Photoacoustic Modulation of Alzheimer's Beta-Amyloid Aggregates Structure Using MOF-Derived Carbon Nanoparticles

Photoacoustic materials release acoustic waves onto the surroundings by converting absorbed photon energy. In an aqueous environment, light-induced acoustic waves form cavitation bubbles by altering the localized pressure to trigger the phase transition of water from liquid into vaporous phase. Herein, this study report the photoacoustic dissociation of beta-amyloid (Aβ) aggregates, a prominent hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease, the most pervasive type of dementia, by metal−organic framework-derived carbon (MOFC) nanoparticles. MOFC nanoparticles, which possess defect-rich and entangled graphitic layers, exhibit a near-infrared (NIR) light-responsive photoacoustic characteristic and generate intense photoacoustic cavitation under tissue-penetrable NIR light irradiation. Our analysis exhibits that photoacoustic cavitation induced by MOFC occurs in the water within milliseconds, and is controllable by the dose of NIR light. The photoacoustic cavitation effectively denatures extremely robust β-sheet-dominant neurotoxic Aβ aggregates into nontoxic debris by altering the asymmetric distribution of water molecules around the amino acid residues of Aβ. Furthermore, the cellular metabolic activity test confirmed that photoacoustic cavitation alleviated Aβ-induced neurotoxicity. This work reveals the therapeutic potential of spatiotemporally controllable NIR-driven photoacoustic cavitation as a modulator of the Aβ aggregate structure.