Design of nanostructured systems for detection of Alzheimer´s disease, an experimental and theoretical approach

Conjugation of iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) to drugs and antibodies increases contrast during Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Some IONPs are approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in vivo as MRI contrast agents. The Cuban Neuroscience Center has a family of compounds derived from naphthalene, called Amylovis^®, to be used in the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's disease. In this work, IONPs with different coatings conjugated with Amylovis^® derivatives were synthesized for their potential use as contrast agents to obtain MRI. The presence of the different coatings was verified by means of signals corresponding to the functional groups present in them with the use of FT-IR. The saturation magnetization values ​​and the magnetic behavior of the nanoparticles were determined by VSM. The DLS profiles made it possible to identify the systems with the smallest hydrodynamic diameter and taking into account the Pot ζ values ​​and the sedimentation study using UV-Vis spectroscopy, it was possible to select the most stable systems over time. The affinity of the coatings that originated more stable nanoparticles for the βA_1-42 peptide was evaluated by molecular docking. Molecular docking showed that the coatings do not affect the interaction of the Amylovis^® derivative with the receptor and the newly incorporated polar groups increased the affinity for the receptor.