Identification of the three zinc-binding sites on tau protein

Zinc utilization by microglia in Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia defined by two key pathological characteristics in the brain, amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) composed of hyperphosphorylated tau. Microglia, the primary innate immune cells of the central nervous system (CNS), provide neuroprotection through Aβ and tau clearance but may also be neurotoxic by promoting neuroinflammation to exacerbate Aβ and tau pathogenesis in AD. Recent studies have demonstrated the importance of microglial utilization of nutrients and trace metals in controlling their activation and effector functions. Trace metals, such as zinc, have essential roles in brain health and immunity, and zinc dyshomeostasis has been implicated in AD pathogenesis. As a result of these advances, the mechanisms by which zinc homeostasis influences microglial-mediated neuroinflammation in AD is a topic of continuing interest since new strategies to treat AD are needed. Here, we review the roles of zinc in AD, including zinc activation of microglia, the associated neuroinflammatory response, and the application of these findings in new therapeutic strategies.

Modulation of Primary and Secondary Processes in Tau Fibril Formation by Salt-Induced Dynamics

The initial stages of amyloid fibrilization begin with the monomers populating aggregation-prone conformers. Characterization of such aggregation-prone conformers is crucial in the study of neurodegenerative diseases. The current study characterizes the aggregation pathway of two tau protein constructs that have been recently demonstrated to form Alzheimer's (AD) fibril structures with divalent ions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) fibril structures with monovalent ions. The results highlight the involvement of identical residues in both the primary and secondary processes of both AD and CTE fibril propagation. Nuclear magnetic resonance relaxation experiments reveal increased flexibility of the motifs 321KCGS within R3 and 364PGGGN within R4 in the presence of MgCl2/NaCl, correlating with faster aggregation kinetics and indicating efficient primary nucleation. Notably, the seeded aggregation kinetics of the tau monomers in the presence and absence of metal ions are strikingly different. This correlates with the overall sign of the 15N-ΔR2 profile specifying the dominant mechanism involved in the process of aggregation.

Purification, Characterization, cDNA Cloning, and Bioinformatic Analysis of Zinc-Binding Protein from Magallana hongkongensis

Oysters contain significant amounts of the zinc element, which may also be found in their proteins. In this study, a novel zinc-binding protein was purified from the mantle of the oyster Magallana hongkongensis using two kinds of gel filtration chromatograms. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) showed that its molecular weight was approximately 36 kDa. The protein identified by the Q-Exactive mass spectrometer shared the highest sequence identity with carbonic anhydrase derived from Crassostrea gigas concerning amino acid sequence similarity. Based on homologous cloning and RACE PCR, the full-length cDNA of carbonic anhydrase from Magallana hongkongensis (designated as MhCA) was cloned and sequenced. The cDNA of MhCA encodes a 315-amino-acid protein with 89.74% homology to carbonic anhydrase derived from Crassostrea gigas. Molecular docking revealed that the two zinc ions primarily form coordination bonds with histidine residues in the MhCA protein. These results strongly suggest that MhCA is a novel zinc-binding protein in Magallana hongkongensis.

Modulation of biomolecular phase behavior by metal ions

Liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) appears to be a newly appreciated aspect of the cellular organization of biomolecules that leads to the formation of membraneless organelles (MLOs). MLOs generate distinct microenvironments where particular biomolecules are highly concentrated compared to those in the surrounding environment. Their thermodynamically driven formation is reversible, and their liquid nature allows them to fuse with each other. Dysfunctional biomolecular condensation is associated with human diseases. Pathological states of MLOs may originate from the mutation of proteins or may be induced by other factors. In most aberrant MLOs, transient interactions are replaced by stronger and more rigid interactions, preventing their dissolution, and causing their uncontrolled growth and dysfunction. For these reasons, there is great interest in identifying factors that modulate LLPS. In this review, we discuss an enigmatic and mostly unexplored aspect of this process, namely, the regulatory effects of metal ions on the phase behavior of biomolecules.

Aggregation, Transmission, and Toxicity of the Microtubule-Associated Protein Tau: A Complex Comprehension

The microtubule-associated protein tau is an intrinsically disordered protein containing a few short and transient secondary structures. Tau physiologically associates with microtubules (MTs) for its stabilization and detaches from MTs to regulate its dynamics. Under pathological conditions, tau is abnormally modified, detaches from MTs, and forms protein aggregates in neuronal and glial cells. Tau protein aggregates can be found in a number of devastating neurodegenerative diseases known as "tauopathies", such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), corticobasal degeneration (CBD), etc. However, it is still unclear how the tau protein is compacted into ordered protein aggregates, and the toxicity of the aggregates is still debated. Fortunately, there has been considerable progress in the study of tau in recent years, particularly in the understanding of the intercellular transmission of pathological tau species, the structure of tau aggregates, and the conformational change events in the tau polymerization process. In this review, we summarize the concepts of tau protein aggregation and discuss the views on tau protein transmission and toxicity.

Binding of two zinc ions promotes liquid-liquid phase separation of Tau

Tau is a naturally disordered microtubule associated protein which forms intraneuronal aggregates in several neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease (AD). It was reported that zinc interaction with tau protein can trigger its aggregation. Recently we identified three zinc binding sites located in the N-terminal part, repeat region and the C-terminal part of tau. Here we characterized zinc binding to each of the three sites using isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) and determined the impact of each site on aggregation using dynamic light scattering (DLS) assays. First, we confirmed the presence of three zinc binding sites on tau and determined the thermodynamic parameters of binding of zinc to these sites. We found a high-affinity zinc binding site located in the repeat region of tau and two N- and C-terminus binding sites with a lower binding constant for zinc. Second, we showed that tau aggregation necessitates zinc binding to the high affinity site in the R2R3 region, while LLPS necessitates zinc binding to any two binding sites. With regard to the role of zinc ions in the aggregation of proteins in neurodegenerative diseases, these findings bring new insights to the understanding of the aggregation mechanism of tau protein induced by zinc.

Pentapeptide-Zinc Chelate from Sweet Almond Expeller Amandin Hydrolysates: Structural and Physicochemical Characteristics, Stability and Zinc Transport Ability In Vitro

To promote the application of almond expellers, sweet almond expeller globulin (amandin) was extracted for the preparation of bioactive peptides. After dual enzymatic hydrolysis, Sephadex G-15 gel isolation, reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography purification and ESI-MS/MS analysis, two novel peptides Val-Asp-Leu-Val-Ala-Glu-Val-Pro-Arg-Gly-Leu (1164.45 Da) and Leu-Asp-Arg-Leu-Glu (644.77 Da) were identified in sweet almond expeller amandin hydrolysates. Leu-Asp-Arg-Leu-Glu (LDRLE) of excellent zinc-chelating capacity (24.73 mg/g) was selected for preparation of peptide-zinc chelate. Structural analysis revealed that zinc ions were mainly bonded to amino group and carboxyl group of LDRLE. Potential toxicity and some physicochemical properties of LDRLE and Val-Asp-Leu-Val-Ala-Glu-Val-Pro-Arg-Gly-Leu (VDLVAEVPRGL) were predicted in silico. The results demonstrated that both LDRLE and VDLVAEVPRGL were not toxic. Additionally, zinc solubility of LDRLE-zinc chelate was much higher than that of zinc sulphate and zinc gluconate at pH 6.0−10.0 and against gastrointestinal digestion at 37 °C (p < 0.05). However, incubation at 100 °C for 20−60 min significantly reduced zinc-solubility of LDRLE-zinc chelate. Moreover, the chelate showed higher zinc transport ability in vitro than zinc sulphate and zinc gluconate (p < 0.05). Therefore, peptides isolated from sweet almond expeller amandin have potential applications as ingredient of zinc supplements.