Triangular Au nanoplates (TrAuNPls) possessing strong plasmonic properties can be used as photothermal agents in cancer therapy. However, the controlled preparation of such morphologies typically requires harsh synthetic conditions. Biomolecules offer an alternative route to developing biocompatible protocols. In particular, peptides a novel for inorganic synthesis under ambient Herein, using p...

Nanocarriers have been explored to improve the delivery of tumor antigens to dendritic cells (DCs). Gold nanoparticles are attractive nanocarriers because they are inert, non-toxic, and can be readily endocytosed by DCs. Here, we designed novel gold-based nanovaccines (AuNVs) using a simple self-assembling bottom-up conjugation method to generate high-peptide density delivery and effective immu...

INTRODUCTION Synapse loss is the structural correlate of the cognitive decline indicative of dementia. In the brains of Alzheimer's disease sufferers, amyloid β (Aβ) peptides aggregate to form senile plaques but as soluble peptides are toxic to synapses. We previously demonstrated that Aβ induces Dickkopf-1 (Dkk1), which in turn activates the Wnt-planar cell polarity (Wnt-PCP) pathway to drive ...

The discovery of drugs for Alzheimer's disease (AD) therapy that can also permeate the blood brain barrier (BBB) is very difficult owing to its specificity and restrictive nature. The BBB disruption or the administration of the drug directly into the brain is not an option due to toxic effects and low diffusion of the therapeutic molecule in the brain parenchyma. A promising approach for drug s...

Aggregation and fibril formation of the amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The missing links on the pathway to Aβ oligomerization, fibril formation, and neurotoxicity in AD remain the identity of the toxic Aβ species and mechanism(s) of their toxicity. Such information is crucial for the development of mechanism-based therapeutics to tre...

Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) mediate the uptake of interconnected cargoes of different types into cells and organisms. Studies in living cells revealed that high-molecular-weight cargoes linked to CPPs are delivered via endocytic routes whereas CPPs by themselves or fused to low-molecular-weight cargoes can in addition enter by a mechanism that does not require vesicle formation. This latte...

Cell-penetrating peptides (CPP) have become a widely used tool for efficient cargo delivery into cells. However, one limiting fact is their uptake by endocytosis causing the enclosure of the CPP-cargo construct within endosomes. One often used method to enhance the outflow into the cytosol is the fusion of endosome-disruptive peptide or protein sequences to CPP. But, until now, no studies exist...

Amyloids were first identified in association with amyloidoses, human diseases in which proteins and peptides misfold into amyloid fibrils. Subsequent studies have identified an array of functional amyloid fibrils that perform physiological roles in humans. Given the potential for the production of toxic species in amyloid assembly reactions, it is remarkable that cells can produce these functi...

Amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides are implicated in the causation of memory loss, neuronal impairment, and neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease. Our recent work revealed that Aβ 1-42 and Aβ 25-35 inhibit long-term memory (LTM) recall in Lymnaea stagnalis (pond snail) in the absence of cell death. Here, we report the characterization of the active species prepared under different conditions, describe ...

Amyloid beta (Aβ) peptides produced by APP cleavage are central to the pathology of Alzheimer's disease. Despite widespread interest in this issue, the relationship between the auto-assembly and toxicity of these peptides remains controversial. One intriguing feature stems from their capacity to form anti-parallel ß-sheet oligomeric intermediates that can be converted into a parallel topology t...