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Jayawardena BM, Azzi A, Jones CE. Investigating the role of phenylalanine residues for amyloid formation of the neuropeptide neurokinin B. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2024; 705:149732. [PMID: 38447390 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2024.149732] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2024] [Accepted: 02/26/2024] [Indexed: 03/08/2024]
Abstract
Neurokinin B (NKB) is a tachykinin peptide that has diverse roles in biology, including in human reproductive development. Cellular processing of this peptide is thought to involve formation of a dense core vesicle during transit through the regulated secretory pathway. The ability of NKB to rapidly form an amyloid can contribute to formation of the secretory granule but features that support amyloid formation of NKB are not well understood. NKB contains a diphenylalanine sequence well recognised as an important motif for self-assembly of other peptides including amyloid β. Using mutations of the diphenylalanine motif we show that this motif in NKB is necessary for amyloid formation, and it is the unique combination of aromaticity and hydrophobicity of phenylalanine that is crucial for aggregation. Using disulfide cross-linking we propose that phenylalanine at sequence position 6 is important for stabilising inter-sheet interactions in the NKB amyloid fibril. Although having a highly conserved sequence, the NKB peptide from zebrafish only contains a single phenylalanine and does not fibrillise as extensively as mammalian NKB. Analysis of self-assembly of NKB-like peptides from different species may help in elucidating their biological roles. Taken together, this work shows that mammalian NKB has evolved, within only 10 residues, a sequence optimised for rapid self-assembly, whilst also containing residues for metal-binding, receptor binding and receptor discrimination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bhawantha M Jayawardena
- School of Science, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, 2751, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Annabelle Azzi
- School of Science, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, 2751, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Christopher E Jones
- School of Science, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, 2751, New South Wales, Australia.
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Xia N, Liu G, Chen Y, Wu T, Liu L, Yang S, Li Y. Magnetically-assisted electrochemical immunoplatform for simultaneous detection of active and total prostate-specific antigen based on proteolytic reaction and sandwich affinity analysis. Talanta 2024; 270:125534. [PMID: 38091743 DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2023.125534] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2023] [Revised: 11/28/2023] [Accepted: 12/05/2023] [Indexed: 01/27/2024]
Abstract
Simultaneous detection of active and inactive proteases is clinically meaningful for improving diagnostic specificity. In this work, we reported an electrochemical method for simultaneous immunoassays of active and total proteases. Magnetic beads (MBs) were used as the solid supports for immobilization of capture antibodies and enrichment of targets. For the detection of active protease, the proteolytic-reaction-based analysis was carried out by the generation of Cu2+-binding peptide, in which a label-free peptide was used as the proteolytic substrate. The redox potential of the resulting peptide-Cu2+ complex was intrinsically distinguished from that of free Cu2+, thus allowing the "signal-on" detection of active protease. For the immunoassay of total protease in a sandwich-like format, electroactive metal-organic frameworks (Cu-MOFs) were used as the signal tags. The captured Cu-MOFs could directly produce a well-defined electrochemical signal from the reduction of Cu2+ ions. The analytical performances of the immunoplatform were evaluated by determining the model analytes of free and total prostate-specific antigen (fPSA and tPSA) in buffer and serum. The detection limits were found to be 0.3 pM for fPSA and 2 pM for tPSA. This work proposed a new strategy for simultaneous detection of active and total proteases, which should be evaluable for clinical diagnosis and treatment of protease-relative diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ning Xia
- Henan Province of Key Laboratory of New Optoelectronic Functional Materials, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Anyang Normal University, Anyang, Henan, 455000, People's Republic of China.
| | - Gang Liu
- Henan Province of Key Laboratory of New Optoelectronic Functional Materials, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Anyang Normal University, Anyang, Henan, 455000, People's Republic of China; College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou, Henan, 450001, People's Republic of China
| | - Yonghong Chen
- Henan Province of Key Laboratory of New Optoelectronic Functional Materials, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Anyang Normal University, Anyang, Henan, 455000, People's Republic of China
| | - Tong Wu
- College of Chemistry and Environmental Engineering, Anyang Institute of Technology, Anyang, Henan, 455000, People's Republic of China
| | - Lin Liu
- Henan Province of Key Laboratory of New Optoelectronic Functional Materials, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Anyang Normal University, Anyang, Henan, 455000, People's Republic of China
| | - Suling Yang
- Henan Province of Key Laboratory of New Optoelectronic Functional Materials, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Anyang Normal University, Anyang, Henan, 455000, People's Republic of China
| | - Yuanyuan Li
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Henan University of Technology, Zhengzhou, Henan, 450001, People's Republic of China.
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Jayawardena BM, Peacey L, Gamsjaeger R, Jones CE. Essential Role of Histidine for Rapid Copper(II)-Mediated Disassembly of Neurokinin B Amyloid. Biomolecules 2022; 12:biom12111585. [PMID: 36358935 PMCID: PMC9687585 DOI: 10.3390/biom12111585] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2022] [Revised: 10/21/2022] [Accepted: 10/25/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Neurokinin B is a tachykinin peptide involved in a diverse range of neuronal functions. It rapidly forms an amyloid, which is considered physiologically important for efficient packing into dense core secretory vesicles within hypothalamic neurons. Disassembly of the amyloid is thought to require the presence of copper ions, which interact with histidine at the third position in the peptide sequence. However, it is unclear how the histidine is involved in the amyloid structure and why copper coordination can trigger disassembly. In this work, we demonstrate that histidine contributes to the amyloid structure via π-stacking interactions with nearby phenylalanine residues. The ability of neurokinin B to form an amyloid is dependent on any aromatic residue at the third position in the sequence; however, only the presence of histidine leads to both amyloid formation and rapid copper-induced disassembly.
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Stokowa-Soltys K, Szczerba K, Pacewicz M, Wieczorek R, Wezynfeld NE, Bal W. Interactions of neurokinin B with copper(II) ions and their potential biological consequences. Dalton Trans 2022; 51:14267-14276. [DOI: 10.1039/d2dt02033e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Preeclampsia is a blood pressure disorder associated with significant proteinuria. Hypertensive women have increased levels of neurokinin B (NKB) and Cu(II) ions in blood plasma during pregnancy. NKB bears the...
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