Human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP) aggregates into fibrils through oligomers that have been postulated to contain α-helices as well as β-sheets.

We use two-dimensional IR (2D IR) spectroscopy to explore fibril formation for the two predominant isoforms of the β-amyloid (Aβ1–40 and Aβ1–42) protein associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Two-dimensional IR spectra resolve a transition at 1610 cm−1 in Aβ fibrils that does not appear in other Aβ aggregates, even those with predominantly β-sheet-structure-like oligomers. This transition is not resolved in linear IR spectroscopy because it lies under the broad band centered at 1625 cm−1, which is the traditional infrared signature for amyloid fibrils. The feature is prominent in 2D IR spectra because 2D lineshapes are narrower and scale nonlinearly with transition dipole strengths. Transmission electron microscopy measurements demonstrate that the 1610 cm−1 band is a positive identification of amyloid fibrils. Sodium dodecyl sulfate micelles that solubilize and disaggregate preaggregated Aβ samples deplete the 1625 cm 1 band but do not affect the 1610 cm 1 band, demonstrating that the 1610 cm−1 band is due to very stable fibrils. We demonstrate that the 1610 cm−1 transition arises from amide I modes by mutating out the only side-chain residue that could give rise to this transition, and we explore the potential structural origins of the transition by simulating 2D IR spectra based on Aβ crystal structures. It was not previously possible to distinguish stable Aβ fibrils from the less stable β-sheet-rich oligomers with infrared light. This 2D IR signature will be useful for Alzheimer’s research on Aβ aggregation, fibril formation, and toxicity.

The photochemistry of the rotor probe 9-(2-carboxy-2-cyanovinyl)julolidine (CCVJ) was studied to elucidate a curious effect of fluid flow previously reported. The apparent sensitivity to fluid motion observed in CCVJ but not in the closely related molecule 9-(dicyanovinyl)julolidine (DCVJ) is found to be an indirect effect of a photoisomerization reaction. The results presented here demonstrate that it is this isomerization, rather than the commonly assumed TICT process, that confers viscosity-sensing ability on these fluorophores. In micromolar solutions in hydroxylic solvents CCVJ exists primarily in the carboxylate form. Only the E isomer of this anion is initially present in solutions prepared from the solid, but in room light such solutions rapidly achieve a photostationary state in which the E isomer and an essentially nonfluorescent Z isomer exist in comparable concentrations. The Z isomer is metastable in S(0) such that in the absence of light the solution reverts slowly to pure E. Unlike DCVJ where only a single isomer is possible, the production of long-lived photoproducts in CCVJ and other asymmetrically substituted styryenyl probes complicates their fluorescence response. Considerable care is needed when such fluorphores are used as steady-state sensors of environmental fluidity are used.