Design, synthesis and evaluation of curcumin-based fluorescent probes to detect Aβ fibrils

Amyloid β fibrillation is an early event in Alzheimer's disease, so its detection is important to understand its roles in Alzheimer's disease. Curcumin, which has poor water solubility, has been reported to have many pharmacological activities including potent anti-amyloid β fibril activity in Alzheimer's disease. In this study, we found that curcumin analogues with the fluorescence property instead of non-inhibition of amyloid β fibrils. The development of new curcumin analogue, Me-CUR (9), as fluorescent switchable probe to detect amyloid β fibrils is described. Me-CUR (9) shows excellent fluorescence, especially higher than ThT (4), in the presence of amyloid β fibrils. These results suggest that Me-CUR (9) can become a useful in vitro amyloid fluorescence sensor for diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.