Traditionally, real time tau protein aggregation is either monitored by ThT or ThS fluorescence. Is there any other reliable dye which can accurately map Tau protein fibrillization ? I would also like to know is there any direct method to monitor aggregation other than fluorescence or scattering at 350nm.
There are many dyes that are capable of providing a fluorescence readout when bound to the amyloid scaffold, mainly Thioflavine and ANS derivatives. These are useful when working in vitro with the purified protein. If, however, you need to work in a more complex environment, such as cell extracts, brain slices or even in vivo imaging, there are only few dyes that may work, depending on the equipment available at your lab.
I can suggest you to read the following review in which I survey this topic:
- Small molecule fluorescent probes for the detection of amyloid self-assembly in vitro and in vivo.
Bertoncini CW, Celej MS.
Curr Protein Pept Sci. 2011 May;12(3):205-20. Review.
Maybe you could use the Prometheus NT.48 with backreflection optics. It detects aggregates (and simultaneously also intrinsic trp and tyr fluorescence) in up to 48 samples in a time frame of only 3 seconds. Therefore you could monitor aggregation of tau proteins in real time in different conditions. For your reference I attached an application note on aggregates detected by backreflection.
Thank you Heide. What you suggested sounds very interesting.
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