Oxidative stress from the increase of reactive oxygen species in cells is a common part of the normal aging process and is accelerated in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Herein, we report the evaluation of three benzothiazole amphiphiles (BAMs) that exhibit improved biocompatibility without loss of biological activity against amyloid-β induced cell damage compared to a previously reported hexa(ethylene glycol) derivative of benzothiazole aniline (BTA-EG6). The reduced toxicity of these BAM agents compared to BTA-EG6 corresponded with their reduced propensity to induce membrane lysis. In addition, all of the new BAMs were capable of protecting differentiated SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells from toxicity and concomitant oxidative stress induced by AD-related aggregated Aβ (1-42) peptides. Binding and microscopy studies support that these BAM agents target Aβ and inhibit the interactions of catalase with Aβ in cells, which, in turn, can account for an observed inhibition of Aβ-induced increases in hydrogen peroxide in cells treated with these compounds. These results support that this family of benzothiazole amphiphiles may have therapeutic potential for treating cellular damage associated with AD and other Aβ-related neurologic diseases
