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Amyloidogenic Protein Interactors

Nanobodies

Camels, dromedaries, llamas, alpacas (but also sharks) possess IgG’s  formed by heavy chains only.

The variable domain of heavy-chain antibodies, VHH, is expressed to be used as nanobody. A specific nanobody, Nb24, prevents in vitro fibrillogenesis of D76N β2-m, a highly amyloidogenic protein, and alters its tissue distribution in vivo.

NMR Epitope Mapping: from the spectrum perturbation it is possible to localize the binding region.

NMR spectrum of D76N β2-m, free and bound to Nb24 nanobody

Nanoparticles

Citrate-coated gold nanoparticles, Cit-AuNPs, display specific interaction with the amyloidogenic protein family of β2-m variants. NMR-based mappingand modeling show that a dimeric adduct is consistent with the interaction interface between protein and NPs..

The interaction with Cit-AuNPs prevents fibrillogenesis

Trefoil Knot

Trefoil Knot, TK,  is a supramolecular assembly of three interlaced units of an organic ligand, with three crossings and three coordinated Zn2+ ions. It was obtained and characterized by the group of prof. Trabolsi.

TK establishes a preferentially-oriented, fast-exchange interaction with D76N β2-m that preserves the protein structure and prevents fibrillogenesis