Determine both the conformation and orientation of a specific residue in α-synuclein(61–95) even in monolayer by 13C isotopic label and p-polarized multiple-angle incidence resolution spectrometry (pMAIRS)

Protein’s magic function stems from its structure and various analytical techniques have been developed for it. Among proteins, membrane proteins are encoded 20–30% of genomes, whereas cause challenges for many analytical techniques. For example, lots of membrane proteins cannot form single crystal structure required by X-ray crystallography. As for NMR, the measurements were hindered by the low tumbling rates of membrane (i.e., phospholipid bilayers) where membrane proteins exist. In addition, membrane proteins usually lay parallel to the surface of phospholipid bilayers or form transmembrane structure. No matter parallel or perpendicular to phospholipid bilayers surface, membrane proteins form monolayer structure which is also difficult for X-ray and NMR to provide high-resolution results. Because NMR and X-ray crystallography are the two major analytical techniques to address protein’s structure, membrane proteins only contribute 2.4% to the solved protein databank. Surface FT-IR techniques can evaluate the conformation and orientation of membrane proteins by amide I band. Specifically for α-helical peptides/proteins, the orientation of the axis is critical to decide whether proteins form transmembrane structure. Notice that the traditional FT-IR can only provide “low-resolution” results. Here, ¹³C isotope was introduced into the nonamyloid component (NAC), which spans residues 61–95 of α-synuclein (α-syn). Then, p-polarized multiple-angle incidence resolution spectrometry (pMAIRS) was used to determine the orientation of a specific residue of α-helical NAC in monolayer. In general, pMAIRS is a novel technique to work complementary with X-ray and NMR to address membrane peptides/proteins structure with high resolution even in monolayer.

Fluorine Functionalized Graphene Quantum Dots as Inhibitor against hIAPP Amyloid Aggregation

Fibrillar deposits of the human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP) are considered as a root of Type II diabetes mellitus. Fluorinated graphene quantum dots (FGQDs) are new carbon nanomaterials with unique physicochemical properties containing highly electronegative F atoms. Herein we report a single step synthesis method of FGQDs with an inhibitory effect on aggregation and cytotoxicity of hIAPP in vitro. Highly fluorescent and water dispersible FGQDs, less than 3 nm in size, were synthesized by the microwave-assisted hydrothermal method. Efficient inhibition capability of FGQDs to amyloid aggregation was demonstrated. The morphologies of hIAPP aggregates were observed to change from the entangled long fibrils to short thin fibrils and amorphous aggregates in the presence of FGQDs. In thioflavin T fluorescence analysis, inhibited aggregation with prolonged lag time and reduced fluorescence intensity at equilibrium were observed when hIAPP was incubated together with FGQDs. Circular dichroism spectrum results reveal that FGQDs could inhibit conformational transition of the peptide from native structure to β-sheets. FGQDs could also rescue the cytotoxicity of INS-1 cells induced by hIAPP in a dose dependent manner. This study could be beneficial for design and preparation of inhibitors for amyloids, which is important for prevention and treatment of amyloidosis.

The (13)C amide I band is still sensitive to conformation change when the regular amide I band cannot be distinguished at the typical position in H2O

The attenuated total reflection technique was utilized to obtain FTIR spectra of (13)C-labeled peptides with a sequence of (AAAAK)4AAAAY in H2O. The regular amide I band was not at the typical position as reported in globular proteins, whereas the (13)C amide I band was still sensitive to conformation change.

Method To Determine Protein Concentration in the Protein-Nanoparticle Conjugates Aqueous Solution Using Circular Dichroism Spectroscopy

Considerable efforts have been made to synthesize and characterize protein-nanoparticle conjugates (protein-NPs) for their promising applications in bionanotechnology. However, protein concentration determination in the protein-NPs has so far not been reported. In this Letter, we present a simple and nondestructive approach to quantify the protein concentration in the protein-NPs aqueous solution using circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy. Carbon dots (∼4 nm), gold nanoparticles (∼10 nm), and polyethylene glycol (PEG, molecular weight ∼3000) were either physically mixed or covalently conjugated (not in the case of gold nanoparticles) with proteins (human transferrin, human serum albumin, and ovalbumin). We were able to quantify the protein concentration in the protein-nanoparticle conjugates using a calibration curve from the CD spectra.