Photo-active $g-C_3N_4$ nanomaterials for light-induced inhibition of $\beta$-amyloid aggregation

Abstract

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a severe neural disease that progressively damages neurons. One of the major strategies for AD treatment is to inhibit the aggregation of $\beta-amyloid$ ($A\beta$) peptides. Here we report that graphitic carbon nitride ($g-C_3N_4$) has a suppressive ability toward $A\beta$ aggregation under light illumination. Under commercial white light emitting diode (LED) light, photo-induced electrons of $g-C_3N_4$ with a 2.6 eV bandgap generated reactive oxygen species (ROS), such as superoxide anion and singlet oxygen

then, ROS blocked further $A\beta$ fibrillation as a way of photo-oxidation, impacting the conformational structure of $A\beta$ peptides. Through metal doping into a $g-C_3N_4$ framework, we further demonstrated that Fe-doped $g-C_3N_4$ showed enhanced optical properties and stronger inhibition on $A\beta$ aggregation than bare $g-C_3N_4$. Both $g-C_3N_4$ and Fe-doped $g-C_3N_4$ had negligible cytotoxicity and exhibited significant reduction in $A\beta-induced$ cell death.