  Formation of amyloid fibrils of various amyloidogenic proteins is
dramatically enhanced by ultrasound irradiation. For applying this phenomenon
to the study of protein aggregation science and diagnosis of neurodegenerative
diseases, a multichannel ultrasound irradiation system with individually
adjustable ultrasound-irradiation conditions is necessary. Here, we develop a
sonochemical reaction system, where an ultrasonic transducer is placed in each
well of a 96-well microplate to perform ultrasonic irradiation of sample
solutions under various conditions with high reproducibility, and applied it
for studying amyloid-fibril formation of amyloid $\beta$, $\alpha$-synuclein,
$\beta$2-microglobulin, and lysozyme. The results clearly show that our
instrument is superior to conventional shaking method in terms of degree of
acceleration and reproducibility of fibril formation reaction. The acceleration
degree is controllable by controlling the driving voltage applied to each
transducer. We have thus succeeded in developing a useful tool for the study of
amyloid fibril formation in various proteins.
