부산대학교 도서관

Senile plaques of Alzheimer’s disease patients are composed primarily of the amyloid-β-peptide (Aβ). Recent studies implicate Cu(II) in the aetiology of AD. The role of Cu(II) in ADis currently highly disputed. Influence of Cu(II) on Aβ aggregation and amyloidogenic properties of glycodendrimers were investigated in this thesis. AFM, TEM, SEM, SAXS, FTIR and fluorescence spectroscopy were used to study a morphology and a secondary structure of Aβ-Cu(II) aggregates. The toxic effects of Aβ40-Cu(II) amorphous aggregates was confirmed for neuronal cell lines. It was shown that maltose glycodendrimers can be efficiently used to modulate Alzheimer’s amyloid peptide aggregation and inhibit cell toxicity by facilitating the clustering of amyloid fibrils. These results show that glycodendrimers are promising non-toxic agents in the search for anti-amyloidogenic compounds. It was also suggested that fibril clumping may be anti-amyloid toxicity strategy.