Trehalose effects on α-crystallin aggregates

Trehalose-Carnosine Prevents the Effects of Spinal Cord Injury Through Regulating Acute Inflammation and Zinc(II) Ion Homeostasis

Spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to long-term and permanent motor dysfunctions, and nervous system abnormalities. Injury to the spinal cord triggers a signaling cascade that results in activation of the inflammatory cascade, apoptosis, and Zn(II) ion homeostasis. Trehalose (Tre), a nonreducing disaccharide, and L-carnosine (Car), (β-alanyl-L-histidine), one of the endogenous histidine dipeptides have been recognized to suppress early inflammatory effects, oxidative stress and to possess neuroprotective effects. We report on the effects of the conjugation of Tre with Car (Tre-car) in reducing inflammation in in vitro and in vivo models. The in vitro study was performed using rat pheochromocytoma cells (PC12 cell line). After 24 h, Tre-car, Car, Tre, and Tre + Car mixture treatments, cells were collected and used to investigate Zn²⁺ homeostasis. The in vivo model of SCI was induced by extradural compression of the spinal cord at the T6-T8 levels. After treatments with Tre, Car and Tre-Car conjugate 1 and 6 h after SCI, spinal cord tissue was collected for analysis. In vitro results demonstrated the ionophore effect and chelating features of L-carnosine and its conjugate. In vivo, the Tre-car conjugate treatment counteracted the activation of the early inflammatory cascade, oxidative stress and apoptosis after SCI. The Tre-car conjugate stimulated neurotrophic factors release, and influenced Zn²⁺ homeostasis. We demonstrated that Tre-car, Tre and Car treatments improved tissue recovery after SCI. Tre-car decreased proinflammatory, oxidative stress mediators release, upregulated neurotrophic factors and restored Zn²⁺ homeostasis, suggesting that Tre-car may represent a promising therapeutic agent for counteracting the consequences of SCI.

Aβ and Tau Interact with Metal Ions, Lipid Membranes and Peptide-Based Amyloid Inhibitors: Are These Common Features Relevant in Alzheimer’s Disease?

In the last two decades, the amyloid hypothesis, i.e., the abnormal accumulation of toxic Aβ assemblies in the brain, has been considered the mainstream concept sustaining research in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). However, the course of cognitive decline and AD development better correlates with tau accumulation rather than amyloid peptide deposition. Moreover, all clinical trials of amyloid-targeting drug candidates have been unsuccessful, implicitly suggesting that the amyloid hypothesis needs significant amendments. Accumulating evidence supports the existence of a series of potentially dangerous relationships between Aβ oligomeric species and tau protein in AD. However, the molecular determinants underlying pathogenic Aβ/tau cross interactions are not fully understood. Here, we discuss the common features of Aβ and tau molecules, with special emphasis on: (i) the critical role played by metal dyshomeostasis in promoting both Aβ and tau aggregation and oxidative stress, in AD; (ii) the effects of lipid membranes on Aβ and tau (co)-aggregation at the membrane interface; (iii) the potential of small peptide-based inhibitors of Aβ and tau misfolding as therapeutic tools in AD. Although the molecular mechanism underlying the direct Aβ/tau interaction remains largely unknown, the arguments discussed in this review may help reinforcing the current view of a synergistic Aβ/tau molecular crosstalk in AD and stimulate further research to mechanism elucidation and next-generation AD therapeutics.

A native chemical chaperone in the human eye lens

Cataract is one of the most prevalent protein aggregation disorders and still the most common cause of vision loss worldwide. The metabolically quiescent core region of the human lens lacks cellular or protein turnover; it has therefore evolved remarkable mechanisms to resist light-scattering protein aggregation for a lifetime. We now report that one such mechanism involves an unusually abundant lens metabolite, myo-inositol, suppressing aggregation of lens crystallins. We quantified aggregation suppression using our previously well-characterized in vitro aggregation assays of oxidation-mimicking human γD-crystallin variants and investigated myo-inositol’s molecular mechanism of action using solution NMR, negative-stain TEM, differential scanning fluorometry, thermal scanning Raman spectroscopy, turbidimetry in redox buffers, and free thiol quantitation. Unlike many known chemical chaperones, myo-inositol’s primary target was not the native, unfolded, or final aggregated states of the protein; rather, we propose that it was the rate-limiting bimolecular step on the aggregation pathway. Given recent metabolomic evidence that it is severely depleted in human cataractous lenses compared to age-matched controls, we suggest that maintaining or restoring healthy levels of myo-inositol in the lens may be a simple, safe, and globally accessible strategy to prevent or delay lens opacification due to age-onset cataract.

Effect of Trehalose on Oligomeric State and Anti-Aggregation Activity of αB-Crystallin

αB-Crystallin (αB-Cr), one of the main crystalline lens proteins, along with other crystallins maintains lens transparency suppressing protein aggregation and thus preventing cataractogenesis. αB-Cr belongs to the class of molecular chaperones; being expressed in many tissues it has a dynamic quaternary structure, which is essential for its chaperone-like activity. Shift in the equilibrium between ensembles of oligomers of different size allows regulating the chaperone activity. Trehalose is known to inhibit protein aggregation in vivo and in vitro, and it is widely used in biotechnology. The results of studying the effect of trehalose on the chaperone-like activity of crystallins can serve as a basis for the design of drugs delaying cataractogenesis. We have studied the trehalose effect on the quaternary structure and anti-aggregation activity of αB-Cr using muscle glycogen phosphorylase b (Phb) as a target protein. According to the dynamic light scattering data, trehalose affects the nucleation stage of Phb thermal aggregation at 48°C, and an increase in the αB-Cr adsorption capacity (AC₀) is the main effect of trehalose on the aggregation process in the presence of the protein chaperone (AC₀ increases 1.5-fold in the presence of 66 mM trehalose). According to the sedimentation analysis data, trehalose stabilizes the dimeric form of Phb at the stages of denaturation and dissociation and enhances the interaction of αB-Cr with the target protein. Moreover, trehalose shifts the equilibrium between the αB-Cr oligomers towards the smaller forms. Thus, trehalose affects the quaternary structure of αB-Cr and increases its anti-aggregation activity at the nucleation stage.

Changing relations between proteins and osmolytes: a choice of nature

The stabilization and destabilization of the protein in the presence of any additive is mainly attributed to its preferential exclusion from protein surface and its preferential binding to the protein surface, respectively.

Control of the structural stability of α-crystallin under thermal and chemical stress: the role of carnosine

The structural properties of α-crystallin, the major protein of the eye lens of mammals, in aqueous solution are investigated by means of small angle X-ray and dynamic light scattering. The research interest is devoted in particular to the effect of carnosine in protecting the protein under stress conditions, like temperature increase and presence of denaturant (guanidinium-HCl). The results suggest that carnosine interacts, through mechanisms involving hydrophobic interactions, with α-crystallin and avoids the structural changes in the quaternary structure induced by thermal and chemical stress. It is also shown that, if mediated by carnosine, the self-aggregation of α-crystallin induced by the denaturant at higher temperature can be controlled and even partially reversed. Therefore, carnosine is effective in preserving the structural integrity of the protein, suggesting the possibility of new strategies of intervention for preventing or treating pathologies related to protein aggregation, like cataracts.

Glass transition temperature of dried lens tissue pretreated with trehalose, maltose, or cyclic tetrasaccharide

Purpose

Glass transition temperature is a main indicator for amorphous polymers and biological macromolecules as materials, and would be a key for understanding the role of trehalose in protecting proteins and cells against desiccation. In this study, we measured the glass transition temperature by differential scanning calorimetry of dried lens tissues as a model of a whole biological tissue to know the effect of pretreatment by trehalose and other sugars.

Methods

Isolated porcine lenses were incubated with saline, 100 or 1000 mM concentration of trehalose, maltose, or cyclic tetrasaccharide dissolved in saline at room temperature for 150 minutes. The solutions were removed and all samples were dried at room temperature in a desiccator until no weight change. The dried tissues were ground into powder and placed in a measuring pan for differential scanning calorimetry.

Results

The glass transition temperature of the dried lens tissues, as a mean and standard deviation, was 63.0 ± 6.4°C (n = 3) with saline pretreatment; 53.0 ± 0.8°C and 56.3 ± 2.7°C (n = 3), respectively, with 100 and 1000 mM trehalose pretreatment; 56.0 ± 1.6°C and 55.8 ± 1.1°C (n = 3), respectively, with 100 and 1000 mM maltose pretreatment; 60.0 ± 8.8°C and 59.2 ± 6.3°C (n = 3), respectively, with 100 and 1000 mM cyclic tetrasaccharide pretreatment. The glass transition temperature appeared lower, although not significantly, with trehalose and maltose pretreatments than with saline and cyclic tetrasaccharide pretreatments (P > 0.05, Kruskal-Wallis test). The glass transition temperature of the dried lens tissues with trehalose pretreatment appeared more noticeable on the thermogram, compared with other pretreatments.

Conclusions

The glass transition temperature was measured for the first time in the dried lens tissues as an example of a whole biological tissue and might provide a basis for tissue preservation in the dried condition.

Experimental inhibition of peptide fibrillogenesis by synthetic peptides, carbohydrates and drugs

Peptide fibrillogenesis generally begins by the transformation of normally soluble proteins into elongated aggregates which are called as amyloid. These fibrils mainly consist of ß-sheets. They share certain common characteristics such as a cross-ß x-ray diffraction pattern, association with other common proteins and typical staining by the dye Congo Red. The individual form of the deposit consists of a disease-specific peptide/protein. The disease-specific protein serves as the basis for the classification of the amyloids. The association of fibril-forming peptides/proteins with diseases makes them primary disease-targets. Understanding the molecular interactions involved in the fibril formation becomes the foremost requirement to characterize the target. Interference with these interactions of ß-sheets in vitro prevents and sometimes reverses the fibril assembly. A small molecule capable of interfering with the formation of fibril could have therapeutic applications in these diseases. This anti-aggregation approach appears to be a viable treatment option. A search for such a molecule is pursued actively world over. All types of compounds and approaches to slow down or prevent the aggregation process have been described in the literature. These efforts are reviewed in this chapter.

Effect of trehalose on the properties of mutant {gamma}PKC, which causes spinocerebellar ataxia type 14, in neuronal cell lines and cultured Purkinje cells

Several missense mutations in the protein kinase Cγ (γPKC) gene have been found to cause spinocerebellar ataxia type 14 (SCA14), an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disease. We previously demonstrated that the mutant γPKC found in SCA14 is susceptible to aggregation, which induces apoptotic cell death. The disaccharide trehalose has been reported to inhibit aggregate formation and to alleviate symptoms in cellular and animal models of Huntington disease, Alzheimer disease, and prion disease. Here, we show that trehalose can be incorporated into SH-SY5Y cells and reduces the aggregation of mutant γPKC-GFP, thereby inhibiting apoptotic cell death in SH-SY5Y cells and primary cultured Purkinje cells (PCs). Trehalose acts by directly stabilizing the conformation of mutant γPKC without affecting protein turnover. Trehalose was also found to alleviate the improper development of dendrites in PCs expressing mutant γPKC-GFP without aggregates but not in PCs with aggregates. In PCs without aggregates, trehalose improves the mobility and translocation of mutant γPKC-GFP, probably by inhibiting oligomerization and thereby alleviating the improper development of dendrites. These results suggest that trehalose counteracts various cellular dysfunctions that are triggered by mutant γPKC in both neuronal cell lines and primary cultured PCs by inhibiting oligomerization and aggregation of mutant γPKC.

Trehalose and protein stability

The role of osmolytes, and especially trehalose, in stabilizing proteins under stress conditions is now a widely accepted fact. The physical and chemical properties of trehalose, i.e., low chemical reactivity, nonreducing nature, high glass transition temperature, high affinity for water molecules, existence of a number of polymorphs, etc., make it uniquely suitable for stabilizing partially unfolded protein molecules and inhibiting protein aggregation. This article discusses the various adverse situations that protein molecules face, both within the cell and outside, leading to their aggregation and inactivation. The use of trehalose in stabilizing protein molecules and helping them retain their functionally active forms under such conditions is examined. The various theories and mechanisms used to explain the protective action of trehalose are briefly presented. The experimental tools that can be used to decipher the mechanism of aggregation and the role of trehalose are also discussed.

Self-organization pathways and spatial heterogeneity in insulin amyloid fibril formation

At high temperature and low pH, the protein hormone insulin is highly prone to form amyloid fibrils, and for this reason it is widely used as a model system to study fibril formation mechanisms. In this work, we focused on insulin aggregation mechanisms occurring in HCl solutions (pH 1.6) at 60 degrees C. By means of in situ Thioflavin T (ThT) staining, the kinetics profiles were characterized as a function of the protein concentration, and two concurrent aggregation pathways were pointed out, being concentration dependent. In correspondence to these pathways, different morphologies of self-assembled protein molecules were detected by atomic force microscopy images also evidencing the presence of secondary nucleation processes as a peculiar mechanism for insulin fibrillation. Moreover, combining ThT fluorescence and light scattering, the early stages of the process were analyzed in the low concentration regime, pointing out a pronounced spatial heterogeneity in the formation of the first stable fibrils in solution and the onset of the secondary nucleation pathways.

Protective effects of L- and D-carnosine on alpha-crystallin amyloid fibril formation: implications for cataract disease

Mildly denaturing conditions induce bovine alpha-crystallin, the major structural lens protein, to self-assemble into fibrillar structures in vitro. The natural dipeptide l-carnosine has been shown to have potential protective and therapeutic significance in many diseases. Carnosine derivatives have been proposed as potent agents for ophthalmic therapies of senile cataracts and diabetic ocular complications. Here we report the inhibitory effect induced by the peptide (l- and d-enantiomeric form) on alpha-crystallin fibrillation and the almost complete restoration of the chaperone activity lost after denaturant and/or heat stress. Scanning force microscopy (SFM), thioflavin T, and a turbidimetry assay have been used to determine the morphology of alpha-crystallin aggregates in the presence and absence of carnosine. DSC and a near-UV CD assay evidenced that the structural precursors of amyloid fibrils are polypeptide chain segments that lack stable structural elements. Moreover, we have found a disassembling effect of carnosine on alpha-crystallin amyloid fibrils. Finally, we show the ability of carnosine to restore most of the lens transparency in organ-cultured rat lenses exposed to similar denaturing conditions that were used for the in vitro experiments.

Construction of helical nanofibers from self-assembling pseudopeptide building blocks: modulating the handedness and breaking the helicity

Helical nanofibers are successfully constructed from suitable self-assembling pseudopeptide-based molecular building blocks. The handedness of these nanofibers can be reversed by using mirror-imaged pseudopeptide-based building blocks. Straight nanofibers are also constructed by modulating the molecular and supramolecular structures by the proper choice of the stereochemical nature of the molecular scaffolds. This study demonstrates that molecular structure and chirality are not the only determining factors for tuning the morphology and chirality of nanostructures; the nature of the supramolecular structures formed from the corresponding molecular scaffolds also plays a key role in dictating the shape and chirality of nanostructures. Helical nanofibers are suitable templates for fabricating dipeptide-capped gold nanoparticles, indicating a possible use of these nanofibers in the construction of arrays of gold nanoparticles.

Trehalose and trehalose-based polymers for environmentally benign, biocompatible and bioactive materials

Trehalose is a non-reducing disaccharide that is found in many organisms but not in mammals. This sugar plays important roles in cryptobiosis of selaginella mosses, tardigrades (water bears), and other animals which revive with water from a state of suspended animation induced by desiccation. The interesting properties of trehalose are due to its unique symmetrical low-energy structure, wherein two glucose units are bonded face-to-face by 1→1-glucoside links. The Hayashibara Co. Ltd., is credited for developing an inexpensive, environmentally benign and industrial-scale process for the enzymatic conversion of α-1,4-linked polyhexoses to α,α-d-trehalose, which made it easy to explore novel food, industrial, and medicinal uses for trehalose and its derivatives. Trehalose-chemistry is a relatively new and emerging field, and polymers of trehalose derivatives appear environmentally benign, biocompatible, and biodegradable. The discriminating properties of trehalose are attributed to its structure, symmetry, solubility, kinetic and thermodynamic stability and versatility. While syntheses of trehalose-based polymer networks can be straightforward, syntheses and characterization of well defined linear polymers with tailored properties using trehalose-based monomers is challenging, and typically involves protection and deprotection of hydroxyl groups to attain desired structural, morphological, biological, and physical and chemical properties in the resulting products. In this review, we will overview known literature on trehalose’s fascinating involvement in cryptobiology; highlight its applications in many fields; and then discuss methods we used to prepare new trehalose-based monomers and polymers and explain their properties.

Negative staining across holes: application to fibril and tubular structures

The negative staining technique, when used with holey carbon support films, presents superior imaging conditions than is the case when samples are adsorbed to continuous carbon films. A demonstration of this negative staining approach is presented, using ammonium molybdate in combination with trehalose, applied to several fibrillar and tubular samples. Fibrils formed from the amyloid-beta peptide and the protease inhibitor pepstain A spread very well unsupported across holes and the different polymorphic fibril forms can be readily assessed. However, tubular forms of amyloid-beta have a tendency to be flattened, due to surface tension forces prior to and during specimen drying. Sub-fibril assembly forms and D-banded rat tail type 1 collagen fibres are presented. The air-dried collagen images produced are shown to contain almost as much detail as those obtainable by cryo-negative staining. Fragile DNA and DNA-protein nanotubes are also shown to yield superior quality images to those produced on continuous carbon films. The iron-storage protein, frataxin, creates elongated oligomeric assemblies, containing bound ferrihydrite microcrystals. The iron particles within these flexuous oligomers can be defined in the presence of ammonium molybdate, but they are more readily demonstrated if the frataxin is spread across holes in the presence of trehalose alone. The samples used here serve to show the likely benefit obtainable from negative staining across holes for a range of other fibrillar and tubular samples in biology, medicine and nanobiotechnology.