Effects of curcumin and ferulic acid on the folding of amyloid-β peptide. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Effects of Curcumin and Ferulic Acid on the Folding of Amyloid-β Peptide.
Molecules. 2021 May 10 ;26(9). Epub 2021 May 10. PMID: 34068636
Evdokiya Salamanova
The polyphenols curcumin (CU) and ferulic acid (FA) are able to inhibit the aggregation of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide with different strengths. CU is a strong inhibitor while FA is a weaker one. In the present study, we examine the effects of CU and FA on the folding process of an Aβ monomer by 1 µs molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. We found that both inhibitors increase the helical propensityand decrease the non-helical propensity of Aβ peptide. They prevent the formation of a dense bulk core and shorten the average lifetime of intramolecular hydrogen bonds in Aβ. CU makes more and longer-lived hydrogen bonds, hydrophobic, π-π, and cation-π interactions with Aβ peptide than FA does, which is in a good agreement with the observed stronger inhibitory activity of CU on Aβ aggregation.