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Hsueh SCC, Nijland M, Aina A, Plotkin SS. Cyclization Scaffolding for Improved Vaccine Immunogen Stability: Application to Tau Protein in Alzheimer's Disease. J Chem Inf Model 2024; 64:2035-2044. [PMID: 38427576 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.3c01556] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/03/2024]
Abstract
Effective scaffolding of immunogens is crucial for generating conformationally selective antibodies through active immunization, particularly in the treatment of protein misfolding diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Previous computational work has revealed that a disorder-prone region of the tau protein, when in a stacked form, is predicted to structurally resemble a small, soluble protofibril, having conformational properties similar to those of experimental in vitro tau oligomers. Such an oligomeric structural mimic has the potential to serve as a vaccine immunogen design for Alzheimer's disease. In this study, we developed a cyclization scaffolding method in Rosetta, in which multiple cyclic peptides are stacked into a protofibril. Cyclization results in significant stabilization of protofibril-like structures by constraining the conformational space. Applying this method to the disorder-prone region of the tau fibril, we evaluated the metastability of the cyclized tau immunogen using molecular dynamics simulations, and we identified sequences of two cyclic constructs having high metastability in the protofibril. We then assessed their thermodynamic stability by computing the free energy required to separate a distal chain from the rest of the stacked structure. Our computational results, based on molecular dynamics simulations and free energy calculations, demonstrate that two cyclized constructs, cyclo-(VKSEKLDFKDRVQSKIFyN) and cyclo-(VKSEKLDFKDRVQSKIYvG) (lowercase letters indicate d-form amino acids), possess significantly increased thermodynamic stability in the protofibril over an uncyclized linear construct VKSEKLDFKDRVQSKI. The cyclization scaffolding approach proposed here holds promise as a means to effectively design immunogens for protein misfolding diseases, particularly those involving liposome-conjugated peptide constructs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shawn C C Hsueh
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada
| | - Mark Nijland
- Laboratory of Physical Chemistry, Wageningen University, Wageningen 6708 WG, The Netherlands
| | - Adekunle Aina
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada
| | - Steven S Plotkin
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada
- Genome Science and Technology Program, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada
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Teunissen CE, Kimble L, Bayoumy S, Bolsewig K, Burtscher F, Coppens S, Das S, Gogishvili D, Fernandes Gomes B, Gómez de San José N, Mavrina E, Meda FJ, Mohaupt P, Mravinacová S, Waury K, Wojdała AL, Abeln S, Chiasserini D, Hirtz C, Gaetani L, Vermunt L, Bellomo G, Halbgebauer S, Lehmann S, Månberg A, Nilsson P, Otto M, Vanmechelen E, Verberk IMW, Willemse E, Zetterberg H. Methods to Discover and Validate Biofluid-Based Biomarkers in Neurodegenerative Dementias. Mol Cell Proteomics 2023; 22:100629. [PMID: 37557955 PMCID: PMC10594029 DOI: 10.1016/j.mcpro.2023.100629] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2023] [Revised: 07/24/2023] [Accepted: 07/31/2023] [Indexed: 08/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Neurodegenerative dementias are progressive diseases that cause neuronal network breakdown in different brain regions often because of accumulation of misfolded proteins in the brain extracellular matrix, such as amyloids or inside neurons or other cell types of the brain. Several diagnostic protein biomarkers in body fluids are being used and implemented, such as for Alzheimer's disease. However, there is still a lack of biomarkers for co-pathologies and other causes of dementia. Such biofluid-based biomarkers enable precision medicine approaches for diagnosis and treatment, allow to learn more about underlying disease processes, and facilitate the development of patient inclusion and evaluation tools in clinical trials. When designing studies to discover novel biofluid-based biomarkers, choice of technology is an important starting point. But there are so many technologies to choose among. To address this, we here review the technologies that are currently available in research settings and, in some cases, in clinical laboratory practice. This presents a form of lexicon on each technology addressing its use in research and clinics, its strengths and limitations, and a future perspective.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charlotte E Teunissen
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Neurochemistry Lab, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
| | - Leighann Kimble
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; KIN Center for Digital Innovation, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Sherif Bayoumy
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Neurochemistry Lab, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Katharina Bolsewig
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Neurochemistry Lab, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Felicia Burtscher
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine, University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
| | - Salomé Coppens
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; National Measurement Laboratory at LGC, Teddington, United Kingdom
| | - Shreyasee Das
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; ADx NeuroSciences, Gent, Belgium
| | - Dea Gogishvili
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Computer Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Bárbara Fernandes Gomes
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Mölndal, Sweden
| | - Nerea Gómez de San José
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Neurology, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Ekaterina Mavrina
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; KIN Center for Digital Innovation, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Francisco J Meda
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Mölndal, Sweden
| | - Pablo Mohaupt
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; LBPC-PPC, IRMB CHU Montpellier, INM INSERM, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Sára Mravinacová
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Division of Affinity Proteomics, Department of Protein Science, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SciLifeLab, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Katharina Waury
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Computer Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Anna Lidia Wojdała
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Section of Neurology, Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy
| | - Sanne Abeln
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Computer Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Davide Chiasserini
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Section of Physiology and Biochemistry, Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy
| | - Christophe Hirtz
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; LBPC-PPC, IRMB CHU Montpellier, INM INSERM, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Lorenzo Gaetani
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Section of Neurology, Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy
| | - Lisa Vermunt
- Neurochemistry Lab, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Giovanni Bellomo
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Section of Neurology, Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy
| | - Steffen Halbgebauer
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Neurology, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany; German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE e.V.), Ulm, Germany
| | - Sylvain Lehmann
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; LBPC-PPC, IRMB CHU Montpellier, INM INSERM, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Anna Månberg
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Division of Affinity Proteomics, Department of Protein Science, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SciLifeLab, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Peter Nilsson
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Division of Affinity Proteomics, Department of Protein Science, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SciLifeLab, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Markus Otto
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Neurology, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany; Department of Neurology, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany
| | - Eugeen Vanmechelen
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; ADx NeuroSciences, Gent, Belgium
| | - Inge M W Verberk
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Neurochemistry Lab, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Eline Willemse
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Neurochemistry Lab, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Henrik Zetterberg
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Mölndal, Sweden; Clinical Neurochemistry Laboratory, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Mölndal, Sweden; Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK; UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL, London, UK; Hong Kong Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong, China; Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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Aina A, Hsueh SCC, Gibbs E, Peng X, Cashman NR, Plotkin SS. De Novo Design of a β-Helix Tau Protein Scaffold: An Oligomer-Selective Vaccine Immunogen Candidate for Alzheimer's Disease. ACS Chem Neurosci 2023; 14:2603-2617. [PMID: 37458595 DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.3c00007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Tau pathology is associated with many neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease (AD), where the spatio-temporal pattern of tau neurofibrillary tangles strongly correlates with disease progression, which motivates therapeutics selective for misfolded tau. Here, we introduce a new avidity-enhanced, multi-epitope approach for protein-misfolding immunogen design, which is predicted to mimic the conformational state of an exposed epitope in toxic tau oligomers. A predicted oligomer-selective tau epitope 343KLDFK347 was scaffolded by designing a β-helix structure that incorporated multiple instances of the 16-residue tau fragment 339VKSEKLDFKDRVQSKI354. Large-scale conformational ensemble analyses involving Jensen-Shannon Divergence and the embedding depth D showed that the multi-epitope scaffolding approach, employed in designing the β-helix scaffold, was predicted to better discriminate toxic tau oligomers than other "monovalent" strategies utilizing a single instance of an epitope for vaccine immunogen design. Using Rosetta, 10,000 sequences were designed and screened for the linker portions of the β-helix scaffold, along with a C-terminal stabilizing α-helix that interacts with the linkers, to optimize the folded structure and stability of the scaffold. Structures were ranked by energy, and the lowest 1% (82 unique sequences) were verified using AlphaFold. Several selection criteria involving AlphaFold are implemented to obtain a lead-designed sequence. The structure was further predicted to have free energetic stability by using Hamiltonian replica exchange molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The synthesized β-helix scaffold showed direct binding in surface plasmon resonance (SPR) experiments to several antibodies that were raised to the structured epitope using a designed cyclic peptide. Moreover, the strength of binding of these antibodies to in vitro tau oligomers correlated with the strength of binding to the β-helix construct, suggesting that the construct presents an oligomer-like conformation and may thus constitute an effective oligomer-selective immunogen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adekunle Aina
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada
| | - Shawn C C Hsueh
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada
| | - Ebrima Gibbs
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada
| | - Xubiao Peng
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada
| | - Neil R Cashman
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada
| | - Steven S Plotkin
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada
- Genome Science and Technology Program, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada
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