Effect of C-terminus amidation of Aß39-42 fragment derived peptides as potential inhibitors of Aß aggregation.

The C-terminus fragment (Val-Val-Ile-Ala) of amyloid-ß is reported to inhibit the aggregation of the parent peptide. In an attempt to investigate the effect of sequential amino-acid scan and C-terminus amidation on the biological profile of the lead sequence, a series of tetrapeptides were synthesized using MW-SPPS. Peptide D-Phe-Val-Ile-Ala-NH2 (12c) exhibited high protection against ß-amyloid-mediated-neurotoxicity by inhibiting Aß aggregation in the MTT cell viability and ThT-fluorescence assay. Circular dichroism studies illustrate the inability of Aß42 to form ß-sheet in the presence of 12c, further confirmed by the absence of Aß42 fibrils in electron microscopy experiments. The peptide exhibits enhanced BBB permeation, no cytotoxicity along with prolonged proteolytic stability. In silico studies show that the peptide interacts with the key amino acids in Aß, which potentiate its fibrillation, thereby arresting aggregation propensity. This structural class of designed scaffolds provides impetus towards the rational development of peptide-based-therapeutics for Alzheimer's disease (AD).