Polyoxometalates as effective inhibitors of insulin amyloid fibrils: a promising therapeutic avenue.

Insulin is listed on the WHO model list of essential medicines for a basic healthcare system. Due to its usage at regular intervals on diabetic patients, a disease condition called injection amyloidosis exists due to the propensity of insulin to form fibrils. Hence, it is essential to understand the aggregation of the protein insulin and understand the role of fibrillation of the protein insulin and possible inhibition. In this particular investigation, insulin fibrils were produced in a controlled environment. The study focused on exploring the potential of a special class of inorganic nanomaterials known as polyoxometalates (POMs) to inhibit the formation of these insulin amyloid fibrils. Four specific POMs-phosphomolybdic acid (PMA), silicomolybdic acid (SMA), tungstosilicic acid (TSA), and phosphotungstic acid (PTA)-were selected for assessing the inhibition of fibril formation by POMs using the Thioflavin T (ThT) assay. The molecular docking study also shows the binding sites of POMs with insulin. The results provided promising insights into the inhibitory effects of POMs on insulin amyloid fibrils. This investigation opens up potential avenues for exploring the application of Keggin POMs in the context of neurodegeneration.