Fluorescent 1,4-Naphthoquinones To Visualize Diffuse and Dense-Core Amyloid Plaques in APP/PS1 Transgenic Mouse Brains
作者:Naewoo Neo Shin、Hanna Jeon、Youngeun Jung、Seungyeop Baek、Sejin Lee、Hee Chan Yoo、Gi Hun Bae、Keunwan Park、Seung-Hoon Yang、Jung Min Han、Ikyon Kim、YoungSoo Kim
DOI:10.1021/acschemneuro.9b00093
日期:2019.6.19
Recent clinical approvals of brain imaging radiotracers targeting amyloid-beta provided clinicians the tools to detect and confirm Alzheimer's disease pathology without autopsy or biopsy. While current imaging agents are effective in postsymptomatic Alzheimer's patients, there is much room for improvement in earlier diagnosis, hence prompting a need for new and improved amyloid imaging agents. Here we synthesized 41 novel 1,4-naphthoquinone derivatives and initially discovered 14 antiamyloidogenic compounds via in vitro amyloid-beta aggregation assay; however, qualitative analyses of these compounds produced conflicting results and required further investigation. Follow-up docking and biophysical studies revealed that four of these compounds penetrate the blood-brain barrier, directly bind to amyloid-beta aggregates, and enhance fluorescence properties upon interaction. These compounds specifically stain both diffuse and dense-core amyloid-beta plaques in brain sections of APP/PS1 double transgenic Alzheimer's mouse models. Our findings suggest 1,4-naphthoquinones as a new scaffold for amyloid-beta imaging agents for early stage Alzheimer's.