Potential treatment of Parkinson's disease using new-generation carbon nanotubes: a biomolecular in silico study.

Abstract

Background: One of the underlying mechanisms of Parkinson's disease is the aggregation of α-synuclein proteins, including amyloids and Lewy bodies in the brain. Aim: To study the inhibitory effect of doped carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on amyloid aggregation. Materials & methods: Molecular dynamics tools were utilized to simulate the influence of CNTs doped with phosphorus, nitrogen and bromine and nitrogen on the formation of α-synuclein amyloid. Results: The CNTs exhibited strong interactions with α-synuclein, with phosphorus-doped CNTs having the most substantial interactions. Conclusion: Doped-CNTs, especially phosphorus-doped carbon nanotube could effectively prevent α-synuclein amyloid formation, thus, it could be considered as a potential treatment for Parkinson's disease. However, further in vitro and clinical investigations are required.

• Authors: Ehsan Alimohammadi, Arash Nikzad, Mohammad Khedri, Milad Rezaian, Ahmad Miri Jahromi, Nima Rezaei, Reza Maleki
• Journal: Nanomedicine (London, England) (Nanomedicine (Lond)) Vol. 16 Issue 3 Pg. 189-204 (02 2021) ISSN: 1748-6963 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 33502255 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Amyloid
• Nanotubes, Carbon
• alpha-Synuclein

Topics

• Amyloid
• Humans
• Molecular Dynamics Simulation
• Nanotubes, Carbon
• Parkinson Disease (drug therapy)
• alpha-Synuclein