Characterizing the Effect of Multivalent Conjugates Composed of Aβ-Specific Ligands and Metal Nanoparticles on Neurotoxic Fibrillar Aggregation

Therapeutically active small molecules represent promising nonimmunogenic alternatives to antibodies for specifically targeting disease-relevant receptors. However, a potential drawback compared to antibody–antigen interactions may be the lower affinity of small molecules toward receptors. Here, we overcome this low-affinity problem by coating the surface of nanoparticles (NPs) with multiple ligands. Specifically, we explored the use of gold and platinum nanoparticles to increase the binding affinity of Aβ-specific small molecules to inhibit Aβ peptide aggregation into fibrils in vitro. The interactions of bare NPs, free ligands, and NP-bound ligands with Aβ are comprehensively studied via physicochemical methods (spectroscopy, microscopy, immunologic tests) and cell assays. Reduction of thioflavin T fluorescence, as an indicator for β-sheet content, and inhibition of cellular Aβ excretion are even more effective with NP-bound ligands than with the free ligands. The results from this study may have implications in the development of therapeutics for treating Alzheimer’s disease.