Coffee has been widely studied due to its high consumption rate throughout the world, especially for its caffeine and chlorogenic acid content. Recently, studies have been performed on the effects of caffeine and chlorogenic acid on the disruption of amyloid formation. The formation of amyloid fibrils is a common protein misfolding mechanism which is the basis for numerous diseases prevalent today. Previous research had found that caffeine and chlorogenic acid reduced amyloid formation related to Type II diabetes: the caffeine and chlorogenic acid content disrupted the amyloid formation of human islet amyloid polypeptide protein in the pancreas. My research focuses on the effects of brewed coffee on amyloid fibrils <i>in vitro</i> in relation to Alzheimer’s disease. The misfolding of amyloid-beta 1-40 polypeptide into amyloid fibrils disrupts normal neuronal function in the human brain, thus leading to the characteristic deterioration of memory, motor function, and human expression associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Amyloid-beta 1-40 human polypeptide was exposed to three brewed 100% Arabica brand-name coffees (Dunkin Donuts®, Great Value®, and Starbucks®) over one, two, and three week periods at an incubation temperature of 37°C. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was utilized to determine the caffeine and chlorogenic acid contents of each brand-name coffee at incubation points of zero, one, two, and three weeks. At the end of each incubation period, the coffee-exposed amyloid-beta samples were examined for fibril formation via Thioflavin-T based fluorescence emission.

Effect of brewed coffee from various sources on the formation of amyloid-beta fibrils in vitro

249th National Meeting (2015)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.