Method for In Situ Detection of Amyloid Formations in the Hippocampus of the Cohen's Alzheimer's Disease Rat Model by Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering

Abstract

This is the first report on the amyloid fibril interacting with gold colloid nano-particles (diameter; d ~80 nm) monitored through the Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS). The Long Evans Cohen’s Alzheimer’s disease rat model was used and the hippocampus was extracted and processed with and without gold nano-particles. The middle section of the hippocampus was selected and examined for any sign of fibril that was confirmed of having amyloid beta (Aβ_1-40 or Aβ_1-42). The SERS imaging exhibited an existence of the formation of gold colloid aggregates with enhanced Raman signal, thereby implying the significant interaction between amyloid oligomers and gold nano-particles on the surface of the hippocampal sections. The detectable fiber-like segment from within the hippocampal sections seemed to have a high correlation with the location of gold colloid aggregates, indicating that the terminal form of a fibril may remain in the hippocampal section containing highly interactive portions ( i.e., oligomeric conformations) to cause such aggregation of Aβ_1-40 or Aβ_1-42.

Note:
Funding Information: This work was supported by the National Science Foundation 2117780 - MRI and the Geneseo Foundation.

Declaration of Interests: None to declare.

Ethics Approval Statement: All procedures were approved by the SUNY Old Westbury Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease (AD), Cohen's Alzheimer's disease model, Surface Plasmon, Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS), Gold nano-particles, Protein Corona