Single mutations in tau modulate the populations of fibril conformers through seed selection

The Role of Tau Pathology in Alzheimer's Disease and Down Syndrome

Background: Individuals with Down syndrome (DS) exhibit an almost complete penetrance of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology but are underrepresented in clinical trials for AD. The Tau protein is associated with microtubule function in the neuron and is crucial for normal axonal transport. In several different neurodegenerative disorders, Tau misfolding leads to hyper-phosphorylation of Tau (p-Tau), which may seed pathology to bystander cells and spread. This review is focused on current findings regarding p-Tau and its potential to seed pathology as a "prion-like" spreader. It also considers the consequences of p-Tau pathology leading to AD, particularly in individuals with Down syndrome. Methods: Scopus (SC) and PubMed (PM) were searched in English using keywords "tau AND seeding AND brain AND down syndrome". A total of 558 SC or 529 PM potentially relevant articles were identified, of which only six SC or three PM articles mentioned Down syndrome. This review was built upon the literature and the recent findings of our group and others. Results: Misfolded p-Tau isoforms are seeding competent and may be responsible for spreading AD pathology. Conclusions: This review demonstrates recent work focused on understanding the role of neurofibrillary tangles and monomeric/oligomeric Tau in the prion-like spreading of Tau pathology in the human brain.

Molecular Mechanism of Tau Misfolding and Aggregation: Insights from Molecular Dynamics Simulation

Tau dysfunction has a close association with many neurodegenerative diseases, which are collectively referred to as tauopathies. Neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) formed by misfolding and aggregation of tau are the main pathological process of tauopathy. Therefore, uncovering the misfolding and aggregation mechanism of tau protein will help to reveal the pathogenic mechanism of tauopathies. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation is well suited for studying the dynamic process of protein structure changes. It provides detailed information on protein structure changes over time at the atomic resolution. At the same time, MD simulation can also simulate various conditions conveniently. Based on these advantages, MD simulations are widely used to study conformational transition problems such as protein misfolding and aggregation. Here, we summarized the structural features of tau, the factors affecting its misfolding and aggregation, and the applications of MD simulations in the study of tau misfolding and aggregation.

MAP2 caps tau fibrils and inhibits aggregation

Fibrils of the microtubule-associated protein tau are intimately linked to the pathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related neurodegenerative disorders. A current paradigm for pathology spreading in the human brain is that short tau fibrils transfer between neurons and then recruit naive tau monomers onto their tips, perpetuating the fibrillar conformation with high fidelity and speed. Although it is known that the propagation could be modulated in a cell-specific manner and thereby contribute to phenotypic diversity, there is still limited understanding of how select molecules are involved in this process. MAP2 is a neuronal protein that shares significant sequence homology with the repeat-bearing amyloid core region of tau. There is discrepancy about MAP2's involvement in pathology and its relationship with tau fibrillization. Here, we employed the entire repeat regions of 3R and 4R MAP2, to investigate their modulatory role in tau fibrillization. We find that both proteins block the spontaneous and seeded aggregation of 4R tau, with 4R MAP2 being slightly more potent. The inhibition of tau seeding is observed in vitro, in HEK293 cells, and in AD brain extracts, underscoring its broader scope. MAP2 monomers specifically bind to the end of tau fibrils, preventing recruitment of further tau and MAP2 monomers onto the fibril tip. The findings uncover a new function for MAP2 as a tau fibril cap that could play a significant role in modulating tau propagation in disease and may hold promise as a potential intrinsic protein inhibitor.

Elongation of Fibrils Formed by a Tau Fragment is Inhibited by a Transient Dimeric Intermediate

The formation and propagation of aggregates of the tau protein in the brain are associated with the tauopathy group of neurodegenerative diseases. Different tauopathies have been shown to be associated with structurally distinct aggregates of tau. However, the mechanism by which different structural folds arise remains poorly understood. In this study of fibril formation by the fragment tau-K18 of tau, it is shown that the Lys 280 → Glu mutation in the variant tau-K18 K280E forms fibrils that are morphologically distinct from those formed by wild-type (wt) tau-K18. The mutant fibrils appear to have two protofilaments twisted around each other, whereas the wt fibrils are straight and appear to have a single protofilament. Modeling the kinetics of seeded aggregation, using a simple Michaelis-Menten-like mechanism, reveals that the two morphologically distinct fibrils are elongated with different catalytic efficiencies. Surprisingly, when the elongation of monomeric tau-K18 is seeded with tau-K18 K280E fibrils, it is seen to be inhibited at high monomer concentrations. Such inhibition is not seen when elongation is seeded with tau-K18 fibrils. The mechanism of inhibition is shown to be describable as uncompetitive inhibition, in which a transient dimeric form of tau-K18 acts as an uncompetitive inhibitor. Importantly, a dimeric form of tau-K18 is seen to be populated to a detectable extent early during aggregation. A covalently linked tau dimer, with an inter-molecular disulphide linkage, is shown to be capable of acting as an inhibitor. In summary, a quantitative kinetic approach has provided an understanding of how the formation of distinct structural folds of tau fibrils can be modulated by mutation and how the elongation of one fibril type, but not the other, is inhibited by a transiently formed dimer.

Combinatorial model of amyloid β and tau reveals synergy between amyloid deposits and tangle formation

AIMS

To illuminate the pathological synergy between Aβ and tau leading to emergence of neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) in Alzheimer's disease (AD), here, we have performed a comparative neuropathological study utilising three distinctive variants of human tau (WT tau, P301L mutant tau and S320F mutant tau). Previously, in non-transgenic mice, we showed that WT tau or P301L tau does not form NFT while S320F tau can spontaneously aggregate into NFT, allowing us to test the selective vulnerability of these different tau conformations to the presence of Aβ plaques.

METHODS

We injected recombinant AAV-tau constructs into neonatal APP transgenic TgCRND8 mice or into 3-month-old TgCRND8 mice; both cohorts were aged 3 months post injection. This allowed us to test how different tau variants synergise with soluble forms of Aβ (pre-deposit cohort) or with frank Aβ deposits (post-deposit cohort).

RESULTS

Expression of WT tau did not produce NFT or altered Aβ in either cohort. In the pre-deposit cohort, S320F tau induced Aβ plaque deposition, neuroinflammation and synaptic abnormalities, suggesting that early tau tangles affect the amyloid cascade. In the post-deposit cohort, contemporaneous expression of S320F tau did not exacerbate amyloid pathology, showing a dichotomy in Aβ-tau synergy based on the nature of Aβ. P301L tau produced NFT-type inclusions in the post-deposit cohort, but not in the pre-deposit cohort, indicating pathological synergy with pre-existing Aβ deposits.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data show that different tau mutations representing specific folding variants of tau synergise with Aβ to different extents, depending on the presence of cerebral deposits.

A thiol-based intramolecular redox switch in four-repeat tau controls fibril assembly and disassembly

Oxidative stress has been implicated in the pathogenesis and progression of several tauopathies, including Alzheimer's disease. The deposition of fibrillar inclusions made of tau protein is one of the pathological hallmarks of these disorders. Although it is becoming increasingly evident that the specific fibril structure may vary from one tauopathy to another and it is recognized that different types of isoforms (three-repeat and four-repeat tau) can be selectively deposited, little is known about the role oxidation may play in aggregation. Four-repeat tau contains two cysteines that can form an intramolecular disulfide bond, resulting in a structurally restrained compact monomer. There is discrepancy as to whether this monomer can aggregate or not. Using isolated four-repeat tau monomers (htau40) with intramolecular disulfide bonds, we demonstrate that these proteins form fibrils. The fibrils are less stable than fibrils formed under reducing conditions but are highly effective in seeding oxidized tau monomers. Conversely, a strong seeding barrier prevents incorporation of reduced tau monomers, tau mimics in which the cysteines have been replaced by alanines or serines, and three-repeat tau (htau23), a single-cysteine isoform. The barrier also holds true when seed and monomer types are reversed, indicating that oxidized and reduced tau are incompatible with each other. Surprisingly, fibrils composed of compact tau disaggregate upon reduction, highlighting the importance of the intramolecular disulfide bond for fibril stability. The findings uncover a novel binary redox switch that controls the aggregation and disaggregation of these fibrils and extend the conformational spectrum of tau aggregates.

Structures of Pathological and Functional Amyloids and Prions, a Solid-State NMR Perspective

Infectious proteins or prions are a remarkable class of pathogens, where pathogenicity and infectious state correspond to conformational transition of a protein fold. The conformational change translates into the formation by the protein of insoluble amyloid aggregates, associated in humans with various neurodegenerative disorders and systemic protein-deposition diseases. The prion principle, however, is not limited to pathogenicity. While pathological amyloids (and prions) emerge from protein misfolding, a class of functional amyloids has been defined, consisting of amyloid-forming domains under natural selection and with diverse biological roles. Although of great importance, prion amyloid structures remain challenging for conventional structural biology techniques. Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (SSNMR) has been preferentially used to investigate these insoluble, morphologically heterogeneous aggregates with poor crystallinity. SSNMR methods have yielded a wealth of knowledge regarding the fundamentals of prion biology and have helped to solve the structures of several prion and prion-like fibrils. Here, we will review pathological and functional amyloid structures and will discuss some of the obtained structural models. We will finish the review with a perspective on integrative approaches combining solid-state NMR, electron paramagnetic resonance and cryo-electron microscopy, which can complement and extend our toolkit to structurally explore various facets of prion biology.

Amyloid Oligomers: A Joint Experimental/Computational Perspective on Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, Type II Diabetes, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Protein misfolding and aggregation is observed in many amyloidogenic diseases affecting either the central nervous system or a variety of peripheral tissues. Structural and dynamic characterization of all species along the pathways from monomers to fibrils is challenging by experimental and computational means because they involve intrinsically disordered proteins in most diseases. Yet understanding how amyloid species become toxic is the challenge in developing a treatment for these diseases. Here we review what computer, in vitro, in vivo, and pharmacological experiments tell us about the accumulation and deposition of the oligomers of the (Aβ, tau), α-synuclein, IAPP, and superoxide dismutase 1 proteins, which have been the mainstream concept underlying Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), type II diabetes (T2D), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) research, respectively, for many years.

Cornel Iridoid Glycoside Regulates Modification of Tau and Alleviates Synaptic Abnormalities in Aged P301S Mice

Alzheimer's disease (AD), also defined as a tauopathology, is a common neurodegenerative disease. Hyper-phosphorylation, cleavage or truncation, and aggregation of tau contribute to AD. Thus, targeting the post-translational modifications on tau may be a therapeutic strategy to treat AD. This study understood how cornel iridoid glycoside (CIG) affects tau post-translational modifications and synaptic abnormalities. The 10-month old P301S tau transgenic mice were given CIG at 100 and 200 mg/kg every day orally for 1 month. Hyperphosphorylated and truncated tau, synapse-associated proteins and glutamatergic receptors were all detected using Western blotting. The interactions between Morroniside (MOR) or Loganin (LOG) and tau were detected using Autodock and Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR). The effects of CIG on the aggregation of tau were investigated using a cell-free system. CIG attenuated tau hyperphosphorylation at Thr205, Ser212, Ser262, Thr231 and Ser235 (AT180), but had no effect on tau truncation in the brains of 10-month old P301S mice. Binding free energies and interactions revealed that MOR and LOG bound with tau. We also found that CIG upregulated synapse-associated proteins such as PSD-95, syntaxin1A and synaptotagmin. In addition, CIG restored N-methyl-D-aspartic acid receptor and glutamate receptor levels. CIG improves post-translational modification of tau as well as synaptic abnormalities. The data presented here reveal that CIG may be used in the treatment of AD.

Terminal Capping of an Amyloidogenic Tau Fragment Modulates Its Fibrillation Propensity

Aberrant protein folding leading to the formation of characteristic cross-β-sheet-rich amyloid structures is well known for its association with a variety of debilitating human diseases. Often, depending upon amino acid composition, only a small segment of a large protein participates in amyloid formation and is in fact capable of self-assembling into amyloid, independent of the rest of the protein. Therefore, such peptide fragments serve as useful model systems for understanding the process of amyloid formation. An important factor that has often been overlooked while using peptides to mimic full-length protein is the charge on the termini of these peptides. Here, we show the influence of terminal charges on the aggregation of an amyloidogenic peptide from microtubule-associated protein Tau, implicated in Alzheimer's disease and tauopathies. We found that modification of terminal charges by capping the peptide at one or both of the termini drastically modulates the fibrillation of the hexapeptide sequence paired helical filament 6 (PHF6) from repeat 3 of Tau, both with and without heparin. Without heparin, the PHF6 peptide capped at both termini and PHF6 capped only at the N-terminus self-assembled to form amyloid fibrils. With heparin, all capping variants of PHF6, except for PHF6 with both termini free, formed typical amyloid fibrils. However, the rate and extent of aggregation both with and without heparin as well as the morphology of aggregates were found to be highly dependent on the terminal charges. Our molecular dynamics simulations on PHF6 capping variants corroborated our experiments and provided critical insights into the mechanism of PHF6 self-assembly. Overall, our results emphasize the importance of terminal modifications in fibrillation of small peptide fragments and provide significant insights into the aggregation of a small Tau fragment, which is considered essential for Tau filament assembly.

Mechanisms of Heparin-Induced Tau Aggregation Revealed by a Single Nanopore

Protein aggregation is involved in many diseases, including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. The latter is characterized by intraneuronal deposition of amyloid aggregates composed of the tau protein. Although large and insoluble aggregates are typically found in affected brains, intermediate soluble oligomers are thought to represent crucial species for toxicity and spreading. Nanopore sensors constitute an emerging technology that allows the detection of the size and populations of molecular assembly present in a sample. Here, we employed conical nanopores to obtain the particle distributions during tau aggregation. We identified three distinct populations, monomers, oligomers, and fibrils, which we could quantify along the aggregation process. By comparing tau wild type with a mutant carrying the disease-associated P301L mutation, we showed that the latter mutation promotes the formation of oligomers. We furthermore highlighted that the P301L mutation promotes fibril breakage. This work demonstrates that conical nanopore is a powerful tool to measure and quantify transient protein aggregate intermediates.

Tau R3-R4 Domain Dimer of the Wild Type and Phosphorylated Ser356 Sequences. I. In Solution by Atomistic Simulations

In Alzheimer's disease, neurofibrillary lesions correlate with cognitive deficits and consist of inclusions of tau protein with cross-β structure. A stable dimeric form of soluble tau has been evidenced in the cells, but its high-resolution structure is missing in solution. We know, however, that cryo-electron microscopy (c-EM) of full-length tau in the brain of an individual with AD displays a core of eight β-sheets with a C-shaped architecture spanning the R3-R4 repeat domain, while the rest of the protein is very flexible. To address the conformational ensemble of the dimer, we performed atomistic replica exchange molecular dynamics simulations on the tau R3-R4 domain starting from the c-EM configuration. We find that the wild type tau R3-R4 dimer explores elongated, U-shaped, V-shaped, and globular forms rather than the C-shape. Phosphorylation of Ser356, pSer356, is known to block the interaction between the tau protein and the amyloid-β42 peptide. Standard molecular dynamics simulations of this phosphorylated sequence for a total of 5 μs compared to its wild type counterpart show a modulation of the population of β-helices and accessible topologies and a decrease of intermediates near the fibril-like conformers.

Fundamentals of cross-seeding of amyloid proteins: an introduction

Misfolded protein aggregates formed by the same (homologous) or different (heterologous/cross) sequences are the pathological hallmarks of many protein misfolding diseases (PMDs) including Alzheimer's disease (AD) and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Different from homologous-amyloid aggregation that is solely associated with a specific PMD, cross-amyloid aggregation (i.e. cross-seeding) of different amyloid proteins is more fundamentally and biologically important for understanding and untangling not only the pathological process of each PMD, but also a potential molecular cross-talk between different PMDs. However, the cross-amyloid aggregation is still a subject poorly explored and little is known about its sequence/structure-dependent aggregation mechanisms, as compared to the widely studied homo-amyloid aggregation. Here, we review the most recent and important findings of amyloid cross-seeding behaviors from in vitro, in vivo, and in silico studies. Some typical cross-seeding phenomena between Aβ/hIAPP, Aβ/tau, Aβ/α-synuclein, and tau/α-synuclein are selected and presented, and the underlying specific or general cross-seeding mechanisms are also discussed to better reveal their sequence-structure-property relationships. The potential use of the cross-seeding concept to design amyloid inhibitors is also proposed. Finally, we offer some personal perspectives on current major challenges and future research directions in this less-studied yet important field, and hopefully this work will stimulate more research to explore all possible fundamental and practical aspects of amyloid cross-seeding.

Molecular dynamics simulation study on the inhibitory effects of choline-O-sulfate on hIAPP protofibrilation

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2Dm) is a neurodegenerative disease, which occurs due to the self-association of human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP), also known as human amylin. It was reported experimentally that choline-O-sulfate (COS), a small organic molecule having a tertiary amino group and sulfate group, can prevent the aggregation of human amylin without providing the mechanism of the action of COS in the inhibition process. In this work, we investigate the influence of COS on the full-length hIAPP peptide by performing 500 ns classical molecular dynamics simulations. From pure water simulation (without COS), we have identified the residues 11-20 and 23-36 that mainly participate in the fibril formation, but in the presence of 1.07 M COS these residues become totally free of β-sheet conformation. Our results also show that the sulfate oxygen of COS directly interacts with the peptide backbone, which leads to the local disruption of peptide-peptide interaction. Moreover, the presence of favorable peptide-COS vdW interaction energy and high coordination number of COS molecules in the first solvation shell of the peptide indicates the hydrophobic solvation of the peptide residues by COS molecules, which also play a crucial role in the prevention of β-sheet formation. Finally, from the potential of mean force (PMFs) calculations, we observe that the free energy between two peptides is more negative in the absence of COS and with increasing concentration of COS, it becomes unfavorable significantly indicating that the peptide dimer formation is most stable in pure water, which becomes less favorable in the presence of COS. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Mechanistic approaches to understand the prion-like propagation of aggregates of the human tau protein

The dynamic nature of the tau protein under physiological conditions is likely to be critical for it to perform its diverse functions inside a cell. Under some conditions, this intrinsically disordered protein assembles into pathogenic aggregates that are self-perpetuating, toxic and infectious in nature. The role of liquid-liquid phase separation in the initiation of the aggregation reaction remains to be delineated. Depending on the nature of the aggregate, its structure, and its localization, neurodegenerative disorders with diverse clinical features are manifested. The prion-like mechanism by which these aggregates propagate and spread across the brain is not well understood. Various factors (PTMs, mutations) have been strongly associated with the pathological aggregates of tau. However, little is known about how these factors modulate the pathological properties linked to aggregation. This review describes the current progress towards understanding the mechanism of propagation of tau aggregates.

Structural disorder in four-repeat Tau fibrils reveals a new mechanism for barriers to cross-seeding of Tau isoforms

The intracellular deposition of fibrils composed of the microtubule-associated protein Tau is a characteristic feature of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other fatal neurodegenerative disorders collectively known as tauopathies. Short Tau fibrils spread intracerebrally through transfer between interconnected neurons. Once taken up by a recipient cell, Tau fibrils recruit Tau monomers onto their ends. Based on the number of microtubule-binding repeats, there are two distinct groups of Tau isoforms: three-repeat (3R) Tau and four-repeat (4R) Tau. In AD, all Tau isoforms are deposited, whereas in other tauopathies, only 3R or 4R Tau isoforms are deposited. The molecular basis for these isoform-specific depositions is poorly understood, although conformation-based cross-seeding barriers are key. Here, we used sedimentation assays, EPR spectroscopy, and other structural readouts to better understand the cross-seeding barriers of 4R Tau fibrils. We observed that fibrils formed from truncated Tau (K18), but not full-length Tau (htau40), exhibit a barrier that inhibits 3R Tau recruitment. Investigating an array of differently sized fragments, we found that the Tau C terminus modulates the cross-seeding barrier and that the N terminus plays a synergistic role. Two disease-associated Tau variants, P301S and P301L, also established strong cross-seeding barriers. EPR analysis indicated that fibrils seeded with truncated and mutated Tau, but not htau40, are structurally disordered in the second half of repeat four and onward. These findings suggest that the disorder in this region diminishes the ability of 4R Tau fibrils to recruit 3R Tau monomers, revealing a new mechanism for Tau cross-seeding barriers.

Distinct differences in prion-like seeding and aggregation between Tau protein variants provide mechanistic insights into tauopathies

The accumulation of aberrantly aggregated MAPT (microtubule-associated protein Tau) defines a spectrum of tauopathies, including Alzheimer's disease. Mutations in the MAPT gene cause frontotemporal dementia with Parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17 (FTDP-17), characterized by neuronal pathological Tau inclusions in the form of neurofibrillary tangles and Pick bodies and in some cases glial Tau pathology. Increasing evidence points to the importance of prion-like seeding as a mechanism for the pathological spread in tauopathy and other neurodegenerative diseases. Herein, using a cell culture model, we examined a multitude of genetic FTDP-17 Tau variants for their ability to be seeded by exogenous Tau fibrils. Our findings revealed stark differences between FTDP-17 Tau variants in their ability to be seeded, with variants at Pro³⁰¹ and Ser³²⁰ showing robust aggregation with seeding. Similarly, we elucidated the importance of certain Tau protein regions and unique residues, including the role of Pro³⁰¹ in inhibiting Tau aggregation. We also revealed potential barriers in cross-seeding between three-repeat and four-repeat Tau isoforms. Overall, these differences alluded to potential mechanistic differences between wildtype and FTDP-17 Tau variants, as well as different Tau isoforms, in influencing Tau aggregation. Furthermore, by combining two FTDP-17 Tau variants (either P301L or P301S with S320F), we generated aggressive models of tauopathy that do not require exogenous seeding. These models will allow for rapid screening of potential therapeutics to alleviate Tau aggregation without the need for exogenous Tau fibrils. Together, these studies provide novel insights in the molecular determinants that modulate Tau aggregation.

Strains of Pathological Protein Aggregates in Neurodegenerative Diseases

The presence of protein aggregates in the brain is a hallmark of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD). Considerable evidence has revealed that the pathological protein aggregates in many neurodegenerative diseases are able to self-propagate, which may enable pathology to spread from cell-to-cell within the brain. This property is reminiscent of what occurs in prion diseases such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. A widely recognized feature of prion disorders is the existence of distinct strains of prions, which are thought to represent unique protein aggregate structures. A number of recent studies have pointed to the existence of strains of protein aggregates in other, more common neurodegenerative illnesses such as AD, PD, and related disorders. In this review, we outline the pathobiology of prion strains and discuss how the concept of protein aggregate strains may help to explain the heterogeneity inherent to many human neurodegenerative disorders.

Familial Mutations May Switch Conformational Preferences in α-Synuclein Fibrils

The pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease is closely associated with the aggregation of the α-synuclein protein. Several familial mutants have been identified and shown to affect the aggregation kinetics of α-synuclein through distinct molecular mechanisms. Quantitative evaluation of the relative stabilities of the wild type and mutant fibrils is crucial for understanding the aggregation process and identifying the key component steps. In this work, we examined two topologically different α-synuclein fibril structures that are either determined by solid-state NMR method or modeled based on solid-state NMR data, and characterized their conformational properties and thermodynamic stabilities using molecular dynamics simulations. We show that the two fibril morphologies have comparable size, solvent exposure, secondary structures, and similar molecule/peptide binding modes; but different stabilities. Familial mutations do not significantly alter the overall fibril structures but shift their relative stabilities. Distinct mutations display altered fibril conformational behavior, suggesting different propagation preferences, reminiscent of cross-seeding among prion strains and tau deletion mutants. The simulations quantify the hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions, as well as N-terminal dynamics, that may contribute to the divergent aggregation kinetics that has been observed experimentally. Our results indicate that small molecule and peptide inhibitors may share the same binding region, providing molecular recognition that is independent of fibril conformation.

Molecular Understanding of Aβ-hIAPP Cross-Seeding Assemblies on Lipid Membranes

Amyloid-β (Aβ) and human islet polypeptide (hIAPP) are the causative agents responsible for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and type II diabetes (T2D), respectively. While numerous studies have reported the cross-seeding behavior of Aβ and hIAPP in solution, little effort has been made to examine the cross-seeding of Aβ and hIAPP in the presence of cell membranes, which is more biologically relevant to the pathological link between AD and T2D. In this work, we computationally study the cross-seeding and adsorption behaviors of Aβ and hIAPP on zwitterionic POPC and anionic 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC)/1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylglycerol (POPG) mixed bilayers using all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, particularly aiming to the effects of the initial orientation of the Aβ-hIAPP assembly and the lipid composition of cell membranes on mutual structural and interaction changes in both Aβ-hIAPP assembly and lipid bilayers at the atomic level. Aβ-hIAPP cross-seeding assembly always preferred to adopt a specific orientation and interface to associate with both lipid bilayers strongly via the N-terminal strands of Aβ. Such membrane-bound orientation explains experimental observation that hybrid Aβ-hIAPP fibrils on cell membranes showed similar morphologies to pure hIAPP fibrils. Moreover, Aβ-hIAPP assembly, regardless of its initial orientations, interacted more strongly with POPC/POPG bilayer than POPC bilayer, indicating that electrostatic interactions are the major forces governing peptide-lipid interactions. Strong electrostatic interactions were also attributed to the formation of Ca²⁺ bridges connecting both negatively charged Glu of Aβ and PO₄ head groups of lipids, which facilitate the association of Aβ-hIAPP with the POPC/POPG bilayer. It was also found that the strong peptide-lipid binding reduced lipid fluidity. Both facts imply that Aβ-hIAPP assembly may induce cell damage by altering calcium homeostasis and cell membrane phase. This work provides a better fundamental understanding of cross-seeding of Aβ and hIAPP on cell membranes and a potential pathological link between AD and T2D.

Impact of Phosphorylation and Pseudophosphorylation on the Early Stages of Aggregation of the Microtubule-Associated Protein Tau

The microtubule-associated protein tau regulates the stability of microtubules within neurons in the central nervous system. In turn, microtubules are responsible for the remodeling of the cytoskeleton that ultimately leads to the formation or pruning of new connections among neurons. As a consequence, dysfunction of tau is associated with many forms of dementia as well as Alzheimer's disease. In the brain, tau activity is regulated by its phosphorylation state. Phosphorylation is a post-translational modification of proteins that adds a phosphate group to the side chain of an amino acid. Phosphorylation at key locations in the tau sequence leads to a higher or lower affinity for microtubules. In Alzheimer's disease, tau is present in an abnormal phosphorylation state. However, studying the effect of phosphorylation experimentally has been extremely challenging as there is no viable way of exactly selecting the location and the number of phosphorylated sites. For this reason, researchers have turned to pseudophosphorylation. In this technique, actual phosphorylation is mimicked by mutating the selected amino acid into glutamate or aspartate. Whether this methodology is equivalent to actual phosphorylation is still open to debate. In this study, we will show that phosphorylation and pseudophosphorylation are not exactly equivalent. Although for larger aggregates the two techniques lead to similar structures, the kinetics of the process may be altered. In addition, very little is known about the impact that this may have on the early stages of aggregation, such as nucleation and conformational rearrangement. In this study, we show that the two methods may produce a similar ensemble of conformations, even though the kinetic and chemical details that lead to it are quite different.

Potential mechanisms and implications for the formation of tau oligomeric strains

The culmination of many years of increasing research into the toxicity of tau aggregation in neurodegenerative disease has led to the consensus that soluble, oligomeric forms of tau are likely the most toxic entities in disease. While tauopathies overlap in the presence of tau pathology, each disease has a unique combination of symptoms and pathological features; however, most study into tau has grouped tau oligomers and studied them as a homogenous population. Established evidence from the prion field combined with the most recent tau and amyloidogenic protein research suggests that tau is a prion-like protein, capable of seeding the spread of pathology throughout the brain. Thus, it is likely that tau may also form prion-like strains or diverse conformational structures that may differ by disease and underlie some of the differences in symptoms and pathology in neurodegenerative tauopathies. The development of techniques and new technology for the detection of tau oligomeric strains may, therefore, lead to more efficacious diagnostic and treatment strategies for neurodegenerative disease. [Formula: see text].

Fracture and Growth Are Competing Forces Determining the Fate of Conformers in Tau Fibril Populations

Tau fibrils are pathological aggregates that can transfer between neurons and then recruit soluble Tau monomers by template-assisted conversion. The propagation of different fibril polymorphs is thought to be a contributing factor to phenotypic diversity in Alzheimer disease and other Tauopathies. We found that a homogeneous population of Tau fibrils composed of the truncated version K18 (residues 244-372) gradually converted to a new set of fibril conformers when subjected to multiple cycles of seeding and growth. Using double electron-electron resonance (DEER) spectroscopy, we observed that the distances between spin labels at positions 311 and 328 in the fibril core progressively decreased. The findings were corroborated by changes in turbidity, morphology, and protease sensitivity. Fibrils that were initially formed under stirring conditions exhibited an increased fragility compared with fibrils formed quiescently after multiple cycles of seeding. The quiescently formed fibrils were marked by accelerated growth. The difference in fragility and growth between the different conformers explains how the change in incubation condition could lead to the amplification of a minor subpopulation of fibrils. Under quiescent conditions where fibril breakage is minimal, faster growing fibrils have a selective advantage. The findings are of general importance as they suggest that changes in selective pressures during fibril propagation in the human brain could result in the emergence of new fibril conformers with varied clinicopathological consequences.

An Account of Amyloid Oligomers: Facts and Figures Obtained from Experiments and Simulations

The deposition of amyloid in brain tissue in the context of neurodegenerative diseases involves the formation of intermediate species-termed oligomers-of lower molecular mass and with structures that deviate from those of mature amyloid fibrils. Because these oligomers are thought to be primarily responsible for the subsequent disease pathogenesis, the elucidation of their structure is of enormous interest. Nevertheless, because of the high aggregation propensity and the polydispersity of oligomeric species formed by the proteins or peptides in question, the preparation of appropriate samples for high-resolution structural methods has proven to be rather difficult. This is why theoretical approaches have been of particular importance in gaining insights into possible oligomeric structures for some time. Only recently has it been possible to achieve some progress with regard to the experimentally based structural characterization of defined oligomeric species. Here we discuss how theory and experiment are used to determine oligomer structures and what can be done to improve the integration of the two disciplines.

Spin Labeling and Characterization of Tau Fibrils Using Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR)

Template-assisted propagation of Tau fibrils is essential for the spreading of Tau pathology in Alzheimer's disease. In this process, small seeds of fibrils recruit Tau monomers onto their ends. The physical properties of the fibrils play an important role in their propagation. Here, we describe two different electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) techniques that have provided crucial insights into the structure of Tau fibrils. Both techniques rely on the site-directed introduction of one or two spin labels into the protein monomer. Continuous-wave (CW) EPR provides information on which amino acid residues are contained in the fibril core and how they are stacked along the long fibril axis. Double electron-electron resonance (DEER) determines distances between two spin labels within a single protein and hence provides insights into their spatial arrangement in the fibril cross section. Because of the long distance range accessible to DEER (~2-5 nm) populations of distinct fibril conformers can be differentiated.

MRNA Levels of ACh-Related Enzymes in the Hippocampus of THY-Tau22 Mouse: A Model of Human Tauopathy with No Signs of Motor Disturbance

The microtubule-associated protein Tau tends to form aggregates in neurodegenerative disorders referred to as tauopathies. The tauopathy model transgenic (Tg) THY-Tau22 (Tau22) mouse shows disturbed septo-hippocampal transmission, memory deficits and no signs of motor dysfunction. The reports showing a hippocampal downregulation of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) in SAMP8 mice, a model of aging, and an upregulation of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in Tg-VLW mice, a model of FTDP17 tauopathy, may lead to think that the supply of ACh to the hippocampus can be threatened as aging or Tau pathology progress. The above was tested by comparing the mRNA levels for ACh-related enzymes in hippocampi of wild-type (wt) and Tau22 mice at ages when the neuropathological signs are debuting (3-4 months), moderate (6-7 months) and extensive (>9 months). Age-matched Tau22 and wt mice hippocampi displayed similar ChAT, AChE-T, butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) and a proline-rich membrane anchor (PRiMA) mRNA levels, any change most likely arising from ACh homeostasis. The unchanged hippocampal levels of AChE-T mRNA and enzyme activity observed in Tau22 mice, expressing G272V-P301S hTau, differed from the increase in AChE-T mRNA and activity observed in Tg-VLW mice, expressing G272V-P301L-R406W hTau. The difference supports the idea that AChE upregulation may proceed or not depending on the particular Tau mutation, which would dictate Tau folding, the accessibility/affinity to kinases and phosphatases, and P-Tau aggregation with itself and protein partners, transcription factors included.

Structural basis for activation, assembly and membrane binding of ESCRT-III Snf7 filaments

The endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRTs) constitute hetero-oligomeric machines that catalyze multiple topologically similar membrane-remodeling processes. Although ESCRT-III subunits polymerize into spirals, how individual ESCRT-III subunits are activated and assembled together into a membrane-deforming filament remains unknown. Here, we determine X-ray crystal structures of the most abundant ESCRT-III subunit Snf7 in its active conformation. Using pulsed dipolar electron spin resonance spectroscopy (PDS), we show that Snf7 activation requires a prominent conformational rearrangement to expose protein-membrane and protein-protein interfaces. This promotes the assembly of Snf7 arrays with ~30 Å periodicity into a membrane-sculpting filament. Using a combination of biochemical and genetic approaches, both in vitro and in vivo, we demonstrate that mutations on these protein interfaces halt Snf7 assembly and block ESCRT function. The architecture of the activated and membrane-bound Snf7 polymer provides crucial insights into the spatially unique ESCRT-III-mediated membrane remodeling.

RNA Binds to Tau Fibrils and Sustains Template-Assisted Growth

Tau fibrils are the main proteinacious components of neurofibrillary lesions in Alzheimer disease. Although RNA molecules are sequestered into these lesions, their relationship to Tau fibrils is only poorly understood. Such understanding, however, is important, as short fibrils can transfer between neurons and nonproteinacious factors including RNA could play a defining role in modulating the latter process. Here, we used sedimentation assays combined with electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), fluorescence, and absorbance spectroscopy to determine the effects of RNA on Tau fibril structure and growth. We observe that, in the presence of RNA, three-repeat (3R) and four-repeat (4R) Tau form fibrils with parallel, in-register arrangement of β-strands and exhibit an asymmetric seeding barrier in which 4R Tau grows onto 3R Tau seeds but not vice versa. These structural features are similar to those previously observed for heparin-induced fibrils, indicating that basic conformational properties are conserved, despite their being molecular differences of the nucleating agents. Furthermore, RNA sustains template-assisted growth and binds to the fibril surface and can be exchanged by heparin. These findings suggest that, in addition to mediating fibrillization, cofactors decorating the surface of Tau fibrils may modulate biological interactions and thereby influence the spreading of Tau pathology in the human brain.

Biophysics of protein evolution and evolutionary protein biophysics

The study of molecular evolution at the level of protein-coding genes often entails comparing large datasets of sequences to infer their evolutionary relationships. Despite the importance of a protein's structure and conformational dynamics to its function and thus its fitness, common phylogenetic methods embody minimal biophysical knowledge of proteins. To underscore the biophysical constraints on natural selection, we survey effects of protein mutations, highlighting the physical basis for marginal stability of natural globular proteins and how requirement for kinetic stability and avoidance of misfolding and misinteractions might have affected protein evolution. The biophysical underpinnings of these effects have been addressed by models with an explicit coarse-grained spatial representation of the polypeptide chain. Sequence-structure mappings based on such models are powerful conceptual tools that rationalize mutational robustness, evolvability, epistasis, promiscuous function performed by 'hidden' conformational states, resolution of adaptive conflicts and conformational switches in the evolution from one protein fold to another. Recently, protein biophysics has been applied to derive more accurate evolutionary accounts of sequence data. Methods have also been developed to exploit sequence-based evolutionary information to predict biophysical behaviours of proteins. The success of these approaches demonstrates a deep synergy between the fields of protein biophysics and protein evolution.

Tau assembly: the dominant role of PHF6 (VQIVYK) in microtubule binding region repeat R3

Self-aggregation of the microtubule-binding protein Tau reduces its functionality and is tightly associated with Tau-related diseases, termed tauopathies. Tau aggregation is also strongly associated with two nucleating six-residue segments, namely PHF6 (VQIVYK) and PHF6* (VQIINK). In this paper, using experiments and computational modeling, we study the self-assembly of individual and binary mixtures of Tau fragments containing PHF6* (R2/wt; (273)GKVQIINKKLDL(284)) and PHF6 (R3/wt; (306)VQIVYKPVDLSK(317)) and a mutant R2/ΔK280 associated with a neurodegenerative tauopathy. The initial stage of aggregation is probed by ion-mobility mass spectrometry, the kinetics of aggregation monitored with Thioflavin T assays, and the morphology of aggregates visualized by transmission electron microscopy. Insights into the structure of early aggregates and the factors stabilizing the aggregates are obtained from replica exchange molecular dynamics simulations. Our data suggest that R3/wt has a much stronger aggregation propensity than either R2/wt or R2/ΔK280. Heterodimers containing R3/wt are less stable than R3/wt homodimers but much more stable than homodimers of R2/wt and R2/ΔK280, suggesting a possible role of PHF6*-PHF6 interactions in initiating the aggregation of full-length Tau. Lastly, R2/ΔK280 binds more strongly to R3/wt than R2/wt, suggesting a possible mechanism for a pathological loss of normal Tau function.

Amplification of Tau fibrils from minute quantities of seeds

The propagation of Tau pathology in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is thought to proceed through templated conversion of Tau protein into fibrils and cell-to-cell transfer of elongation-competent seeds. To investigate the efficiency of Tau conversion, we adapted the protein misfolding cyclic amplification assay used for the conversion of prions. Utilizing heparin as a cofactor and employing repetitive cycles of shearing and growth, synthetic Tau fibrils and Tau fibrils in AD brain extract are progressively amplified. Concurrently, self-nucleation is suppressed. The results highlight breakage-induced replication of Tau fibrils as a potential facilitator of disease spread.

Inter-species cross-seeding: stability and assembly of rat-human amylin aggregates

Diseases such as type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's share as common feature the accumulation of mis-folded disease-specific protein aggregates into fibrillar structures, or plaques. These fibrils may either be toxic by themselves, or act as reservoirs for smaller cytotoxic oligomers. This suggests to investigate molecules as potential therapeutics that either reduce fibril formation or increase fibril stability. One example is rat amylin, which can inhibit aggregation of human amylin, a hallmark of type 2 diabetes. In the present paper, we use molecular dynamics to compare the stability of various preformed aggregates, built out of either human amylin, rat amylin, or mixtures of both. We considered two types of fibril-like oligomers: a single-layer in-register conformation, and a double-layer conformation in which the first U-shaped layer consists of rat amylin and the second layer of human amylin. Our results explain the weak amyloid-inhibiting properties of rat amylin and suggest that membrane leakage due to pore formation is responsible for the toxicity of rat amylin observed in a recent experiment. Together, our results put in question the use of rat amylin or the similar FDA approved drug pramlintide as an inhibitor of human amylin aggregation. They also point to mixed human-rat amylin fibril-like oligomers as possible model-systems for studies of amyloid formation that involve cross-species transmission.