Potential treatment of Parkinson's disease using new-generation carbon nanotubes: a biomolecular in silico study

One of the underlying mechanisms of Parkinson's disease is the aggregation of α-synuclein proteins, including amyloids and Lewy bodies in the brain. To study the inhibitory effect of doped carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on amyloid aggregation. Molecular dynamics tools were utilized to simulate the influence of CNTs doped with phosphorus, nitrogen and bromine and nitrogen on the formation of α-synuclein amyloid. The CNTs exhibited strong interactions with α-synuclein, with phosphorus-doped CNTs having the most substantial interactions. Doped-CNTs, especially phosphorus-doped carbon nanotube could effectively prevent α-synuclein amyloid formation, thus, it could be considered as a potential treatment for Parkinson's disease. However, further and clinical investigations are required.