Issue 42, 2018

Graphene quantum dots against human IAPP aggregation and toxicity in vivo

Abstract

The development of biocompatible nanomaterials has become a new frontier in the detection, treatment and prevention of human amyloid diseases. Here we demonstrated the use of graphene quantum dots (GQDs) as a potent inhibitor against the in vivo aggregation and toxicity of human islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP), a hallmark of type 2 diabetes. GQDs initiated contact with IAPP through electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions as well as hydrogen bonding, which subsequently drove the peptide fibrillization off-pathway to eliminate the toxic intermediates. Such interactions, probed in vitro by a thioflavin T kinetic assay, fluorescence quenching, circular dichroism spectroscopy, a cell viability assay and in silico by discrete molecular dynamics simulations, translated to a significant recovery of embryonic zebrafish from the damage elicited by IAPP in vivo, as indicated by improved hatching as well as alleviated reactive oxygen species production, abnormality and mortality of the organism. This study points to the potential of using zero-dimensional nanomaterials for in vivo mitigation of a range of amyloidosis.

Graphical abstract: Graphene quantum dots against human IAPP aggregation and toxicity in vivo

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
04 Sep 2018
Accepted
17 Oct 2018
First published
18 Oct 2018

Nanoscale, 2018,10, 19995-20006

Author version available

Graphene quantum dots against human IAPP aggregation and toxicity in vivo

M. Wang, Y. Sun, X. Cao, G. Peng, I. Javed, A. Kakinen, T. P. Davis, S. Lin, J. Liu, F. Ding and P. C. Ke, Nanoscale, 2018, 10, 19995 DOI: 10.1039/C8NR07180B

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