Differential Detection of Amyloid Aggregates in Old Animals Using Gold Nanorods by Computerized Tomography: A...

The development of new materials and tools for radiology is key to the implementation of this diagnostic technique in clinics. In this work, we evaluated the differential accumulation of peptide-functionalized GNRs in a transgenic animal model (APPswe/PSENd1E9) of Alzheimer's disease (AD) by computed tomography (CT) and measured the pharmacokinetic parameters and bioaccumulation of the nanosystem.

The GNRs were functionalized with two peptides, Ang2 and D1, which conferred on them the properties of crossing the blood-brain barrier and binding to amyloid aggregates, respectively, thus making them a diagnostic tool with great potential for AD. The nanosystem was administered intravenously in APPswe/PSEN1dE9 model mice of 4-, 8- and 18-months of age, and the accumulation of gold nanoparticles was observed by computed tomography (CT). The gold accumulation and biodistribution were determined by atomic absorption.

Our findings indicated that 18-month-old animals treated with our nanosystem (GNR-D1/Ang2) displayed noticeable differences in CT signals compared to those treated with a control nanosystem (GNR-Ang2). However, no such distinctions were observed in younger animals. This suggests that our nanosystem holds the potential to effectively detect AD pathology.

These results support the future development of gold nanoparticle-based technology as a more effective and accessible alternative for the diagnosis of AD and represent a significant advance in the development of gold nanoparticle applications in disease diagnosis.