Amyloid fibrillogenesis of lysozyme is suppressed by a food additive brilliant blue FCF

•Lysozyme fibrillogenesis is dose-dependently inhibited by brilliant blue FCF (BBF).•Formation of amorphous aggregates was companied with reduction of amyloid fibrils.•BBF’s inhibitory action is initiated by binding with HEWL’s aggregation hot spot.

At least 30 different human proteins can fold abnormally to form the amyloid deposits that are associated with a number of degenerative diseases. The research presented here aimed at understanding the inhibitory potency of a food additive, brilliant blue FCF (BBF), on the amyloid fibril formation of lysozyme. Our results demonstrated that BBF was able to suppress the formation of lysozyme fibrils in a dose-dependent fashion. In addition, the structural features and conformational changes in the lysozyme samples upon the addition of BBF were further characterized using circular dichroism spectroscopy, nile red fluorescence spectroscopy, turbidity assay, and sodium dodecyl sulfate electrophoresis. Through molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations, BBF’s mechanism of action in lysozyme fibrillogenesis inhibition was found to be initiated by binding with the aggregation-prone region of the lysozyme. We believe the results from this research may contribute to the development of effective therapeutics for amyloidoses.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slideAmyloid fibrillogenesis of hen lysozyme (HEWL) can be suppressed by brilliant blue FCF (BBF).