has been paid to the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, due to the maximum benefit acquired from the early-stage intervention and treatment. However, the sensing techniques primarily depended upon for neuroimaging and immunological assays for the detection of AD biomarkers are expensive, time-consuming and instrument dependent. Here, we developed a multichannel fluorescent tongue consisting of four fluorescent dyes and GO through electrostatic and π-π interaction. The array distinguished multiple aggregation states of 1 µM Aβ40/Aβ42 with 100% prediction accuracy via 10-channel signal outputs, illustrating the rationality of the array design. Screening vital sensor elements for the simplified sensor array and the optimization of sensing system was achieved by machine learning algorithms. Moreover, our sensing tongue was able to detect the aggregation states of Aβ40/Aβ42 in serum, demonstrating the great potential of multichannel array in diagnosing the Alzheimer's diseases.

Electrochemical immunosensor based on superwettable microdroplet array for detecting multiple Alzheimer's disease biomarkers

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease caused by neurons damage in the brain, and it poses a serious threat to human life and health. No efficient treatment is available, but early diagnosis, discovery, and intervention are still crucial, effective strategies. In this study, an electrochemical sensing platform based on a superwettable microdroplet array was developed to detect multiple AD biomarkers containing Aβ40, Aβ42, T-tau, and P-tau181 of blood. The platform integrated a superwettable substrate based on nanoAu-modified vertical graphene (VG@Au) into a working electrode, which was mainly used for droplet sample anchoring and electrochemical signal generation. In addition, an electrochemical micro-workstation was used for signals conditioning. This superwettable electrochemical sensing platform showed high sensitivity and a low detection limit due to its excellent characteristics such as large specific surface, remarkable electrical conductivity, and good biocompatibility. The detection limit for Aβ40, Aβ42, T-tau, and P-tau181 were 0.064, 0.012, 0.039, and 0.041 pg/ml, respectively. This study provides a promising method for the early diagnosis of AD.