Ionic liquid-functionalized carbon dots for inhibiting amyloid aggregation and oxidative stress

Amyloid aggregation and oxidative stress are considered key issues in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Currently, few existing treatment strategies address these critical issues. An imidazolyl ionic liquid functionalized carbon dot was created in this study. Through hydrophobic interaction, the nanoparticle can attach to lysozyme and inhibit the self-assembly process brought on by hydrophobic interaction. Thioflavin T (ThT) analysis showed that CDs@IL inhibited amyloid fibril aggregation in a dose-dependent manner for a long time (inhibition efficiency of 80% and depolymerization efficiency of 74%). Circular dichroism (CD) further indicated that CDs@IL can significantly inhibit the transformation of lysozyme from α-helical structure to β-sheet structure. At the same time, CDs@IL had excellent free radical scavenging ability, which can effectively alleviate the negative effects of oxidative stress. More importantly, biological experiments proved the good biocompatibility of CDs@IL, which indicated the potential of our system as a future therapeutic platform for amyloidosis.