Amyloid fibrillation is known to contribute in a variety of diseases including neurodegenerative disorders (e.g., Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease) and type II diabetes. The inhibition of fibrillation has been suggested as a possible therapeutic strategy to prevent neuronal and pancreatic β-cell death associated with amyloid diseases. To this end, strong hydrophobic and π-π interactions between proteins and nanomaterials at the nanobio interface could be used to mitigate the stacking of amyloid structures associated with fibrillation. In this study, the authors show that exfoliated graphene effectively inhibits the formation of amyloid fibrils using a model amyloid-forming protein, viz., hen egg white lysozyme (HEWL). While previous theoretical models posit that hydrophobic and π-π stacking interactions result in strong interactions between graphene and proteins, the authors experimentally identified the presence of additional interfacial charge transfer interactions between HEWL and graphene using micro-Raman spectroscopy and Kelvin probe force microscopy. Their photoluminescence spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy studies evince that the interfacial charge transfer combined with hydrophobic and π-π stacking interactions, specifically between the nanomaterial and the amino acid tryptophan, increase HEWL adsorption on graphene and thereby inhibit amyloid fibrillation.

中文翻译：

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脱落石墨烯的界面电荷转移抑制了溶菌酶淀粉样蛋白中原纤维的形成。

已知淀粉样蛋白原纤化可导致多种疾病，包括神经退行性疾病（例如，阿尔茨海默氏病和帕金森氏病）和II型糖尿病。已经提出抑制纤颤是预防与淀粉样蛋白疾病相关的神经元和胰腺β细胞死亡的一种可能的治疗策略。为此，可以使用蛋白质和纳米材料之间在纳米生物界面处的强疏水性和π-π相互作用来减轻与原纤维形成有关的淀粉样蛋白结构的堆积。在这项研究中，作者表明，使用模型淀粉样蛋白形成蛋白，即鸡蛋清溶菌酶（HEWL），脱落的石墨烯可有效抑制淀粉样蛋白原纤维的形成。尽管先前的理论模型认为疏水和π-π堆积相互作用会导致石墨烯与蛋白质之间发生强相互作用，但作者使用微拉曼光谱和开尔文探针力显微镜通过实验确定了HEWL和石墨烯之间存在其他界面电荷转移相互作用。他们的光致发光光谱和透射电子显微镜研究表明，界面电荷转移与疏水性和π-π堆积相互作用结合在一起，特别是在纳米材料和氨基酸色氨酸之间，增加了石墨烯上HEWL的吸附，从而抑制了淀粉样蛋白原纤维化。作者使用微拉曼光谱和开尔文探针力显微镜通过实验确定了HEWL和石墨烯之间存在其他界面电荷转移相互作用。他们的光致发光光谱和透射电子显微镜研究表明，界面电荷转移与疏水性和π-π堆积相互作用结合在一起，特别是在纳米材料和氨基酸色氨酸之间，增加了石墨烯上HEWL的吸附，从而抑制了淀粉样蛋白原纤维化。作者使用微拉曼光谱和开尔文探针力显微镜通过实验确定了HEWL和石墨烯之间存在其他界面电荷转移相互作用。他们的光致发光光谱和透射电子显微镜研究表明，界面电荷转移与疏水性和π-π堆积相互作用结合在一起，特别是在纳米材料和氨基酸色氨酸之间，增加了石墨烯上HEWL的吸附，从而抑制了淀粉样蛋白原纤维化。