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Chen X, Zhang X, Qin M, Chen J, Wang M, Liu Z, An L, Song X, Yao L. Protein Allostery Study in Cells Using NMR Spectroscopy. Anal Chem 2024; 96:7065-7072. [PMID: 38652079 DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.4c00360] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/25/2024]
Abstract
Protein allostery is commonly observed in vitro. But how protein allostery behaves in cells is unknown. In this work, a protein monomer-dimer equilibrium system was built with the allosteric effect on the binding characterized using NMR spectroscopy through mutations away from the dimer interface. A chemical shift linear fitting method was developed that enabled us to accurately determine the dissociation constant. A total of 28 allosteric mutations were prepared and grouped to negative allosteric, nonallosteric, and positive allosteric modulators. ∼ 50% of mutations displayed the allosteric-state changes when moving from a buffered solution into cells. For example, there were no positive allosteric modulators in the buffered solution but eight in cells. The change in protein allostery is correlated with the interactions between the protein and the cellular environment. These interactions presumably drive the surrounding macromolecules in cells to transiently bind to the monomer and dimer mutational sites and change the free energies of the two species differently which generate new allosteric effects. These surrounding macromolecules create a new protein allostery pathway that is only present in cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoxu Chen
- Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266101, China
- Shandong Energy Institute, Qingdao 266101, China
- Qingdao New Energy Shandong Laboratory, Qingdao 266101, China
| | - Xueying Zhang
- Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266101, China
- Shandong Energy Institute, Qingdao 266101, China
- Qingdao New Energy Shandong Laboratory, Qingdao 266101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Mingming Qin
- Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266101, China
- Shandong Energy Institute, Qingdao 266101, China
- Qingdao New Energy Shandong Laboratory, Qingdao 266101, China
| | - Jingfei Chen
- Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266101, China
- Shandong Energy Institute, Qingdao 266101, China
- Qingdao New Energy Shandong Laboratory, Qingdao 266101, China
| | - Mengting Wang
- Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266101, China
- Shandong Energy Institute, Qingdao 266101, China
- Qingdao New Energy Shandong Laboratory, Qingdao 266101, China
| | - Zhijun Liu
- National Facility for Protein Science, Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201210, China
| | - Liaoyuan An
- Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266101, China
- Shandong Energy Institute, Qingdao 266101, China
- Qingdao New Energy Shandong Laboratory, Qingdao 266101, China
| | - Xiangfei Song
- Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266101, China
- Shandong Energy Institute, Qingdao 266101, China
- Qingdao New Energy Shandong Laboratory, Qingdao 266101, China
| | - Lishan Yao
- Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266101, China
- Shandong Energy Institute, Qingdao 266101, China
- Qingdao New Energy Shandong Laboratory, Qingdao 266101, China
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2
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Abstract
In-cell structural biology aims at extracting structural information about proteins or nucleic acids in their native, cellular environment. This emerging field holds great promise and is already providing new facts and outlooks of interest at both fundamental and applied levels. NMR spectroscopy has important contributions on this stage: It brings information on a broad variety of nuclei at the atomic scale, which ensures its great versatility and uniqueness. Here, we detail the methods, the fundamental knowledge, and the applications in biomedical engineering related to in-cell structural biology by NMR. We finally propose a brief overview of the main other techniques in the field (EPR, smFRET, cryo-ET, etc.) to draw some advisable developments for in-cell NMR. In the era of large-scale screenings and deep learning, both accurate and qualitative experimental evidence are as essential as ever to understand the interior life of cells. In-cell structural biology by NMR spectroscopy can generate such a knowledge, and it does so at the atomic scale. This review is meant to deliver comprehensive but accessible information, with advanced technical details and reflections on the methods, the nature of the results, and the future of the field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francois-Xavier Theillet
- Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, CNRS, Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), 91198 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
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3
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Chu IT, Stewart CJ, Speer SL, Pielak GJ. A Difference between In Vitro and In-Cell Protein Dimer Formation. Biochemistry 2022; 61:409-412. [PMID: 35188746 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.1c00780] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The high concentration of macromolecules in cells affects the stability of proteins and protein complexes via hard repulsions and chemical interactions, yet few studies have focused on chemical interactions. We characterized the domain-swapped dimer of the B1 domain of protein G in buffer and Escherichia coli cells by using heteronuclear, multidimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. In buffer, the monomer is a partially folded molten globule, but that species is not observed in cells. Experiments using urea suggest that the monomer is unfolded in cells, but again, the molten-globule form of the monomer is absent. The data suggest that attractive chemical interactions in the cytoplasm unfold the molten globule. We conclude that the intracellular environment not only modulates the stability of protein complexes but also can change the species present, reinforcing the idea that chemical interactions are more important than hard repulsions in cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- I-Te Chu
- Department of Chemistry, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-3290, United States
| | - Claire J Stewart
- Department of Chemistry, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-3290, United States
| | - Shannon L Speer
- Department of Chemistry, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-3290, United States
| | - Gary J Pielak
- Department of Chemistry, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-3290, United States.,Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-3290, United States.,Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-3290, United States.,Integrative Program for Biological and Genome Sciences, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-3290, United States
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4
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Speer SL, Zheng W, Jiang X, Chu IT, Guseman AJ, Liu M, Pielak GJ, Li C. The intracellular environment affects protein-protein interactions. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:e2019918118. [PMID: 33836588 PMCID: PMC7980425 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2019918118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Protein-protein interactions are essential for life but rarely thermodynamically quantified in living cells. In vitro efforts show that protein complex stability is modulated by high concentrations of cosolutes, including synthetic polymers, proteins, and cell lysates via a combination of hard-core repulsions and chemical interactions. We quantified the stability of a model protein complex, the A34F GB1 homodimer, in buffer, Escherichia coli cells and Xenopus laevis oocytes. The complex is more stable in cells than in buffer and more stable in oocytes than E. coli Studies of several variants show that increasing the negative charge on the homodimer surface increases stability in cells. These data, taken together with the fact that oocytes are less crowded than E. coli cells, lead to the conclusion that chemical interactions are more important than hard-core repulsions under physiological conditions, a conclusion also gleaned from studies of protein stability in cells. Our studies have implications for understanding how promiscuous-and specific-interactions coherently evolve for a protein to properly function in the crowded cellular environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shannon L Speer
- Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599
| | - Wenwen Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance in Biological Systems, State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, National Center for Magnetic Resonance in Wuhan, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 430071 Wuhan, China
- Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049 Beijing, China
| | - Xin Jiang
- Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance in Biological Systems, State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, National Center for Magnetic Resonance in Wuhan, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 430071 Wuhan, China
- Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049 Beijing, China
| | - I-Te Chu
- Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599
| | - Alex J Guseman
- Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599
| | - Maili Liu
- Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance in Biological Systems, State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, National Center for Magnetic Resonance in Wuhan, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 430071 Wuhan, China
| | - Gary J Pielak
- Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599;
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599
- Integrative Program for Biological and Genome Sciences, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599
| | - Conggang Li
- Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance in Biological Systems, State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, National Center for Magnetic Resonance in Wuhan, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Innovation Academy for Precision Measurement Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 430071 Wuhan, China;
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5
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Thole JF, Fadero TC, Bonin JP, Stadmiller SS, Giudice JA, Pielak GJ. Danio rerio Oocytes for Eukaryotic In-Cell NMR. Biochemistry 2021; 60:451-459. [PMID: 33534998 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.0c00922] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
Understanding how the crowded and complex cellular milieu affects protein stability and dynamics has only recently become possible by using techniques such as in-cell nuclear magnetic resonance. However, the combination of stabilizing and destabilizing interactions makes simple predictions difficult. Here we show the potential of Danio rerio oocytes as an in-cell nuclear magnetic resonance model that can be widely used to measure protein stability and dynamics. We demonstrate that in eukaryotic oocytes, which are 3-6-fold less crowded than other cell types, attractive chemical interactions still dominate effects on protein stability and slow tumbling times, compared to the effects of dilute buffer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph F Thole
- Department of Chemistry, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Tanner C Fadero
- Department of Biology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Jeffrey P Bonin
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Samantha S Stadmiller
- Department of Chemistry, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Jonathan A Giudice
- Department of Chemistry, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
| | - Gary J Pielak
- Department of Chemistry, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States.,Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States.,Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States.,Integrative Program for Biological and Genome Sciences, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, United States
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6
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Stadmiller SS, Pielak GJ. Protein-complex stability in cells and in vitro under crowded conditions. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2020; 66:183-192. [PMID: 33285342 DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2020.10.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2020] [Revised: 10/19/2020] [Accepted: 10/24/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Biology is beginning to appreciate the effects of the crowded and complex intracellular environment on the equilibrium thermodynamics and kinetics of protein folding. The next logical step involves the interactions between proteins. We review quantitative, wet-experiment based efforts aimed at understanding how and why high concentrations of small molecules, synthetic polymers, biologically relevant cosolutes and the interior of living cells affect the energetics of protein-protein interactions. We then address popular theories used to explain the effects and suggest expeditious paths for a more methodical integration of experiment and simulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samantha S Stadmiller
- Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3290, USA
| | - Gary J Pielak
- Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3290, USA; Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Integrative Program for Biological and Genome Sciences, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
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7
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Fedorec AJ, Robinson CM, Wen KY, Barnes CP. FlopR: An Open Source Software Package for Calibration and Normalization of Plate Reader and Flow Cytometry Data. ACS Synth Biol 2020; 9:2258-2266. [PMID: 32854500 PMCID: PMC7506944 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.0c00296] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2020] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
The measurement of gene expression using fluorescence markers has been a cornerstone of synthetic biology for the past two decades. However, the use of arbitrary units has limited the usefulness of these data for many quantitative purposes. Calibration of fluorescence measurements from flow cytometry and plate reader spectrophotometry has been implemented previously, but the tools are disjointed. Here we pull together, and in some cases improve, extant methods into a single software tool, written as a package in the R statistical framework. The workflow is validated using Escherichia coli engineered to express green fluorescent protein (GFP) from a set of commonly used constitutive promoters. We then demonstrate the package's power by identifying the time evolution of distinct subpopulations of bacteria from bulk plate reader data, a task previously reliant on laborious flow cytometry or colony counting experiments. Along with standardized parts and experimental methods, the development and dissemination of usable tools for quantitative measurement and data analysis will benefit the synthetic biology community by improving interoperability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex J.
H. Fedorec
- Department
of Cell and Developmental Biology, University
College London, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.
| | - Clare M. Robinson
- Department
of Cell and Developmental Biology, University
College London, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.
| | - Ke Yan Wen
- Department
of Cell and Developmental Biology, University
College London, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.
| | - Chris P. Barnes
- Department
of Cell and Developmental Biology, University
College London, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.
- UCL
Genetics Institute, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, U.K.
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8
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Chu IT, Speer SL, Pielak GJ. Rheostatic Control of Protein Expression Using Tuner Cells. Biochemistry 2020; 59:733-735. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.9b01101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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9
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Kaldmäe M, Leppert A, Chen G, Sarr M, Sahin C, Nordling K, Kronqvist N, Gonzalvo-Ulla M, Fritz N, Abelein A, Laίn S, Biverstål H, Jörnvall H, Lane DP, Rising A, Johansson J, Landreh M. High intracellular stability of the spidroin N-terminal domain in spite of abundant amyloidogenic segments revealed by in-cell hydrogen/deuterium exchange mass spectrometry. FEBS J 2019; 287:2823-2833. [PMID: 31815338 PMCID: PMC7383493 DOI: 10.1111/febs.15169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2019] [Revised: 11/01/2019] [Accepted: 12/05/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Proteins require an optimal balance of conformational flexibility and stability in their native environment to ensure their biological functions. A striking example is spidroins, spider silk proteins, which are stored at extremely high concentrations in soluble form, yet undergo amyloid-like aggregation during spinning. Here, we elucidate the stability of the highly soluble N-terminal domain (NT) of major ampullate spidroin 1 in the Escherichia coli cytosol as well as in inclusion bodies containing fibrillar aggregates. Surprisingly, we find that NT, despite being largely composed of amyloidogenic sequences, showed no signs of concentration-dependent aggregation. Using a novel intracellular hydrogen/deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HDX-MS) approach, we reveal that NT adopts a tight fold in the E. coli cytosol and in this manner conceals its aggregation-prone regions by maintaining a tight fold under crowded conditions. Fusion of NT to the unstructured amyloid-forming Aβ40 peptide, on the other hand, results in the formation of fibrillar aggregates. However, HDX-MS indicates that the NT domain is only partially incorporated into these aggregates in vivo. We conclude that NT is able to control its aggregation to remain functional under the extreme conditions in the spider silk gland.
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Affiliation(s)
- Margit Kaldmäe
- Department of Microbiology, Tumour and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet, Biomedicum, Solna, Sweden
| | - Axel Leppert
- Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Center for Alzheimer Research, Division of Neurogeriatrics, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden
| | - Gefei Chen
- Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Center for Alzheimer Research, Division of Neurogeriatrics, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden
| | - Medoune Sarr
- Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Center for Alzheimer Research, Division of Neurogeriatrics, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden
| | - Cagla Sahin
- Department of Microbiology, Tumour and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet, Biomedicum, Solna, Sweden
| | - Kerstin Nordling
- Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Center for Alzheimer Research, Division of Neurogeriatrics, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden
| | - Nina Kronqvist
- Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Center for Alzheimer Research, Division of Neurogeriatrics, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden
| | - Marta Gonzalvo-Ulla
- Department of Microbiology, Tumour and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet, Biomedicum, Solna, Sweden.,Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Nicolas Fritz
- Department of Microbiology, Tumour and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet, Biomedicum, Solna, Sweden
| | - Axel Abelein
- Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Center for Alzheimer Research, Division of Neurogeriatrics, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden
| | - Sonia Laίn
- Department of Microbiology, Tumour and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet, Biomedicum, Solna, Sweden
| | - Henrik Biverstål
- Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Center for Alzheimer Research, Division of Neurogeriatrics, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden.,Department of Physical Organic Chemistry, Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis, Riga, Latvia
| | - Hans Jörnvall
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, Biomedicum, Solna, Sweden
| | - David P Lane
- Department of Microbiology, Tumour and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet, Biomedicum, Solna, Sweden
| | - Anna Rising
- Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Center for Alzheimer Research, Division of Neurogeriatrics, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden.,Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Jan Johansson
- Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Center for Alzheimer Research, Division of Neurogeriatrics, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden
| | - Michael Landreh
- Department of Microbiology, Tumour and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet, Biomedicum, Solna, Sweden
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