Correlation of structural elements and infectivity of the HET-s prion

3D structure of Alzheimer's amyloid-beta(1-42) fibrils

Alzheimer's disease is the most fatal neurodegenerative disorder wherein the process of amyloid-beta (Abeta) amyloidogenesis appears causative. Here, we present the 3D structure of the fibrils comprising Abeta(1-42), which was obtained by using hydrogen-bonding constraints from quenched hydrogen/deuterium-exchange NMR, side-chain packing constraints from pairwise mutagenesis studies, and parallel, in-register beta-sheet arrangement from previous solid-state NMR studies. Although residues 1-17 are disordered, residues 18-42 form a beta-strand-turn-beta-strand motif that contains two intermolecular, parallel, in-register beta-sheets that are formed by residues 18-26 (beta1) and 31-42 (beta2). At least two molecules of Abeta(1-42) are required to achieve the repeating structure of a protofilament. Intermolecular side-chain contacts are formed between the odd-numbered residues of strand beta1 of the nth molecule and the even-numbered residues of strand beta2 of the (n - 1)th molecule. This interaction pattern leads to partially unpaired beta-strands at the fibrillar ends, which explains the sequence selectivity, the cooperativity, and the apparent unidirectionality of Abeta fibril growth. It also provides a structural basis for fibrillization inhibitors.

Amyloid Fibril Formation of α-Synuclein Is Accelerated by Preformed Amyloid Seeds of Other Proteins

Alpha-synuclein is one of the causative proteins of familial Parkinson disease, which is characterized by neuronal inclusions named Lewy bodies. Lewy bodies include not only alpha-synuclein but also aggregates of other proteins. This fact raises a question as to whether the formation of alpha-synuclein amyloid fibrils in Lewy bodies may occur via interaction with fibrils derived from different proteins. To probe this hypothesis, we investigated in vitro fibril formation of human alpha-synuclein in the presence of preformed fibril seeds of various different proteins. We used three proteins, Escherichia coli chaperonin GroES, hen lysozyme, and bovine insulin, all of which have been shown to form amyloid fibrils. Very surprisingly, the formation of alpha-synuclein amyloid fibril was accelerated markedly in the presence of preformed seeds of GroES, lysozyme, and insulin fibrils. The structural characteristics of the natively unfolded state of alpha-synuclein may allow binding to various protein particles, which in turn triggers the formation (extension) of alpha-synuclein amyloid fibrils. This finding is very important for understanding the molecular mechanism of Parkinson disease and also provides interesting implications into the mechanism of transmissible conformational diseases.

Towards an understanding of the structural molecular mechanism of β2-microglobulin amyloid formation in vitro

Deriving a complete understanding of protein self-association into amyloid fibrils across multiple distance and time scales is an enormous challenge. At small length scales, a detailed description of the partially folded protein ensemble that participates in self-assembly remains obscure. At larger length scales, amyloid fibrils are often heterogeneous, can form along multiple pathways, and are further complicated by phenomena such as phase-separation. Over the last 5 years, we have used an array of biophysical approaches in order to elucidate the structural and molecular mechanism of amyloid fibril formation, focusing on the all beta-sheet protein, beta(2)-microglubulin (beta(2)m). This protein forms amyloid deposits in the human disease 'dialysis-related amyloidosis' (DRA). We have shown that under acidic conditions beta(2)m rapidly associates in vitro to form amyloid-like fibrils that have different morphological properties, but which contain an underpinning cross-beta structure. In this review, we discuss our current knowledge of the structure of these fibrils, as well as the structural, kinetic and thermodynamic relationship between fibrils with different morphologies. The results provide some of the first insights into the shape of the self-assembly free-energy landscape for this protein and highlight the parallel nature of the assembly process. We include a detailed description of the structure and dynamics of partially folded and acid unfolded species of beta(2)m using NMR, and highlight regions thought to be important in early self-association events. Finally, we discuss briefly how knowledge of assembly mechanisms in vitro can be used to inform the design of therapeutic strategies for this, and other amyloid disorders, and we speculate on how the increasing power of biophysical approaches may lead to a fuller description of protein self-assembly into amyloid in the future.

Molecular-level secondary structure, polymorphism, and dynamics of full-length alpha-synuclein fibrils studied by solid-state NMR

The 140-residue protein alpha-synuclein (AS) is able to form amyloid fibrils and as such is the main component of protein inclusions involved in Parkinson's disease. We have investigated the structure and dynamics of full-length AS fibrils by high-resolution solid-state NMR spectroscopy. Homonuclear and heteronuclear 2D and 3D spectra of fibrils grown from uniformly (13)C/(15)N-labeled AS and AS reverse-labeled for two of the most abundant amino acids, K and V, were analyzed. (13)C and (15)N signals exhibited linewidths of <0.7 ppm. Sequential assignments were obtained for 48 residues in the hydrophobic core region. We identified two different types of fibrils displaying chemical-shift differences of up to 13 ppm in the (15)N dimension and up to 5 ppm for backbone and side-chain (13)C chemical shifts. EM studies suggested that molecular structure is correlated with fibril morphology. Investigation of the secondary structure revealed that most amino acids of the core region belong to beta-strands with similar torsion angles in both conformations. Selection of regions with different mobility indicated the existence of monomers in the sample and allowed the identification of mobile segments of the protein within the fibril in the presence of monomeric protein. At least 35 C-terminal residues were mobile and lacked a defined secondary structure, whereas the N terminus was rigid starting from residue 22. Our findings agree well with the overall picture obtained with other methods and provide insight into the amyloid fibril structure and dynamics with residue-specific resolution.

Structure and properties of alpha-synuclein and other amyloids determined at the amino acid level

The structure of alpha-synuclein (alpha-syn) amyloid was studied by hydrogen-deuterium exchange by using a fragment separation-MS analysis. The conditions used made it possible to distinguish the exchange of unprotected and protected amide hydrogens and to define the order/disorder boundaries at close to amino acid resolution. The soluble alpha-syn monomer exchanges its amide hydrogens with water hydrogens at random coil rates, consistent with its natively unstructured condition. In assembled amyloid, long N-terminal and C-terminal segments remain unprotected (residues 1- approximately 38 and 102-140), although the N-terminal segment shows some heterogeneity. A continuous middle segment (residues approximately 39-101) is strongly protected by systematically H-bonded cross-beta structure. This segment is much too long to fit the amyloid ribbon width, but non-H-bonded amides expected for direction-changing loops are not apparent. These results and other known constraints specify that alpha-syn amyloid adopts a chain fold like that suggested before for amyloid-beta [Petkova et al. (2002) Proc. Natl. Acad Sci. USA 99, 16742-16747] but with a short, H-bonded interlamina turn. More generally, we suggest that the prevalence of accidental amyloid formation derives mainly from the exceptional ability of the main chain in a structurally relaxed beta-conformation to adapt to and energy-minimize side-chain mismatching. Seeding specificity, strain variability, and species barriers then arise because newly added parallel in-register chains must faithfully reproduce the same set of adaptations.

The solvent protection of alzheimer amyloid-beta-(1-42) fibrils as determined by solution NMR spectroscopy

Alzheimer disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that is tightly linked to the self-assembly and amyloid formation of the 39-43-residue-long amyloid-beta (Abeta) peptide. Considerable evidence suggests a correlation between Alzheimer disease development and the longer variants of the peptide, Abeta-(1-42/43). Currently, a molecular understanding for this behavior is lacking. In the present study, we have investigated the hydrogen/deuterium exchange of Abeta-(1-42) fibrils under physiological conditions, using solution NMR spectroscopy. The obtained residue-specific and quantitative map of the solvent protection within the Abeta-(1-42) fibril shows that there are two protected core regions, Glu11-Gly25 and Lys28-Ala42, and that the residues in between, Ser26 and Asn27, as well as those in the N terminus, Asp1-Tyr10, are solvent-accessible. This result reveals considerable discrepancies when compared with a previous investigation on Abeta-(1-40) fibrils and suggests that the additional residues in Abeta-(1-42), Ile41 and Ala42, significantly increase the solvent protection and stability of the C-terminal region Lys28-Ala42. Consequently, our findings provide a molecular explanation for the increased amyloidogenicity and toxicity of Abeta-(1-42) compared with shorter Abeta variants found in vivo.

Reconstitution and alignment by a magnetic field of a β-barrel membrane protein in bicelles

A protocol is described for the reconstitution of a transmembrane beta-barrel protein domain, tOmpA, into lipid bicelles. tOmpA is the largest protein to be reconstituted in bicelles to date. Its insertion does not prevent bicelles from orienting with their plane either parallel or perpendicular to the magnetic field, depending on the absence or presence of paramagnetic ions. In the latter case, tOmpA is shown to align with the axis of the beta-barrel parallel to the magnetic field, i.e. perpendicular to the plane of the bilayer, an orientation conforming to that in natural membranes and favourable to structural studies by solid-state NMR. Reconstitution into bicelles may offer an interesting approach for structural studies of membrane proteins in a medium resembling a biological membrane, using either NMR or other biophysical techniques. Our data suggest that alignment in the magnetic field of membrane proteins included into bicelles may be facilitated if the protein is folded as a beta-barrel structure.

Structural stability of amyloid fibrils of beta(2)-microglobulin in comparison with its native fold

Among various amyloidogenic proteins, beta(2)-microglobulin (beta2-m) responsible for dialysis-related amyloidosis is a target of extensive study because of its clinical importance and suitable size for examining the formation of amyloid fibrils in comparison with protein folding to the native state. The structure and stability of amyloid fibrils have been studied with various physicochemical methods, including H/D exchange of amyloid fibrils combined with dissolution of fibrils by dimethylsulfoxide and NMR analysis, thermodynamic analysis of amyloid fibril formation by isothermal calorimetry, and analysis of the effects of pressure on the structure of amyloid fibrils. The results are consistent with the view that amyloid fibrils are a main-chain-dominated structure with larger numbers of hydrogen bonds and pressure-accessible cavities in the interior, in contrast to the side-chain-dominated native structure with the optimal packing of amino acid residues. We consider that a main-chain dominated structure provides the structural basis for various conformational states even with one protein. When this feature is combined with another unique feature, template-dependent growth, propagation and maturation of the amyloid conformation, which cannot be predicted with Anfinsen's dogma, take place.