Keto form of curcumin derivatives strongly binds to Aβ oligomers but not fibrils

The accumulation of β-amyloid (Aβ) aggregates in the brain occurs early in the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and non-fibrillar soluble Aβ oligomers are particularly neurotoxic. During binding to Aβ fibrils, curcumin, which can exist in an equilibrium state between its keto and enol tautomers, exists predominantly in the enol form, and binding activity of the keto form to Aβ fibrils is much weaker. Here we described the strong binding...