New fluorescent probes for detection and characterization of amyloid fibrils

► The present study revealed an important new feature of the fluorescent benzanthrone dye ABM, viz. its amyloid specificity. ► As judged from the analysis of ABM interaction with lysozyme fibrils, this dye displays: (i) greater extent of fluorescence increase, (ii) higher affinity for fibrillar structures, (iii) weaker binding to the native protein, (iv) larger Stokes shift, being compared to classical amyloid marker ThT. ► Resonance energy transfer measurements involving ABM, squaraine dye SQ-1 and polymethine dye V2 demonstrated principal possibility of determining fractal dimension of fibrillar aggregates through analyzing the RET data from several donor-acceptor pairs.