Protein deposits are common hallmarks of several neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and ligands that selectively detect specific protein aggregates are crucial. Herein, we investigated the molecular requirements of a thiophene-based ligand, denoted HS-276, for selective detection of Aβ deposits in human brain tissue sections with AD pathology. The staining of Aβ deposits was altered when replacing the terminal thiophene moiety with other heterocyclic moieties. In addition, when changing the central thiophene moiety of the ligand to a phenylene, a quinoxaline, or a benzothiadiazole moiety, the staining of Aβ aggregates was completely abolished, verifying that specific molecular interactions between these ligands and the aggregates were required. The experimental observations were also verified by theoretical calculations of the ligands’ binding mode towards Aβ filaments. Our findings provide chemical insights for developing ligands that selectively target Aβ deposits and highlight the importance of certain chemical requirements for achieving a selective ligand, such as HS-276, for detecting Aβ deposits in sporadic AD. We foresee that these findings might aid in creating novel agents for clinical imaging of Aβ aggregates in AD.

An automatic code generated C++/HIP/CUDA implementation of the (auxiliary) Fock, or Kohn-Sham, matrix construction for execution in GPU-accelerated hardware environments is presented. The module is developed as part of the quantum chemistry software package VeloxChem, employing localized Gaussian atomic orbitals. The performance and scaling characteristics are analyzed in view of the specific requirements for self-consistent field optimization and response theory calculations. As an example, the electronic circular dichroism spectrum of a G-quadruplex is calculated at the level of time-dependent density functional theory in conjunction with the range-separated CAM-B3LYP exchange-correlation functional. Computational issues due to the high-density of states following the adoption of large-scale model systems are here bypassed with use of the complex polarization propagator approach. The origin of the negative Cotton effect in the long-wavelength onset of the experimental spectrum is elucidated in large-scale modeling and shown to be associated with the TTA nucleobase linkers in the G-quadruplex.

Being a program written primarily in Python that strictly adheres to modern object-oriented software engineering and parallel programming practices, VeloxChem is shown to be suitable for the development of (semi)automatized workflows that extend its scope from first-principles quantum chemical purism to hybrid quantum-classical interoperability and some degree of semiempiricism. Methods are presented for building complex systems such as metal-organic frameworks, constructing molecular mechanics and interpolation mechanics force fields, conformer searches, system solvation, determining free energies of solvation, and determining free energy profiles of reaction pathways using the empirical valence bond method. The implementations are made intuitive with opportunities for interactive plotting and 3D molecular structure illustrations through the use of Jupyter notebooks.

Complex [Ag(IPr)(3-Medpa)][PF6] (1), possessing the same combination of ligands as previously reported [Cu(IPr)(3-Medpa)][PF6] (2) applied in a blue-emitting light-emitting electrochemical cell (LEC), has been synthesized and fully structurally and photophysically characterized both in powder and thin-film form. In detail, temperature-dependent steady-state, time-resolved emission experiments, and computational calculations have been performed to understand the impact of the nature of the metal ion center on the photophysical and electroluminescent properties. Here, a direct comparison between the complexes reveals (i) a distinct emission behavior, such as fluorescence (1) vs. thermally activated delay fluorescence (2), caused by the changes of the nature of the emitting excited states from ligand centered (1) to metal-to-ligand charge transfer (2), (ii) an unforeseen crystallinity-dependent emission in 1 that leads to either smooth and non-emissive thin-films or phase aggregated and emissive thin-films, and (iii) 1-based LECs with a stable electrical behavior over 100 h, which contrasts with the prior start-of-the-art value of a few minutes (2).

Chiral and enantiopure perfluorinated sulfonimidamides act as low-molecular weight gelators at low critical gelation concentration (<1 mg mL-1) via supramolecular polymerization in nonpolar organic solvents and more heterogenic mixtures, such as biodiesel and oil. Freeze-drying of the organogel leads to ultralight aerogel with extremely low density (1 mg mL-1). The gelation is driven by hydrogen bonding resulting in a helical molecular ordering and unique fibre assemblies as confirmed by scanning electron microscopy, CD spectroscopy, and computational modeling of the supramolecular structure.

Misfolding and aggregation of transthyretin (TTR) causeseveralamyloid diseases. Besides being an amyloidogenic protein, TTR hasan affinity for bicyclic small-molecule ligands in its thyroxine (T4)binding site. One class of TTR ligands are trans-stilbenes. The trans-stilbenescaffold is also widely applied for amyloid fibril-specific ligandsused as fluorescence probes and as positron emission tomography tracersfor amyloid detection and diagnosis of amyloidosis. We have shownthat native tetrameric TTR binds to amyloid ligands based on the trans-stilbenescaffold providing a platform for the determination of high-resolutionstructures of these important molecules bound to protein. In thisstudy, we provide spectroscopic evidence of binding and X-ray crystallographicstructure data on tetrameric TTR complex with the fluorescent salicylicacid-based pyrene amyloid ligand (Py1SA), an analogue of the Congored analogue X-34. The ambiguous electron density from the X-ray diffraction,however, did not permit Py1SA placement with enough confidence likelydue to partial ligand occupancy. Instead, the preferred orientationof the Py1SA ligand in the binding pocket was determined by moleculardynamics and umbrella sampling approaches. We find a distinct preferencefor the binding modes with the salicylic acid group pointing intothe pocket and the pyrene moiety outward to the opening of the T4binding site. Our work provides insight into TTR binding mode preferencefor trans-stilbene salicylic acid derivatives as well as a frameworkfor determining structures of TTR-ligand complexes.

Distinct aggregated proteins are correlated with numerous neurodegenerative diseases and the development of ligands that selectively detect these pathological hallmarks is vital. Recently, the synthesis of thiophene-based optical ligands, denoted bi-thiophene-vinyl-benzothiazoles (bTVBTs), that could be utilized for selective assignment of tau pathology in brain tissue with Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology, was reported. Herein, we investigate the ability of these ligands to selectively distinguish tau deposits from aggregated amyloid-β (Aβ), the second AD associated pathological hallmark, when replacing the terminal thiophene moiety with other heterocyclic motifs. The selectivity for tau pathology was reduced when introducing specific heterocyclic motifs, verifying that specific molecular interactions between the ligands and the aggregates are necessary for selective detection of tau deposits. In addition, ligands having certain heterocyclic moieties attached to the central thiophene-vinylene building block displayed selectivity to aggregated Aβ pathology. Our findings provide chemical insights for the development of ligands that can distinguish between aggregated proteinaceous species consisting of different proteins and might also aid in creating novel agents for clinical imaging of tau pathology in AD.

Self-assembled nanotubesexhibit impressive biologicalfunctionsthat have always inspired supramolecular scientists in their effortsto develop strategies to build such structures from small moleculesthrough a bottom-up approach. One of these strategies employs moleculesendowed with self-recognizing motifs at the edges, which can undergoeither cyclization-stacking or folding-polymerizationprocesses that lead to tubular architectures. Which of these self-assemblypathways is ultimately selected by these molecules is, however, oftendifficult to predict and even to evaluate experimentally. We showhere a unique example of two structurally related molecules substitutedwith complementary nucleobases at the edges (i.e., G:C and A:U) for which the supramolecular pathway takenis determined by chelate cooperativity, that is, by their propensityto assemble in specific cyclic structures through Watson-Crickpairing. Because of chelate cooperativities that differ in severalorders of magnitude, these molecules exhibit distinct supramolecularscenarios prior to their polymerization that generate self-assemblednanotubes with different internal monomer arrangements, either stackedor coiled, which lead at the same time to opposite helicities andchiroptical properties.

Anionic pentameric thiophene acetates can be used for fluorescence detection and diagnosis of protein amyloid aggregates. Replacing the central thiophene unit by benzothiadiazole (BTD) or quinoxaline (QX) leads to large emission shifts and basic spectral features have been reported [Chem. Eur. J. 2015, 21, 15133-13137]. Here we present new detailed experimental results of solvent effects, time-resolved fluorescence and examples employing multi-photon microscopy and lifetime imaging. Quantum chemical response calculations elucidate how the introduction of the BTD/QX groups changes the electronic states and emissions. The dramatic red-shift follows an increased conjugation and quinoid character of the π-electrons of the thiophene backbone. An efficient charge transfer in the excited states S1 and S2 compared to the all-thiophene analogue makes these more sensitive to the polarity and quenching by the solvent. Taken together, the results guide in the interpretation of images of stained Alzheimer disease brain sections employing advanced fluorescence microscopy and lifetime imaging, and can aid in optimizing future fluorescent ligand development.

Protein nanofibrils (PNFs) represent a promising class of biobased nanomaterials for biomedical and materials science applications. In the design of such materials, a fundamental understanding of the structure-function relationship at both molecular and nanoscale levels is essential. Here we report investigations of the nanoscale morphology and molecular arrangement of amyloid-like PNFs of a synthetic peptide fragment consisting of residues 11-20 of the protein beta-lactoglobulin (beta-LG(11-20)), an important model system for PNF materials. Nanoscale fibril morphology was analysed by atomic force microscopy (AFM) that indicates the presence of polymorphic self-assembly of protofilaments. However, observation of a single set of C-13 and N-15 resonances in the solid-state NMR spectra for the beta-LG(11-20) fibrils suggests that the observed polymorphism originates from the assembly of protofilaments at the nanoscale but not from the molecular structure. The secondary structure and inter-residue proximities in the beta-LG(11-20) fibrils were probed using NMR experiments of the peptide with C-13- and N-15-labelled amino acid residues at selected positions. We can conclude that the peptides form parallel beta-sheets, but the NMR data was inconclusive regarding inter-sheet packing. Molecular dynamics simulations confirm the stability of parallel beta-sheets and suggest two preferred modes of packing. Comparison of molecular dynamics models with NMR data and calculated chemical shifts indicates that both packing models are possible.