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Quercetin inhibits wild-type transthyretin fibril formation and attenuates associated cytotoxicity in vitro

Zhang Y, Wang T, Zhong J, Duan S, Zheng H, Zhang H, Liu C, Li Q et al.

Biochemical and biophysical research communications, 2026

Abstract

The misfolding and subsequent aggregation of transthyretin (TTR) into amyloid fibrils, which deposit in tissues such as the heart and peripheral nerves, underlies a series of progressive and fatal diseases. Consequently, molecules that inhibit protein misfolding represent a promising therapeutic strategy. Structural analysis of the TTR-quercetin complex indicates that quercetin stabilizes the TTR tetramer. In this study, Thioflavin T fluorescence assays, transmission electron microscopy, circular dichroism spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy demonstrated that quercetin significantly delays the aggregation rate of TTR. This leads to a decrease in β-sheet content and fibril formation. Furthermore, the inhibition of fibrillogenesis by quercetin significantly attenuated the cytotoxicity induced by TTR fibrils. These findings suggest that quercetin holds promise as a natural product for treating transthyretin amyloidosis. However, further in vivo studies and clinical trials are required to validate these findings and explore its translational potential.

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