Ascension St. Mary's Hospital

2 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

Biology

Photo-Induced Cross-Linking of Unmodified Proteins (PICUP) Applied to Amyloidogenic Peptides

Farid Rahimi¹, Panchanan Maiti¹, Gal Bitan^2,3

¹Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, ²Brain Research Institute, Molecular Biology Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, ³Department of Neurology, University of California, Los Angeles

Photo-induced cross-linking of unmodified proteins (PICUP) allows characterization of oligomer size distribution in metastable protein mixtures. We demonstrate application of PICUP to three representative amyloidogenic peptides the 40- and 42-residue forms of amyloid β-protein, and calcitonin, and a control peptide growth-hormone releasing factor.

JoVE Journal

Labeling and Imaging of Amyloid Plaques in Brain Tissue Using the Natural Polyphenol Curcumin

Panchanan Maiti^1,2,3,4,5, Alexandra Plemmons¹, Zackary Bowers^2,3, Charles Weaver⁵, Gary Dunbar^1,2,3,4

¹Field Neurosciences Institute, Ascension St. Mary's Hospital, ²Field Neurosciences Institute Laboratory for Restorative Neurology, Central Michigan University, ³Program in Neuroscience, Central Michigan University, ⁴Department of Psychology, Central Michigan University, ⁵Department of Health Sciences, Saginaw Valley State University

Curcumin is an ideal fluorophore for labeling and imaging of amyloid beta protein plaques in brain tissue due to its preferential binding to amyloid beta protein as well as its structural similarities with other traditional amyloid binding dyes. It can be used to label and image amyloid beta protein plaques more efficiently and inexpensively than traditional methods.