Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia and is listed as the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States. Recent findings have linked AD to the aggregation of amyloid beta peptides (Aβ), a proteolytic fragment of 39-43 amino acid residues derived from the amyloid precursor protein. AD has no cure; thus, new therapies to stop the progression of this deadly disease are constantly being searched for. In recent years, chaperone-based medications from medicinal plants have gained significant interest as an anti-AD therapy. Chaperones are responsible for maintaining the three-dimensional shape of proteins and play an important role against neurotoxicity induced by the aggregation of misfolded proteins. Therefore, we hypothesized that proteins extracted from the seeds of Artocarpus camansi Blanco (A. camansi) and Amaranthus dubius Mart. ex Thell (A. dubius) could possess chaperone activity and consequently may exhibit a protective effect against Aβ1-40-induced cytotoxicity. To test this hypothesis, the chaperone activity of these protein extracts was measured using the enzymatic reaction of citrate synthase (CS) under stress conditions. Then, their ability to inhibit the aggregation of Aβ1-40 using a thioflavin T (ThT) fluorescence assay and DLS measurements was determined. Finally, the neuroprotective effect against Aβ1-40 in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells was evaluated. Our results demonstrated that A. camansi and A. dubius protein extracts exhibited chaperone activity and inhibited Aβ1-40 fibril formation, with A. dubius showing the highest chaperone activity and inhibition at the concentration assessed. Additionally, both protein extracts showed neuroprotective effects against Aβ1-40-induced toxicity. Overall, our data demonstrated that the plant-based proteins studied in this research work can effectively overcome one of the most important characteristics of AD.
Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; chaperones; fibril inhibition; protective effect; protein extract.