Hybrid Amyloid\nQuantum Dot Nano-Bio Assemblies to\nProbe Neuroinflammatory Damage

Various oligomeric species of amyloid-beta have been\nproposed to\nplay different immunogenic roles in the cellular pathology of Alzheimer’s\nDisease. The dynamic interconversion between various amyloid oligomers\nand fibrillar assemblies makes it difficult to elucidate the role\neach potential aggregation state may play in driving neuroinflammatory\nand neurodegenerative pathology. The ability to identify the amyloid\nspecies that are key and essential drivers of these pathological hallmarks\nof Alzheimer’s Disease is of fundamental importance for also\nunderstanding downstream events including tauopathies that mediate\nneuroinflammation with neurologic deficits. Here, we report the design\nand construction of a quantum dot mimetic for larger spherical oligomeric\namyloid species as an “endogenously” fluorescent proxy\nfor this cytotoxic assembly of amyloid to investigate its role in\ninducing inflammatory and stress response states in neuronal and glial\ncell types. The design parameters and construction protocol developed\nhere may be adapted for developing quantum dot nano-bio assemblies\nfor other biological systems of interest, particularly neurodegenerative\ndiseases involving other protein aggregates.