Bacoside-A, an Indian Traditional-Medicine Substance, Inhibits β-Amyloid Cytotoxicity, Fibrillation, and Membrane Interactions

Ravit Malishev, Shira Shaham-Niv, Sukhendu Nandi, Sofiya Kolusheva, Ehud Gazit, Raz Jelinek*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Bacoside-A, a family of compounds extracted from the Bacopa monniera plant, is a folk-medicinal substance believed to exhibit therapeutic properties, particularly enhancing cognitive functions and improving memory. We show that bacoside-A exerted significant inhibitory effects upon cytotoxicity, fibrillation, and particularly membrane interactions of amyloid-beta (1-42) (Aβ42), the peptide playing a prominent role in Alzeheimer's disease progression and toxicity. Specifically, preincubation of bacoside-A with Aβ42 significantly reduced cell toxicity and inhibited fibril formation both in buffer solution and, more significantly, in the presence of membrane vesicles. In parallel, spectroscopic and microscopic analyses reveal that bacoside-A blocked membrane interactions of Aβ42, while formation of Aβ42 oligomers was not disrupted. These interesting phenomena suggest that inhibition of Aβ42 oligomer assembly into mature fibrils, and blocking membrane interactions of the oligomers are likely the underlying factors for ameliorating amyloid toxicity by bacoside-A and its putative physiological benefits.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)884-891
Number of pages8
JournalACS Chemical Neuroscience
Volume8
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 19 Apr 2017

Keywords

  • amyloid-membrane interactions
  • bacoside-A
  • fibrillation inhibitors
  • fluorescence anisotropy
  • giant vesicles
  • β-Amyloid
  • β-amyloid oligomers

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