"Clicked" sugar-curcumin conjugate: modulator of amyloid-β and tau peptide aggregation at ultralow concentrations

Abstract

The synthesis of a water/plasma soluble, noncytotoxic, "clicked" sugar-derivative of curcumin with amplified bioefficacy in modulating amyloid-β and tau peptide aggregation is presented. Curcumin inhibits amyloid-β and tau peptide aggregation at micromolar concentrations; the sugar-curcumin conjugate inhibits Aβ and tau peptide aggregation at concentrations as low as 8 nM and 0.1 nM, respectively. In comparison to curcumin, this conveniently synthesized Alzheimer's drug candidate is a more powerful antioxidant.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease (AD); amyloid-β; antioxidant potential; curcumin; tau peptide; “click” reaction.