Herein, we demonstrate that it is possible to rapidly screen hydrophobic fluorescent aromatic molecules with regards to their properties as amyloid probes. By grinding the hydrophobic molecule with the amyloidogenic protein insulin, we obtained a water-soluble composite material. When this material is dissolved and exposed to conditions promoting amyloid formation, the protein aggregates into amyloid fibrils incorporating the hydrophobic molecule. As a result, changes in the fluorescence spectra of the hydrophobic molecule can be correlated to the formation of amyloid fibrils, and the suitability of the hydrophobic molecular skeleton as an amyloid probe can thus be assessed. As a result, we discovered two new amyloid probes, of which one is the well-known laser dye DCM. The grinding method can also be used for rapid preparation of novel composite materials between dyes and proteins, which can be used in materials science applications such as organic electronics and photonics.
Keywords: amyloid probes; aromatic molecules; fluorescent; laser dye DCM; rapid screening.