“Application of curcumin-magnetic nanoparticles for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease using Drosophila melanogaster (Drosophilidae: Diptera) as a study model”

Abstract

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurological disorder associated with the over expression of amyloid-beta (Aβ) protein that appears to be the main causative reason. Drosophila melanogaster is considered as a very significant model organism to study human neurodegeneration including AD, and this seems to be a valuable tool for researchers to improve a new diagnostic approach for neurodegenerative diseases. There are many new techniques used for diagnosis of AD, including curcumin and nanoparticles. The conjugation of curcumin with magnetic nanoparticles make it a promising potential method for diagnosis. The purpose of this study is to diagnose the AD by detecting the accumulation of Aβ via curcumin-magnetic nanoparticles with using D.melalogaster and fluorescence imaging technique for detection. The accumulation of amyloid beta-peptide has been detected via the conjugate using the fluorescence imagining technique. These results suggest that curcumin- magnetic nanoparticles conjugation could be used as a diagnostic tool for AD.