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Barbosa Pereira PJ, Manso JA, Macedo-Ribeiro S. The structural plasticity of polyglutamine repeats. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2023; 80:102607. [PMID: 37178477 DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2023.102607] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2023] [Revised: 04/11/2023] [Accepted: 04/12/2023] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
From yeast to humans, polyglutamine (polyQ) repeat tracts are found frequently in the proteome and are particularly prominent in the activation domains of transcription factors. PolyQ is a polymorphic motif that modulates functional protein-protein interactions and aberrant self-assembly. Expansion of the polyQ repeated sequences beyond critical physiological repeat length thresholds triggers self-assembly and is linked to severe pathological implications. This review provides an overview of the current knowledge on the structures of polyQ tracts in the soluble and aggregated states and discusses the influence of neighboring regions on polyQ secondary structure, aggregation, and fibril morphologies. The influence of the genetic context of the polyQ-encoding trinucleotides is briefly discussed as a challenge for future endeavors in this field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pedro José Barbosa Pereira
- IBMC - Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, 4200-135, Porto, Portugal; Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, 4200-135, Porto, Portugal.
| | - José A Manso
- IBMC - Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, 4200-135, Porto, Portugal; Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, 4200-135, Porto, Portugal
| | - Sandra Macedo-Ribeiro
- IBMC - Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, 4200-135, Porto, Portugal; Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, 4200-135, Porto, Portugal
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2
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Minakawa EN, Nagai Y. Protein Aggregation Inhibitors as Disease-Modifying Therapies for Polyglutamine Diseases. Front Neurosci 2021; 15:621996. [PMID: 33642983 PMCID: PMC7907447 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.621996] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2020] [Accepted: 01/18/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The polyglutamine (polyQ) diseases are a group of inherited neurodegenerative diseases caused by the abnormal expansion of a CAG trinucleotide repeat that are translated into an expanded polyQ stretch in the disease-causative proteins. The expanded polyQ stretch itself plays a critical disease-causative role in the pathomechanisms underlying polyQ diseases. Notably, the expanded polyQ stretch undergoes a conformational transition from the native monomer into the β-sheet-rich monomer, followed by the formation of soluble oligomers and then insoluble aggregates with amyloid fibrillar structures. The intermediate soluble species including the β-sheet-rich monomer and oligomers exhibit substantial neurotoxicity. Therefore, protein conformation stabilization and aggregation inhibition that target the upstream of the insoluble aggregate formation would be a promising approach toward the development of disease-modifying therapies for polyQ diseases. PolyQ aggregation inhibitors of different chemical categories, such as intrabodies, peptides, and small chemical compounds, have been identified through intensive screening methods. Among them, recent advances in the brain delivery methods of several peptides and the screening of small chemical compounds have brought them closer to clinical utility. Notably, the recent discovery of arginine as a potent conformation stabilizer and aggregation inhibitor of polyQ proteins both in vitro and in vivo have paved way to the clinical trial for the patients with polyQ diseases. Meanwhile, expression reduction of expanded polyQ proteins per se would be another promising approach toward disease modification of polyQ diseases. Gene silencing, especially by antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs), have succeeded in reducing the expression of polyQ proteins in the animal models of various polyQ diseases by targeting the aberrant mRNA with expanded CAG repeats. Of note, some of these ASOs have recently been translated into clinical trials. Here we overview and discuss these recent advances toward the development of disease modifying therapies for polyQ diseases. We envision that combination therapies using aggregation inhibitors and gene silencing would meet the needs of the patients with polyQ diseases and their caregivers in the near future to delay or prevent the onset and progression of these currently intractable diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eiko N Minakawa
- Department of Degenerative Neurological Diseases, National Institute of Neuroscience, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Kodaira, Japan
| | - Yoshitaka Nagai
- Department of Degenerative Neurological Diseases, National Institute of Neuroscience, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Kodaira, Japan.,Department of Neurotherapeutics, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Japan
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3
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Optimizing intracellular antibodies (intrabodies/nanobodies) to treat neurodegenerative disorders. Neurobiol Dis 2020; 134:104619. [DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2019.104619] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2019] [Revised: 09/05/2019] [Accepted: 09/19/2019] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
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4
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Van Assche R, Borghgraef C, Vaneyck J, Dumoulin M, Schoofs L, Temmerman L. In vitro aggregating β-lactamase-polyQ chimeras do not induce toxic effects in an in vivo Caenorhabditis elegans model. J Negat Results Biomed 2017; 16:14. [PMID: 28830560 PMCID: PMC5568214 DOI: 10.1186/s12952-017-0080-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2016] [Accepted: 08/14/2017] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND A series of human diseases are caused by the misfolding and aggregation of specific proteins or peptides into amyloid fibrils; nine of these diseases, referred to as polyglutamine diseases, are associated with proteins carrying an expanded polyglutamine (polyQ) region. While the presence of this latter is thought to be the determinant factor for the development of polyQ diseases, the non-polyQ regions of the host proteins are thought to play a significant modulating role. METHOD In order to better understand the role of non-polyQ regions, the toxic effects of model proteins bearing different polyQ regions (containing up to 79 residues) embedded at two distinct locations within the β-lactamase (BlaP) host enzyme were evaluated in Caenorhabditis elegans. This small organism can be advantageous for the validation of in vitro findings, as it provides a multicellular context yet avoids the typical complexity of common studies relying on vertebrate models. Several phenotypic assays were performed in order to screen for potential toxic effects of the different BlaP-polyQ proteins. RESULTS Despite the significant in vitro aggregation of BlaP-polyQ proteins with long polyQ regions, none of the BlaP-polyQ chimeras aggregated in the generated transgenic in vivo models. CONCLUSION The absence of a toxic effect of the expression of BlaP-polyQ chimeras may find its cause in biochemical mechanisms present in vivo to cope with protein aggregation (e.g. presence of chaperones) or in C. elegans' limitations such as its short lifespan. It is plausible that the aggregation propensities of the different BlaP chimeras containing embedded polyQ sequences are too low in this in vivo environment to permit their aggregation. These experiments emphasize the need for several comparative and in vivo verification studies of biologically relevant in vitro findings, which reveal both the strengths and limitations of widely used model systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roel Van Assche
- Animal Physiology and Neurobiology, Department of Biology, KU Leuven (University of Leuven), Zoological Institute, Naamsestraat 59, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Charline Borghgraef
- Animal Physiology and Neurobiology, Department of Biology, KU Leuven (University of Leuven), Zoological Institute, Naamsestraat 59, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jonathan Vaneyck
- Enzymology and Protein Folding, Center for Protein Engineering, InBioS, Institute of Chemistry, University of Liège, Sart-Tilman, 4000 Liège, Belgium
| | - Mireille Dumoulin
- Enzymology and Protein Folding, Center for Protein Engineering, InBioS, Institute of Chemistry, University of Liège, Sart-Tilman, 4000 Liège, Belgium
| | - Liliane Schoofs
- Animal Physiology and Neurobiology, Department of Biology, KU Leuven (University of Leuven), Zoological Institute, Naamsestraat 59, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Liesbet Temmerman
- Animal Physiology and Neurobiology, Department of Biology, KU Leuven (University of Leuven), Zoological Institute, Naamsestraat 59, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
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5
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Adegbuyiro A, Sedighi F, Pilkington AW, Groover S, Legleiter J. Proteins Containing Expanded Polyglutamine Tracts and Neurodegenerative Disease. Biochemistry 2017; 56:1199-1217. [PMID: 28170216 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.6b00936] [Citation(s) in RCA: 90] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Several hereditary neurological and neuromuscular diseases are caused by an abnormal expansion of trinucleotide repeats. To date, there have been 10 of these trinucleotide repeat disorders associated with an expansion of the codon CAG encoding glutamine (Q). For these polyglutamine (polyQ) diseases, there is a critical threshold length of the CAG repeat required for disease, and further expansion beyond this threshold is correlated with age of onset and symptom severity. PolyQ expansion in the translated proteins promotes their self-assembly into a variety of oligomeric and fibrillar aggregate species that accumulate into the hallmark proteinaceous inclusion bodies associated with each disease. Here, we review aggregation mechanisms of proteins with expanded polyQ-tracts, structural consequences of expanded polyQ ranging from monomers to fibrillar aggregates, the impact of protein context and post-translational modifications on aggregation, and a potential role for lipid membranes in aggregation. As the pathogenic mechanisms that underlie these disorders are often classified as either a gain of toxic function or loss of normal protein function, some toxic mechanisms associated with mutant polyQ tracts will also be discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adewale Adegbuyiro
- The C. Eugene Bennett Department of Chemistry, 217 Clark Hall, West Virginia University , Morgantown, West Virginia 26506, United States
| | - Faezeh Sedighi
- The C. Eugene Bennett Department of Chemistry, 217 Clark Hall, West Virginia University , Morgantown, West Virginia 26506, United States
| | - Albert W Pilkington
- The C. Eugene Bennett Department of Chemistry, 217 Clark Hall, West Virginia University , Morgantown, West Virginia 26506, United States
| | - Sharon Groover
- The C. Eugene Bennett Department of Chemistry, 217 Clark Hall, West Virginia University , Morgantown, West Virginia 26506, United States
| | - Justin Legleiter
- The C. Eugene Bennett Department of Chemistry, 217 Clark Hall, West Virginia University , Morgantown, West Virginia 26506, United States.,Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute, Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center, P.O. Box 9304, West Virginia University , Morgantown, West Virginia 26506, United States.,NanoSAFE, P.O. Box 6223, West Virginia University , Morgantown, West Virginia 26506, United States
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6
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Chen MZ, Mok SA, Ormsby AR, Muchowski PJ, Hatters DM. N-Terminal Fragments of Huntingtin Longer than Residue 170 form Visible Aggregates Independently to Polyglutamine Expansion. J Huntingtons Dis 2017; 6:79-91. [PMID: 28339398 DOI: 10.3233/jhd-160207] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND A hallmark of Huntington's disease is the progressive aggregation of full length and N-terminal fragments of polyglutamine (polyQ)-expanded Huntingtin (Htt) into intracellular inclusions. The production of N-terminal fragments appears important for enabling pathology and aggregation; and hence the direct expression of a variety of N-terminal fragments are commonly used to model HD in animal and cellular models. OBJECTIVE It remains unclear how the length of the N-terminal fragments relates to polyQ - mediated aggregation. We investigated the fundamental intracellular aggregation process of eight different-length N-terminal fragments of Htt in both short (25Q) and long polyQ (97Q). METHODS N-terminal fragments were fused to fluorescent proteins and transiently expressed in mammalian cell culture models. These included the classic exon 1 fragment (90 amino acids) and longer forms of 105, 117, 171, 513, 536, 552, and 586 amino acids based on wild-type Htt (of 23Q) sequence length nomenclature. RESULTS N-terminal fragments of less than 171 amino acids only formed inclusions in polyQ-expanded form. By contrast the longer fragments formed inclusions irrespective of Q-length, with Q-length playing a negligible role in extent of aggregation. The inclusions could be classified into 3 distinct morphological categories. One type (Type A) was universally associated with polyQ expansions whereas the other two types (Types B and C) formed independently of polyQ length expansion. CONCLUSIONS PolyQ-expansion was only required for fragments of less than 171 amino acids to aggregate. Longer fragments aggregated predominately through a non-polyQ mechanism, involving at least one, and probably more distinct clustering mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Moore Z Chen
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Sue-Ann Mok
- Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Angelique R Ormsby
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | | | - Danny M Hatters
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne, VIC, Australia
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7
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Eftekharzadeh B, Hyman BT, Wegmann S. Structural studies on the mechanism of protein aggregation in age related neurodegenerative diseases. Mech Ageing Dev 2016; 156:1-13. [PMID: 27005270 DOI: 10.1016/j.mad.2016.03.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2015] [Revised: 02/12/2016] [Accepted: 03/03/2016] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
The progression of many neurodegenerative diseases is assumed to be caused by misfolding of specific characteristic diseases related proteins, resulting in aggregation and fibril formation of these proteins. Protein misfolding associated age related diseases, although different in disease manifestations, share striking similarities. In all cases, one disease protein aggregates and loses its function or additionally shows a toxic gain of function. However, the clear link between these individual amyloid-like protein aggregates and cellular toxicity is often still uncertain. The similar features of protein misfolding and aggregation in this group of proteins, all involved in age related neurodegenerative diseases, results in high interest in characterization of their structural properties. We review here recent findings on structural properties of some age related disease proteins, in the context of their biological importance in disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bahareh Eftekharzadeh
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Mass General Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA.
| | - Bradley T Hyman
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Mass General Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
| | - Susanne Wegmann
- Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Mass General Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
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8
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Li C, Nagel J, Androulakis S, Song J, Buckle AM. PolyQ 2.0: an improved version of PolyQ, a database of human polyglutamine proteins. DATABASE-THE JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL DATABASES AND CURATION 2016; 2016:baw021. [PMID: 26980520 PMCID: PMC4792530 DOI: 10.1093/database/baw021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2015] [Accepted: 02/08/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Proteins with expanded polyglutamine (polyQ) repeats are involved in human neurodegenerative diseases, via a gain-of-function mechanism of neuronal toxicity involving protein conformational changes that result in the formation and deposition of β-sheet-rich aggregates. Aggregation is dependent on the context and properties of the host protein, such as domain context and location of the repeat tract. In order to explore this relationship in greater detail, here we describe PolyQ 2.0, an updated database that provides a comprehensive knowledgebase for human polyQ proteins. Compared with the previous PolyQ database, our new database provides a variety of substantial updates including detailed biological annotations and search options. Biological annotations in terms of domain context information, protein structural and functional annotation, single point mutations, predicted disordered regions, protein-protein interaction partners, metabolic/signaling pathways, post-translational modification sites and evolutionary information are made available. Several new database functionalities have also been provided, including search using multiple/combinatory keywords, and submission of new data entries. Also, several third-party plug-ins are employed to enhance data visualization in PolyQ 2.0. In PolyQ 2.0 the proteins are reclassified into 3 new categories and contain 9 reviewed disease-associated polyQ proteins, 105 reviewed non-disease polyQ proteins and 146 un-reviewed polyQ proteins (reviewed by UniProt curators). We envisage that this updated database will be a useful resource for functional and structural investigation of human polyQ proteins. Database URL: http://lightning.med.monash.edu/polyq2/.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chen Li
- Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
| | - Jeremy Nagel
- Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
| | - Steve Androulakis
- Monash Bioinformatics Platform, Monash University, Melbourne, Vic. 3800, Australia, and
| | - Jiangning Song
- Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology National Engineering Laboratory of Industrial Enzymes and Key Laboratory of Systems Microbial Biotechnology, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin 300308, China
| | - Ashley M Buckle
- Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
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9
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Polling S, Ormsby AR, Wood RJ, Lee K, Shoubridge C, Hughes JN, Thomas PQ, Griffin MDW, Hill AF, Bowden Q, Böcking T, Hatters DM. Polyalanine expansions drive a shift into α-helical clusters without amyloid-fibril formation. Nat Struct Mol Biol 2015; 22:1008-15. [DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.3127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2015] [Accepted: 10/20/2015] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
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10
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Thompson KW, Marquez SB, Lu L, Reisman D. Induction of functional Brm protein from Brm knockout mice. Oncoscience 2015; 2:349-61. [PMID: 26097869 PMCID: PMC4468321 DOI: 10.18632/oncoscience.153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2015] [Accepted: 04/08/2015] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Once the knockout of the Brm gene was found to be nontumorigenic in mice, the study of BRM's involvement in cancer seemed less important compared with that of its homolog, Brg1. This has likely contributed to the disparity that has been observed in the publication ratio between BRG1 and BRM. We show that a previously published Brm knockout mouse is an incomplete knockout whereby a truncated isoform of Brm is detected in normal tissue and in tumors. We show that this truncated Brm isoform has functionality comparable to wild type Brm. By immunohistochemistry (IHC), this truncated Brm is undetectable in normal lung tissue and is minimal to very low in Brmnull tumors. However, it is significant in a subset (~40%) of Brg1/Brm double knockout (DKO) tumors that robustly express this truncated BRM, which in part stems from an increase in Brm mRNA levels. Thus, it is likely that this mutant mouse model does not accurately reflect the role that Brm plays in cancer development. We suggest that the construction of a completely new mouse Brm knockout, where Brm is functionally absent, is needed to determine whether or not Brm is actually tumorigenic and if Brm might be a tumor suppressor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenneth W. Thompson
- Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Stefanie B. Marquez
- Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Li Lu
- Department of Pathology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - David Reisman
- Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
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Huynen C, Willet N, Buell AK, Duwez AS, Jerôme C, Dumoulin M. Influence of the protein context on the polyglutamine length-dependent elongation of amyloid fibrils. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-PROTEINS AND PROTEOMICS 2014; 1854:239-48. [PMID: 25489872 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbapap.2014.12.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2014] [Revised: 11/20/2014] [Accepted: 12/01/2014] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Polyglutamine (polyQ) diseases, including Huntington's disease, are neurodegenerative disorders associated with the abnormal expansion of a polyQ tract within nine proteins. The polyQ expansion is thought to be a major determinant in the development of neurotoxicity, triggering protein aggregation into amyloid fibrils, although non-polyQ regions play a modulating role. In this work, we investigate the relative importance of the polyQ length, its location within a host protein, and the conformational state of the latter in the amyloid fibril elongation. Model polyQ proteins made of the β-lactamase BlaP containing up to 79Q inserted at two different positions, and quartz crystal microbalance and atomic force microscopy were used for this purpose. We demonstrate that, independently of the polyQ tract location and the conformational state of the host protein, the relative elongation rate of fibrils increases linearly with the polyQ length. The slope of the linear fit is similar for both sets of chimeras (i.e., the elongation rate increases by ~1.9% for each additional glutamine), and is also similar to that previously observed for polyQ peptides. The elongation rate is, however, strongly influenced by the location of the polyQ tract within BlaP and the conformational state of BlaP. Moreover, comparison of our results with those previously reported for aggregation in solution indicates that these two parameters also modulate the ability of BlaP-polyQ chimeras to form the aggregation nucleus. Altogether our results suggest that non-polyQ regions are valuable targets in order to interfere with the process of amyloid fibril formation associated with polyQ diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Céline Huynen
- Laboratory of Enzymology and Protein Folding, Centre for Protein Engineering, University of Liege, Liege, Belgium
| | - Nicolas Willet
- Nanochemistry and Molecular Systems, Department of Chemistry, University of Liege, Liege, Belgium
| | - Alexander K Buell
- Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1EW, UK
| | - Anne-Sophie Duwez
- Nanochemistry and Molecular Systems, Department of Chemistry, University of Liege, Liege, Belgium
| | - Christine Jerôme
- Center for Education and Research on Macromolecules (CERM), Department of Chemistry, University of Liege, Liege, Belgium
| | - Mireille Dumoulin
- Laboratory of Enzymology and Protein Folding, Centre for Protein Engineering, University of Liege, Liege, Belgium.
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12
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Côté S, Wei G, Mousseau N. Atomistic mechanisms of huntingtin N-terminal fragment insertion on a phospholipid bilayer revealed by molecular dynamics simulations. Proteins 2014; 82:1409-27. [PMID: 24415136 DOI: 10.1002/prot.24509] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2013] [Revised: 12/27/2013] [Accepted: 01/06/2014] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
The huntingtin protein is characterized by a segment of consecutive glutamines (Q(N)) that is responsible for its fibrillation. As with other amyloid proteins, misfolding of huntingtin is related to Huntington's disease through pathways that can involve interactions with phospholipid membranes. Experimental results suggest that the N-terminal 17-amino-acid sequence (htt(NT)) positioned just before the Q(N) region is important for the binding of huntingtin to membranes. Through all-atom explicit solvent molecular dynamics simulations, we unveil the structure and dynamics of the htt(NT)Q(N) fragment on a phospholipid membrane at the atomic level. We observe that the insertion dynamics of this peptide can be described by four main steps-approach, reorganization, anchoring, and insertion-that are very diverse at the atomic level. On the membrane, the htt(NT) peptide forms a stable α-helix essentially parallel to the membrane with its nonpolar side-chains-mainly Leu-4, Leu-7, Phe-11 and Leu-14-positioned in the hydrophobic core of the membrane. Salt-bridges involving Glu-5, Glu-12, Lys-6, and Lys-15, as well as hydrogen bonds involving Thr-3 and Ser-13 with the phospholipids also stabilize the structure and orientation of the htt(NT) peptide. These observations do not significantly change upon adding the Q(N) region whose role is rather to provide, through its hydrogen bonds with the phospholipids' head group, a stable scaffold facilitating the partitioning of the htt(NT) region in the membrane. Moreover, by staying accessible to the solvent, the amyloidogenic Q(N) region could also play a key role for the oligomerization of htt(NT)Q(N) on phospholipid membranes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sébastien Côté
- Département de Physique and Groupe de recherche sur les protéines membranaires (GEPROM), Université de Montréal, Montréal (Québec), Canada
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13
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Class A β-lactamases as versatile scaffolds to create hybrid enzymes: applications from basic research to medicine. BIOMED RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2013; 2013:827621. [PMID: 24066299 PMCID: PMC3771265 DOI: 10.1155/2013/827621] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2013] [Accepted: 07/04/2013] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
Designing hybrid proteins is a major aspect of protein engineering and covers a very wide range of applications from basic research to medical applications. This review focuses on the use of class A β-lactamases as versatile scaffolds to design hybrid enzymes (referred to as β-lactamase hybrid proteins, BHPs) in which an exogenous peptide, protein or fragment thereof is inserted at various permissive positions. We discuss how BHPs can be specifically designed to create bifunctional proteins, to produce and to characterize proteins that are otherwise difficult to express, to determine the epitope of specific antibodies, to generate antibodies against nonimmunogenic epitopes, and to better understand the structure/function relationship of proteins.
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14
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Saunders HM, Hughes VA, Cappai R, Bottomley SP. Conformational behavior and aggregation of ataxin-3 in SDS. PLoS One 2013; 8:e69416. [PMID: 23894474 PMCID: PMC3718759 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0069416] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2013] [Accepted: 06/11/2013] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (SCA3) is one of nine polyglutamine (polyQ) diseases all characterized by the presence of intraneuronal inclusions that contain aggregated protein. Aggregation of ataxin-3, the causative protein of SCA3, has been well characterized in vitro, with both pathogenic and non-pathogenic length ataxin-3 undergoing fibrillogenesis. However, only ataxin-3 containing an expanded polyQ tract leads to SCA3. Therefore other cellular factors, not present in previous in vitro studies, may modulate aggregation during disease. The interactions between fibrillar species and cell membranes have been characterized in a number of amyloid diseases, including Huntington’s Disease, and these interactions affect aggregation and toxicity. We have characterized the effects of the membrane mimetic sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) on ataxin-3 structure and aggregation, to show that both micellar and non-micellar SDS have differing effects on the two stages of ataxin-3 aggregation. We also demonstrate that fibrillar ataxin-3 binds phospholipids, in particular phosphorylated phosphotidylinositols. These results highlight the effect of intracellular factors on the ataxin-3 misfolding landscape and their implications in SCA3 and polyQ diseases in general are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helen M. Saunders
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
| | - Victoria A. Hughes
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
| | - Roberto Cappai
- Department of Pathology and Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Stephen P. Bottomley
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
- * E-mail:
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15
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Abstract
The process of misfolding of proteins that can trigger a pathogenic cascade leading to neurodegenerative diseases largely originates intracellularly. It is possible to harness the specificity and affinity of antibodies to counteract either protein misfolding itself, or the aberrant interactions and excess stressors immediately downstream of the primary insult. This review covers the emerging field of engineering intracellular antibody fragments, intrabodies and nanobodies, in neurodegeneration. Huntington's disease has provided the clearest proof of concept for this approach. The model systems and readouts for this disorder power the studies, and the potential to intervene therapeutically at early stages in known carriers with projected ages of onset increases the chances of meaningful clinical trials. Both single-chain Fv and single-domain nanobodies have been identified against specific targets; data have allowed feedback for rational design of bifunctional constructs, as well as target validation. Intrabodies that can modulate the primary accumulating protein in Parkinson's disease, alpha-synuclein, are also reviewed, covering a range of domains and conformers. Recombinant antibody technology has become a major player in the therapeutic pipeline for cancer, infectious diseases, and autoimmunity. There is also tremendous potential for applying this powerful biotechnology to neurological diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne Messer
- New York State Dept of Health, Wadsworth Center, Albany, NY 12208, USA.
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16
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Robertson AL, Bottomley SP. A method for the incremental expansion of polyglutamine repeats in recombinant proteins. Methods Mol Biol 2013; 1017:73-83. [PMID: 23719908 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-62703-438-8_5] [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: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
The polyglutamine diseases are caused by the expansion of CAG repeats. A key step in understanding the disease mechanisms, at the DNA and protein level, is the ability to produce recombinant proteins with specific length glutamine tracts which is a time-consuming first step in setting up in vitro systems to study the effects of polyglutamine expansion. Described here is a PCR-based method for the amplification of CAG repeats, which we used to incrementally extend CAG length by 3-5 repeats per cycle. This method could be translated into various contexts where amplification of repeating elements is necessary.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy L Robertson
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
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17
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Côté S, Wei G, Mousseau N. All-Atom Stability and Oligomerization Simulations of Polyglutamine Nanotubes with and without the 17-Amino-Acid N-Terminal Fragment of the Huntingtin Protein. J Phys Chem B 2012; 116:12168-79. [DOI: 10.1021/jp306661c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Sébastien Côté
- Département de Physique
and Groupe de recherche sur les protéines membranaires (GEPROM), Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, succursale
Centre-ville, Montréal (Québec), Canada
| | - Guanghong Wei
- State Key Laboratory of Surface
Physics and Department of Physics, Fudan University, 220 Handan Road, Shanghai, 200433, China
| | - Normand Mousseau
- Département de Physique
and Groupe de recherche sur les protéines membranaires (GEPROM), Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, succursale
Centre-ville, Montréal (Québec), Canada
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18
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Scarafone N, Pain C, Fratamico A, Gaspard G, Yilmaz N, Filée P, Galleni M, Matagne A, Dumoulin M. Amyloid-like fibril formation by polyQ proteins: a critical balance between the polyQ length and the constraints imposed by the host protein. PLoS One 2012; 7:e31253. [PMID: 22438863 PMCID: PMC3305072 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0031253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2011] [Accepted: 01/05/2012] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Nine neurodegenerative disorders, called polyglutamine (polyQ) diseases, are characterized by the formation of intranuclear amyloid-like aggregates by nine proteins containing a polyQ tract above a threshold length. These insoluble aggregates and/or some of their soluble precursors are thought to play a role in the pathogenesis. The mechanism by which polyQ expansions trigger the aggregation of the relevant proteins remains, however, unclear. In this work, polyQ tracts of different lengths were inserted into a solvent-exposed loop of the β-lactamase BlaP and the effects of these insertions on the properties of BlaP were investigated by a range of biophysical techniques. The insertion of up to 79 glutamines does not modify the structure of BlaP; it does, however, significantly destabilize the enzyme. The extent of destabilization is largely independent of the polyQ length, allowing us to study independently the effects intrinsic to the polyQ length and those related to the structural integrity of BlaP on the aggregating properties of the chimeras. Only chimeras with 55Q and 79Q readily form amyloid-like fibrils; therefore, similarly to the proteins associated with diseases, there is a threshold number of glutamines above which the chimeras aggregate into amyloid-like fibrils. Most importantly, the chimera containing 79Q forms amyloid-like fibrils at the same rate whether BlaP is folded or not, whereas the 55Q chimera aggregates into amyloid-like fibrils only if BlaP is unfolded. The threshold value for amyloid-like fibril formation depends, therefore, on the structural integrity of the β-lactamase moiety and thus on the steric and/or conformational constraints applied to the polyQ tract. These constraints have, however, no significant effect on the propensity of the 79Q tract to trigger fibril formation. These results suggest that the influence of the protein context on the aggregating properties of polyQ disease-associated proteins could be negligible when the latter contain particularly long polyQ tracts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natacha Scarafone
- Laboratory of Enzymology and Protein Folding, Centre for Protein Engineering, Institute of Chemistry, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Coralie Pain
- Laboratory of Enzymology and Protein Folding, Centre for Protein Engineering, Institute of Chemistry, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Anthony Fratamico
- Laboratory of Enzymology and Protein Folding, Centre for Protein Engineering, Institute of Chemistry, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Gilles Gaspard
- Biological Macromolecules, Centre for Protein Engineering, Institute of Chemistry, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Nursel Yilmaz
- Biological Macromolecules, Centre for Protein Engineering, Institute of Chemistry, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Patrice Filée
- Biological Macromolecules, Centre for Protein Engineering, Institute of Chemistry, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Moreno Galleni
- Biological Macromolecules, Centre for Protein Engineering, Institute of Chemistry, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - André Matagne
- Laboratory of Enzymology and Protein Folding, Centre for Protein Engineering, Institute of Chemistry, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Mireille Dumoulin
- Laboratory of Enzymology and Protein Folding, Centre for Protein Engineering, Institute of Chemistry, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
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