1
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Liang L, Zhang Y, Zhu Y, Bai J, Ni Y, Wan J, Yue H, Zhao Q, Li H. Structures and Dynamics of β-Rich Oligomers of ATTR (105-115) Assembly. ACS Chem Neurosci 2024; 15:1356-1365. [PMID: 38483181 DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.3c00574] [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] [Indexed: 04/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Transthyretin (TTR) is a tetrameric homologous protein that can dissociate into monomers. Misfolding and aggregation of TTR can lead to amyloid transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR), which can cause many diseases (e.g., senile systemic amyloidosis, familial amyloid cardiomyopathy, and familial amyloid polyneuropathy). Despite growing evidence indicating that small oligomers play a critical role in regulating cytotoxicity, the structures of these oligomeric intermediates and their conformational transformations are still unclear, impeding our understanding of neurodegenerative mechanisms and the development of therapeutics targeting early aggregation species. The TTR monomer protein consists of various fragments prone to self-aggregation, including the residue 105-115 sequence. Therefore, our study investigated the assembly progress of ATTR (105-115) peptides using all-atom molecular dynamics simulations. The findings indicate that the probability of β-sheet content increases with increasing numbers of peptides. Additionally, interactions between hydrophobic residues L110 and L111 are crucial for the formation of a β-rich oligomer formation. These β-rich oligomers may adopt β-barrel conformations, potentially toxic oligomer species. Free-energy analysis reveals that β-barrel conformations serve as intermediates for these β-rich oligomers. Our insights into the structural ensemble dynamics of ATTR (105-115) contribute to understanding the physical mechanisms underlying the β-barrel oligomers of ATTR. These findings may shed light on the pathological role of ATTR in neurodegenerative diseases and offer potential therapeutic targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liqun Liang
- College of Mathematics and Physics, Shanghai University of Electric Power, Shanghai 200090, China
| | - Yuqi Zhang
- College of Mathematics and Physics, Shanghai University of Electric Power, Shanghai 200090, China
| | - Yanyan Zhu
- College of Mathematics and Physics, Shanghai University of Electric Power, Shanghai 200090, China
| | - Juxia Bai
- College of Mathematics and Physics, Shanghai University of Electric Power, Shanghai 200090, China
| | - Yangyang Ni
- College of Mathematics and Physics, Shanghai University of Electric Power, Shanghai 200090, China
| | - Junfeng Wan
- College of Mathematics and Physics, Shanghai University of Electric Power, Shanghai 200090, China
| | - Haiyan Yue
- Naval Medical Center of PLA, Department of Gastroenterology, Naval Medical University, Shanghai 200433, China
| | - Qingjie Zhao
- Shanghai Frontiers Science Center for TCM Chemical Biology, Innovation Research Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 1200 Cailun Road, Shanghai 201203, China
| | - Huiyu Li
- College of Mathematics and Physics, Shanghai University of Electric Power, Shanghai 200090, China
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2
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Nguyen PH, Sterpone F, Derreumaux P. Self-Assembly of Amyloid-Beta (Aβ) Peptides from Solution to Near In Vivo Conditions. J Phys Chem B 2022; 126:10317-10326. [PMID: 36469912 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.2c06375] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Understanding the atomistic resolution changes during the self-assembly of amyloid peptides or proteins is important to develop compounds or conditions to alter the aggregation pathways and suppress the toxicity and potentially aid in the development of drugs. However, the complexity of protein aggregation and the transient order/disorder of oligomers along the pathways to fibril are very challenging. In this Perspective, we discuss computational studies of amyloid polypeptides carried out under various conditions, including conditions closely mimicking in vivo and point out the challenges in obtaining physiologically relevant results, focusing mainly on the amyloid-beta Aβ peptides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Phuong H Nguyen
- CNRS, Université Paris Cité, UPR 9080, Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique, Fondation Edmond de Rothschild, 13 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Fabio Sterpone
- CNRS, Université Paris Cité, UPR 9080, Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique, Fondation Edmond de Rothschild, 13 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Philippe Derreumaux
- CNRS, Université Paris Cité, UPR 9080, Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique, Fondation Edmond de Rothschild, 13 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France.,Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), 75005, Paris, France
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3
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Co NT, Li MS, Krupa P. Computational Models for the Study of Protein Aggregation. Methods Mol Biol 2022; 2340:51-78. [PMID: 35167070 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1546-1_4] [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] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Protein aggregation has been studied by many groups around the world for many years because it can be the cause of a number of neurodegenerative diseases that have no effective treatment. Obtaining the structure of related fibrils and toxic oligomers, as well as describing the pathways and main factors that govern the self-organization process, is of paramount importance, but it is also very difficult. To solve this problem, experimental and computational methods are often combined to get the most out of each method. The effectiveness of the computational approach largely depends on the construction of a reasonable molecular model. Here we discussed different versions of the four most popular all-atom force fields AMBER, CHARMM, GROMOS, and OPLS, which have been developed for folded and intrinsically disordered proteins, or both. Continuous and discrete coarse-grained models, which were mainly used to study the kinetics of aggregation, are also summarized.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nguyen Truong Co
- Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Mai Suan Li
- Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
- Institute for Computational Science and Technology, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
| | - Pawel Krupa
- Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.
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4
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Nguyen PH, Tufféry P, Derreumaux P. Dynamics of Amyloid Formation from Simplified Representation to Atomistic Simulations. Methods Mol Biol 2022; 2405:95-113. [PMID: 35298810 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1855-4_5] [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] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Amyloid fibril formation is an intrinsic property of short peptides, non-disease proteins, and proteins associated with neurodegenerative diseases. Aggregates of the Aβ and tau proteins, the α-synuclein protein, and the prion protein are observed in the brain of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and prion disease patients, respectively. Due to the transient short-range and long-range interactions of all species and their high aggregation propensities, the conformational ensemble of these devastating proteins, the exception being for the monomeric prion protein, remains elusive by standard structural biology methods in bulk solution and in lipid membranes. To overcome these limitations, an increasing number of simulations using different sampling methods and protein models have been performed. In this chapter, we first review our main contributions to the field of amyloid protein simulations aimed at understanding the early aggregation steps of short linear amyloid peptides, the conformational ensemble of the Aβ40/42 dimers in bulk solution, and the stability of Aβ aggregates in lipid membrane models. Then we focus on our studies on the interactions of amyloid peptides/inhibitors to prevent aggregation, and long amyloid sequences, including new results on a monomeric tau construct.
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Affiliation(s)
- Phuong Hoang Nguyen
- Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, CNRS, Université de Paris, UPR 9080, Paris, France
- Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique, Fondation Edmond de Rothschild, PSL Research University, Paris, France
| | - Pierre Tufféry
- Université de Paris, BFA, UMR 8251, CNRS, ERL U1133, Inserm, RPBS, Paris, France
| | - Philippe Derreumaux
- Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, CNRS, Université de Paris, UPR 9080, Paris, France.
- Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique, Fondation Edmond de Rothschild, PSL Research University, Paris, France.
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5
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Sun Y, Kakinen A, Wan X, Moriarty N, Hunt CP, Li Y, Andrikopoulos N, Nandakumar A, Davis TP, Parish CL, Song Y, Ke PC, Ding F. Spontaneous Formation of β-sheet Nano-barrels during the Early Aggregation of Alzheimer's Amyloid Beta. NANO TODAY 2021; 38:101125. [PMID: 33936250 PMCID: PMC8081394 DOI: 10.1016/j.nantod.2021.101125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
Soluble low-molecular-weight oligomers formed during the early aggregation of amyloid peptides have been hypothesized as a major toxic species of amyloidogenesis. Herein, we performed the first synergic in silico, in vitro and in vivo validations of the structure, dynamics and toxicity of Aβ42 oligomers. Aβ peptides readily assembled into β-rich oligomers comprised of extended β-hairpins and β-strands. Nanosized β-barrels were observed with certainty with simulations, transmission electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, corroborated by immunohistochemistry, cell viability, apoptosis, inflammation, autophagy and animal behavior assays. Secondary and tertiary structural proprieties of these oligomers, such as the sequence regions with high β-sheet propensities and inter-residue contact frequency patterns, were similar to the properties known for Aβ fibrils. The unambiguous spontaneous formation of β-barrels in the early aggregation of Aβ42 supports their roles as the common toxic intermediates in Alzheimer's pathobiology and a target for Alzheimer's therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yunxiang Sun
- School of Physical Science and Technology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, United States
- Address correspondence to: Yunxiang Sun: ; Yang Song: ; Pu Chun Ke: ; Feng Ding:
| | - Aleksandr Kakinen
- Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane Qld 4072, Australia
| | - Xulin Wan
- Key Laboratory of Luminescence Analysis and Molecular Sensing, Ministry of Education, College of Food Science, Southwest University, 2 Tiansheng Rd, Beibei District, Chongqing, 400715, China
| | - Niamh Moriarty
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, 30 Royal Parade, Parkville VIC 3052, Australia
| | - Cameron P.J. Hunt
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, 30 Royal Parade, Parkville VIC 3052, Australia
| | - Yuhuan Li
- Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, 111 Yixueyuan Rd, Xuhui District, Shanghai, 200032, China
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, 381 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
| | - Nicholas Andrikopoulos
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, 381 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
| | - Aparna Nandakumar
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, 381 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
| | - Thomas P. Davis
- Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane Qld 4072, Australia
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, 381 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
| | - Clare L. Parish
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, 30 Royal Parade, Parkville VIC 3052, Australia
| | - Yang Song
- Key Laboratory of Luminescence Analysis and Molecular Sensing, Ministry of Education, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southwest University, 2 Tiansheng Rd, Beibei District, Chongqing, 400715, China
- State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, China
- Address correspondence to: Yunxiang Sun: ; Yang Song: ; Pu Chun Ke: ; Feng Ding:
| | - Pu Chun Ke
- Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane Qld 4072, Australia
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, 381 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
- Address correspondence to: Yunxiang Sun: ; Yang Song: ; Pu Chun Ke: ; Feng Ding:
| | - Feng Ding
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, United States
- Address correspondence to: Yunxiang Sun: ; Yang Song: ; Pu Chun Ke: ; Feng Ding:
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6
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Gomes GN, Levine ZA. Defining the Neuropathological Aggresome across in Silico, in Vitro, and ex Vivo Experiments. J Phys Chem B 2021; 125:1974-1996. [PMID: 33464098 PMCID: PMC8362740 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.0c09193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
The loss of proteostasis over the life course is associated with a wide range of debilitating degenerative diseases and is a central hallmark of human aging. When left unchecked, proteins that are intrinsically disordered can pathologically aggregate into highly ordered fibrils, plaques, and tangles (termed amyloids), which are associated with countless disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, type II diabetes, cancer, and even certain viral infections. However, despite significant advances in protein folding and solution biophysics techniques, determining the molecular cause of these conditions in humans has remained elusive. This has been due, in part, to recent discoveries showing that soluble protein oligomers, not insoluble fibrils or plaques, drive the majority of pathological processes. This has subsequently led researchers to focus instead on heterogeneous and often promiscuous protein oligomers. Unfortunately, significant gaps remain in how to prepare, model, experimentally corroborate, and extract amyloid oligomers relevant to human disease in a systematic manner. This Review will report on each of these techniques and their successes and shortcomings in an attempt to standardize comparisons between protein oligomers across disciplines, especially in the context of neurodegeneration. By standardizing multiple techniques and identifying their common overlap, a clearer picture of the soluble neuropathological aggresome can be constructed and used as a baseline for studying human disease and aging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregory-Neal Gomes
- Department of Pathology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
- Department of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
| | - Zachary A. Levine
- Department of Pathology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
- Department of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
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7
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Sun Y, Huang J, Duan X, Ding F. Direct Observation of β-Barrel Intermediates in the Self-Assembly of Toxic SOD1 28-38 and Absence in Nontoxic Glycine Mutants. J Chem Inf Model 2021; 61:966-975. [PMID: 33445870 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jcim.0c01319] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Soluble low-molecular-weight oligomers formed during the early stage of amyloid aggregation are considered the major toxic species in amyloidosis. The structure-function relationship between oligomeric assemblies and the cytotoxicity in amyloid diseases are still elusive due to the heterogeneous and transient nature of these aggregation intermediates. To uncover the structural characteristics of toxic oligomeric intermediates, we compared the self-assembly dynamics and structures of SOD128-38, a cytotoxic fragment of the superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) associated with the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, with its two nontoxic mutants G33V and G33W using molecular dynamics simulations. Single-point glycine substitutions in SOD128-38 have been reported to abolish the amyloid toxicity. Our simulation results showed that the toxic SOD128-38 and its nontoxic mutants followed different aggregation pathways featuring distinct aggregation intermediates. Specifically, wild-type SOD128-38 initially self-assembled into random-coil-rich oligomers, among which fibrillar aggregates composed of well-defined curved single-layer β-sheets were nucleated via coil-to-sheet conversions and the formation of β-barrels as intermediates. In contrast, the nontoxic G33V/G33W mutants readily assembled into small β-sheet-rich oligomers and then coagulated with each other into cross-β fibrils formed by two-layer β-sheets without forming β-barrels as the intermediates. The direct observation of β-barrel oligomers during the assembly of toxic SOD128-38 fragments but not the nontoxic glycine-substitution mutants strongly supports β-barrels as the toxic oligomers in amyloidosis, probably via interactions with the cell membrane and forming amyloid pores. With well-defined structures, the β-barrel might serve as a novel therapeutic target against amyloid-related diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yunxiang Sun
- School of Physical Science and Technology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China.,Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29634, United States
| | - Junchao Huang
- School of Physical Science and Technology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China.,Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29634, United States
| | - Xiangmei Duan
- School of Physical Science and Technology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China
| | - Feng Ding
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29634, United States
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8
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Loureiro RJS, Faísca PFN. The Early Phase of β2-Microglobulin Aggregation: Perspectives From Molecular Simulations. Front Mol Biosci 2020; 7:578433. [PMID: 33134317 PMCID: PMC7550760 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2020.578433] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2020] [Accepted: 09/08/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Protein β2-microglobulin is the causing agent of two amyloidosis, dialysis related amyloidosis (DRA), affecting the bones and cartilages of individuals with chronic renal failure undergoing long-term hemodialysis, and a systemic amyloidosis, found in one French family, which impairs visceral organs. The protein’s small size and its biomedical significance attracted the attention of theoretical scientists, and there are now several studies addressing its aggregation mechanism in the context of molecular simulations. Here, we review the early phase of β2-microglobulin aggregation, by focusing on the identification and structural characterization of monomers with the ability to trigger aggregation, and initial small oligomers (dimers, tetramers, hexamers etc.) formed in the so-called nucleation phase. We focus our analysis on results from molecular simulations and integrate our views with those coming from in vitro experiments to provide a broader perspective of this interesting field of research. We also outline directions for future computer simulation studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rui J S Loureiro
- Faculty of Sciences, BioISI - Biosystems & Integrative Sciences Institute, University of Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Patrícia F N Faísca
- Faculty of Sciences, BioISI - Biosystems & Integrative Sciences Institute, University of Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.,Department of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal
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9
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Ngo ST, Nguyen PH, Derreumaux P. Stability of Aβ11-40 Trimers with Parallel and Antiparallel β-Sheet Organizations in a Membrane-Mimicking Environment by Replica Exchange Molecular Dynamics Simulation. J Phys Chem B 2020; 124:617-626. [PMID: 31931566 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.9b10982] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The aggregation of the amyloid (Aβ) peptide of 39-43 amino acids into plaques is observed in the brain of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, but the mechanisms underlying the neurotoxicity of Aβ oligomers are still elusive. One suggested initial mechanism is related to the implications of amyloid membrane interactions, but characterization of these assemblies is challenging by experimental means. In this study, we have explored the stability of a trimer of Aβ11-40 in parallel and antiparallel β-sheet structures for the wild-type sequence and its F20W mutant in a dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine membrane using atomistic replica exchange molecular dynamic simulations. We show that both the U-shape organization and the assembly of β-hairpins are maintained in the membrane and are resistant to the mutation F20W. In contrast the models are destabilized by the F19P mutation. Overall, our results indicate that these two assemblies represent minimal seeds or nuclei for the formation of either amyloid fibrils, a variety of β-barrel pores, or various aggregates for many Aβ sequences in a membrane-mimicking environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Son Tung Ngo
- Laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Biophysics , Ton Duc Thang University , Ho Chi Minh City , Vietnam.,Faculty of Applied Sciences , Ton Duc Thang University , Ho Chi Minh City , Vietnam
| | - Phuong H Nguyen
- Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique , UPR 9080, CNRS, Université de Paris , 13 rue Pierre et Marie Curie , 75005 , Paris , France.,Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique-Fondation Edmond de Rothschild, PSL Research University , 75005 Paris , France
| | - Philippe Derreumaux
- Laboratory of Theoretical Chemistry , Ton Duc Thang University , Ho Chi Minh City , Vietnam.,Faculty of Pharmacy , Ton Duc Thang University , Ho Chi Minh City , Vietnam
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10
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Nguyen PH, Sterpone F, Derreumaux P. Aggregation of disease-related peptides. PROGRESS IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE 2020; 170:435-460. [PMID: 32145950 DOI: 10.1016/bs.pmbts.2019.12.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Protein misfolding and aggregation of amyloid proteins is the fundamental cause of more than 20 diseases. Molecular mechanisms of the self-assembly and the formation of the toxic aggregates are still elusive. Computer simulations have been intensively used to study the aggregation of amyloid peptides of various amino acid lengths related to neurodegenerative diseases. We review atomistic and coarse-grained simulations of short amyloid peptides aimed at determining their transient oligomeric structures and the early and late aggregation steps.
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Affiliation(s)
- Phuong H Nguyen
- CNRS, Université de Paris, UPR 9080, Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, Paris, France; Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique-Fondation Edmond de Rothschild, PSL Research University, Paris, France
| | - Fabio Sterpone
- CNRS, Université de Paris, UPR 9080, Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, Paris, France; Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique-Fondation Edmond de Rothschild, PSL Research University, Paris, France
| | - Philippe Derreumaux
- Laboratory of Theoretical Chemistry, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Faculty of Pharmacy, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
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11
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Abstract
The oligomerization of Aβ16-22 peptide, which is the hydrophobic core region of full-length Aβ1-42, causes Alzheimer's disease (AD). This progressive neurodegenerative disease affects over 44 million people worldwide. However, very few synthesized drug molecules are available to inhibit the aggregation of Aβ. Recently, experimental studies have shown that the biological ATP molecule prevents Aβ fibrillation at the millimolar scale; however, the significance of ATP molecules on Aβ fibrillation and the mechanism behind it remain elusive. We have carried out a total of 7.5 μs extensive all-atom molecular dynamics and 8.82 μs of umbrella sampling in explicit water using AMBER14SB, AMBER99SB-ILDN, and AMBER-FB15 force fields for Aβ16-22 peptide, to investigate the role of ATP on the disruption of Aβ16-22 prefibrils. From various analyses, such as secondary structure analysis, residue-wise contact map, SASA, and interaction energies, we have observed that, in the presence of ATP, the aggregation of Aβ16-22 peptide is very unfavorable. Moreover, the biological molecule ATP interacts with the Aβ16-22 peptide via hydrogen bonding, π-π stacking, and NH-π interactions which, ultimately, prevent the aggregation of Aβ16-22 peptide. Hence, we assume that the deficiency of ATP may cause Alzheimer's disease (AD).
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Affiliation(s)
- Saikat Pal
- Department of Chemistry , Indian Institute of Technology , Guwahati , Assam 781039 , India
| | - Sandip Paul
- Department of Chemistry , Indian Institute of Technology , Guwahati , Assam 781039 , India
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12
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Okamoto Y. Protein structure predictions by enhanced conformational sampling methods. Biophys Physicobiol 2019; 16:344-366. [PMID: 31984190 PMCID: PMC6976031 DOI: 10.2142/biophysico.16.0_344] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2019] [Accepted: 08/07/2019] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
In this Special Festschrift Issue for the celebration of Professor Nobuhiro Gō's 80th birthday, we review enhanced conformational sampling methods for protein structure predictions. We present several generalized-ensemble algorithms such as multicanonical algorithm, replica-exchange method, etc. and parallel Monte Carlo or molecular dynamics method with genetic crossover. Examples of the results of these methods applied to the predictions of protein tertiary structures are also presented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuko Okamoto
- Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8602, Japan
- Structural Biology Research Center, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8602, Japan
- Center for Computational Science, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8603, Japan
- Information Technology Center, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8601, Japan
- JST-CREST, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8602, Japan
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13
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Nguyen PH, Campanera JM, Ngo ST, Loquet A, Derreumaux P. Tetrameric Aβ40 and Aβ42 β-Barrel Structures by Extensive Atomistic Simulations. II. In Aqueous Solution. J Phys Chem B 2019; 123:6750-6756. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.9b05288] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Phuong H. Nguyen
- CNRS, Université de Paris, UPR 9080,
Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, 13 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, F-75005, Paris, France
- Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique-Fondation Edmond de Rothschild, PSL Research University, Paris, France
| | - Josep M. Campanera
- Departament de Fisicoquímica, Facultat de Farmacia, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Son Tung Ngo
- Laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Biophysics, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
- Faculty of Applied Sciences, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
| | - Antoine Loquet
- Institute of Chemistry and Biology of Membranes and Nanoobjects, UMR5248 CNRS, Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
| | - Philippe Derreumaux
- Laboratory of Theoretical Chemistry, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
- Faculty of Pharmacy, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
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14
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Sun Y, Kakinen A, Xing Y, Faridi P, Nandakumar A, Purcell AW, Davis TP, Ke PC, Ding F. Amyloid Self-Assembly of hIAPP8-20 via the Accumulation of Helical Oligomers, α-Helix to β-Sheet Transition, and Formation of β-Barrel Intermediates. SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2019; 15:e1805166. [PMID: 30908844 PMCID: PMC6499678 DOI: 10.1002/smll.201805166] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2018] [Revised: 02/21/2019] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
The self-assembly of human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP) into β-sheet-rich nanofibrils is associated with the pathogeny of type 2 diabetes. Soluble hIAPP is intrinsically disordered with N-terminal residues 8-17 as α-helices. To understand the contribution of the N-terminal helix to the aggregation of full-length hIAPP, here the oligomerization dynamics of the hIAPP fragment 8-20 (hIAPP8-20) are investigated with combined computational and experimental approaches. hIAPP8-20 forms cross-β nanofibrils in silico from isolated helical monomers via the helical oligomers and α-helices to β-sheets transition, as confirmed by transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, circular dichroism spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography. The computational results also suggest that the critical nucleus of aggregation corresponds to hexamers, consistent with a recent mass-spectroscopy study of hIAPP8-20 aggregation. hIAPP8-20 oligomers smaller than hexamers are helical and unstable, while the α-to-β transition starts from the hexamers. Converted β-sheet-rich oligomers first form β-barrel structures as intermediates before aggregating into cross-β nanofibrils. This study uncovers a complete picture of hIAPP8-20 peptide oligomerization, aggregation nucleation via conformational conversion, formation of β-barrel intermediates, and assembly of cross-β protofibrils, thereby shedding light on the aggregation of full-length hIAPP, a hallmark of pancreatic beta-cell degeneration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yunxiang Sun
- Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA
| | - Aleksandr Kakinen
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, 381 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
| | - Yanting Xing
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA
| | - Pouya Faridi
- Infection and Immunity Program & Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia
| | - Aparna Nandakumar
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, 381 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
| | - Anthony W. Purcell
- Infection and Immunity Program & Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia
| | - Thomas P. Davis
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, 381 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
| | - Pu Chun Ke
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, 381 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
| | - Feng Ding
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA
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15
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Nguyen PH, Campanera JM, Ngo ST, Loquet A, Derreumaux P. Tetrameric Aβ40 and Aβ42 β-Barrel Structures by Extensive Atomistic Simulations. I. In a Bilayer Mimicking a Neuronal Membrane. J Phys Chem B 2019; 123:3643-3648. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.9b01206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Phuong H. Nguyen
- Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, UPR 9080 CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne
Paris Cité, IBPC, 13 Rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Josep M. Campanera
- Departament de Fisicoquímica, Facultat de Farmacia, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Son Tung Ngo
- Faculty of Applied Science, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City 75837, Vietnam
| | - Antoine Loquet
- Institute of Chemistry and Biology of Membranes and Nanoobjects, UMR5248 CNRS, Université de Bordeaux, Pessac 33600, France
| | - Philippe Derreumaux
- Laboratory of Theoretical Chemistry, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City 75837, Vietnam
- Faculty of Pharmacy, Ton Duc Thang University. Ho Chi Minh City 75837, Vietnam
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16
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Chiricotto M, Melchionna S, Derreumaux P, Sterpone F. Multiscale Aggregation of the Amyloid Aβ 16-22 Peptide: From Disordered Coagulation and Lateral Branching to Amorphous Prefibrils. J Phys Chem Lett 2019; 10:1594-1599. [PMID: 30892042 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.9b00423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
In this work we investigate the multiscale dynamics of the aggregation process of an amyloid peptide, Aβ16-22. By performing massive coarse-grained simulations at the quasi-atomistic resolution and including hydrodynamic effects, we followed the formation and growth of a large elongated aggregate and its slow structuring. The elongation proceeds via a two-step nucleation mechanism with disordered aggregates formed initially and subsequently fusing to elongate the amorphous prefibril. A variety of coagulation events coexist, including lateral growth. The latter mechanism, sustained by long-range hydrodynamics correlations, actually can create a large branched structure spanning a few tens of nanometers. Our findings confirm the experimental hypothesis of a critical contribution of lateral growth to the amyloid aggregation kinetics and the capability of our model to sample critical structures like prefibril hosting annular pores.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mara Chiricotto
- Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, IBPC, CNRS UPR9080 , Univ. Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité , 13 rue Pierre et Marie Curie , 75005 Paris , France
| | - Simone Melchionna
- ISC-CNR, Dipartimento di Fisica , Universita Sapienza , P.le A. Moro 5 , 00185 Rome , Italy
| | - Philippe Derreumaux
- Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, IBPC, CNRS UPR9080 , Univ. Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité , 13 rue Pierre et Marie Curie , 75005 Paris , France
| | - Fabio Sterpone
- Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, IBPC, CNRS UPR9080 , Univ. Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité , 13 rue Pierre et Marie Curie , 75005 Paris , France
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17
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Nishikawa N, Sakae Y, Gouda T, Tsujimura Y, Okamoto Y. Structural Analysis of a Trimer of β 2-Microgloblin Fragment by Molecular Dynamics Simulations. Biophys J 2019; 116:781-790. [PMID: 30771855 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2018.11.3143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2017] [Revised: 06/08/2018] [Accepted: 11/06/2018] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
A peptide β2-m21-31, which is a fragment from residue 21 to residue 31 of β2-microgloblin, is experimentally known to self-assemble and form amyloid fibrils. In order to understand the mechanism of amyloid fibril formations, we applied the replica-exchange molecular dynamics method to the system consisting of three fragments of β2-m21-31. From the analyses on the temperature dependence, we found that there is a clear phase transition temperature in which the peptides aggregate with each other. Moreover, we found by the free energy analyses that there are two major stable states: One of them is like amyloid fibrils and the other is amorphous aggregates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Naohiro Nishikawa
- Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan; Department of Theoretical and Computational Molecular Science, Institute for Molecular Science, Okazaki, Aichi, Japan
| | - Yoshitake Sakae
- Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
| | - Takuya Gouda
- Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
| | - Yuichiro Tsujimura
- Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
| | - Yuko Okamoto
- Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan; Structural Biology Research Center, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan; Center for Computational Science, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan; Information Technology Center, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan; JST-CREST, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan.
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18
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Sun Y, Kakinen A, Xing Y, Pilkington EH, Davis TP, Ke PC, Ding F. Nucleation of β-rich oligomers and β-barrels in the early aggregation of human islet amyloid polypeptide. Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Basis Dis 2018; 1865:434-444. [PMID: 30502402 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbadis.2018.11.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2018] [Revised: 11/10/2018] [Accepted: 11/26/2018] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
The self-assembly of human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP) into β-sheet rich amyloid aggregates is associated with pancreatic β-cell death in type 2 diabetes (T2D). Prior experimental studies of hIAPP aggregation reported the early accumulation of α-helical intermediates before the rapid conversion into β-sheet rich amyloid fibrils, as also corroborated by our experimental characterizations with transmission electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Although increasing evidence suggests that small oligomers populating early hIAPP aggregation play crucial roles in cytotoxicity, structures of these oligomer intermediates and their conformational conversions remain unknown, hindering our understanding of T2D disease mechanism and therapeutic design targeting these early aggregation species. We further applied large-scale discrete molecule dynamics simulations to investigate the oligomerization of full-length hIAPP, employing multiple molecular systems of increasing number of peptides. We found that the oligomerization process was dynamic, involving frequent inter-oligomeric exchanges. On average, oligomers had more α-helices than β-sheets, consistent with ensemble-based experimental measurements. However, in ~4-6% independent simulations, β-rich oligomers expected as the fibrillization intermediates were observed, especially in the pentamer and hexamer simulations. These β-rich oligomers could adopt β-barrel conformations, recently postulated to be the toxic oligomer species but only observed computationally in the aggregates of short amyloid protein fragments. Free-energy analysis revealed high energies of these β-rich oligomers, supporting the nucleated conformational changes of oligomers in amyloid aggregation. β-barrel oligomers of full-length hIAPP with well-defined three-dimensional structures may play an important pathological role in T2D etiology and may be a therapeutic target for the disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yunxiang Sun
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA
| | - Aleksandr Kakinen
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, 381 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
| | - Yanting Xing
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA
| | - Emily H Pilkington
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, 381 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia; Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK
| | - Thomas P Davis
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, 381 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia; Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK
| | - Pu Chun Ke
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Convergent Bio-Nano Science and Technology, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, 381 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia.
| | - Feng Ding
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA.
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19
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Carballo-Pacheco M, Ismail AE, Strodel B. On the Applicability of Force Fields To Study the Aggregation of Amyloidogenic Peptides Using Molecular Dynamics Simulations. J Chem Theory Comput 2018; 14:6063-6075. [PMID: 30336669 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.8b00579] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Molecular dynamics simulations play an essential role in understanding biomolecular processes such as protein aggregation at temporal and spatial resolutions which are not attainable by experimental methods. For a correct modeling of protein aggregation, force fields must accurately represent molecular interactions. Here, we study the effect of five different force fields on the oligomer formation of Alzheimer's Aβ16-22 peptide and two of its mutants: Aβ16-22(F19V,F20V), which does not form fibrils, and Aβ16-22(F19L) which forms fibrils faster than the wild type. We observe that while oligomer formation kinetics depends strongly on the force field, structural properties, such as the most relevant protein-protein contacts, are similar between them. The oligomer formation kinetics obtained with different force fields differ more from each other than the kinetics between aggregating and nonaggregating peptides simulated with a single force field. We discuss the difficulties in comparing atomistic simulations of amyloid oligomer formation with experimental observables.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martín Carballo-Pacheco
- Institute of Complex Systems: Structural Biochemistry (ICS-6) , Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH , 52425 Jülich , Germany.,AICES Graduate School , RWTH Aachen University , Schinkelstraße 2 , 52062 Aachen , Germany
| | - Ahmed E Ismail
- AICES Graduate School , RWTH Aachen University , Schinkelstraße 2 , 52062 Aachen , Germany.,Aachener Verfahrenstechnik, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering , RWTH Aachen University , Schinkelstraße 2 , 52062 Aachen , Germany
| | - Birgit Strodel
- Institute of Complex Systems: Structural Biochemistry (ICS-6) , Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH , 52425 Jülich , Germany.,Institute of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry , Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf , Universitätstrasse 1 , 40225 Düsseldorf , Germany
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20
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β-barrel Oligomers as Common Intermediates of Peptides Self-Assembling into Cross-β Aggregates. Sci Rep 2018; 8:10353. [PMID: 29985420 PMCID: PMC6037789 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-28649-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2018] [Accepted: 06/22/2018] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Oligomers populated during the early amyloid aggregation process are more toxic than mature fibrils, but pinpointing the exact toxic species among highly dynamic and heterogeneous aggregation intermediates remains a major challenge. β-barrel oligomers, structurally-determined recently for a slow-aggregating peptide derived from αB crystallin, are attractive candidates for exerting amyloid toxicity due to their well-defined structures as therapeutic targets and compatibility to the "amyloid-pore" hypothesis of toxicity. To assess whether β-barrel oligomers are common intermediates to amyloid peptides - a necessary step toward associating β-barrel oligomers with general amyloid cytotoxicity, we computationally studied the oligomerization and fibrillization dynamics of seven well-studied fragments of amyloidogenic proteins with different experimentally-determined aggregation morphologies and cytotoxicity. In our molecular dynamics simulations, β-barrel oligomers were only observed in five peptides self-assembling into the characteristic cross-β aggregates, but not the other two that formed polymorphic β-rich aggregates as reported experimentally. Interestingly, the latter two peptides were previously found nontoxic. Hence, the observed correlation between β-barrel oligomers formation and cytotoxicity supports the hypothesis of β-barrel oligomers as the common toxic intermediates of amyloid aggregation.
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21
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Chen Y, Chen Z, Sun Y, Lei J, Wei G. Mechanistic insights into the inhibition and size effects of graphene oxide nanosheets on the aggregation of an amyloid-β peptide fragment. NANOSCALE 2018; 10:8989-8997. [PMID: 29725676 DOI: 10.1039/c8nr01041b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
The aggregation of amyloid-β (Aβ), which involves the formation of small oligomers and mature fibrils, has received considerable attention in the past few decades due to its close link with Alzheimer's disease (AD). The inhibition of β-sheet formation has been considered as the primary therapeutic strategy for AD. In this respect, graphene oxide (GO) has gained significant attention because of its high solubility, good biocompatibility and inhibitory effect on the aggregation of Aβ and the 33-42 fragment (Aβ33-42). However, the inhibitory mechanism at the atomic level remains elusive. Herein, we investigated the oligomerization of Aβ33-42 by performing replica exchange molecular dynamics simulations on four Aβ33-42 peptide chains in the absence and presence of two different sizes of GO. Our simulations show that isolated Aβ33-42 can form fibril-prone extended β-sheets and barrel-like structures, whereas they are suppressed in the presence of GO nanosheets. Our data reveal that GO inhibits Aβ33-42 oligomerization by making Aβ33-42 peptides separate from each other through strong interactions with M35. With the same total number of atoms, GO120 displays better inhibitory effect than GO60 by providing a larger effective contact surface area. This study provides the molecular mechanism of GO in inhibiting the aggregation of Aβ33-42, which might offer a theoretical insight into the design of drugs against AD at the atomic level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yujie Chen
- Department of Physics, State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics, Key Laboratory for Computational Physical Science (Ministry of Education), Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures (Nanjing), Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, People's Republic of China.
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22
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Ge X, Sun Y, Ding F. Structures and dynamics of β-barrel oligomer intermediates of amyloid-beta16-22 aggregation. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-BIOMEMBRANES 2018; 1860:1687-1697. [PMID: 29550287 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbamem.2018.03.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2017] [Revised: 03/06/2018] [Accepted: 03/07/2018] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
Accumulating evidence suggests that soluble oligomers are more toxic than final fibrils of amyloid aggregations. Among the mixture of inter-converting intermediates with continuous distribution of sizes and secondary structures, oligomers in the β-barrel conformation - a common class of protein folds with a closed β-sheet - have been postulated as the toxic species with well-defined three-dimensional structures to perform pathological functions. A common mechanism for amyloid toxicity, therefore, implies that all amyloid peptides should be able to form β-barrel oligomers as the aggregation intermediates. Here, we applied all-atom discrete molecular dynamics (DMD) simulations to evaluate the formation of β-barrel oligomers and characterize their structures and dynamics in the aggregation of a seven-residue amyloid peptide, corresponding to the amyloid core of amyloid-β with a sequence of 16KLVFFAE22 (Aβ16-22). We carried out aggregation simulations with various numbers of peptides to study the size dependence of aggregation dynamics and assembly structures. Consistent with previous computational studies, we observed the formation of β-barrel oligomers in all-atom DMD simulations. Using a network-based approach to automatically identify β-barrel conformations, we systematically characterized β-barrels of various sizes. Our simulations revealed the conformational inter-conversion between β-barrels and double-layer β-sheets due to increased structural strains upon forming a closed β-barrel while maximizing backbone hydrogen bonds. The potential of mean force analysis further characterized the free energy barriers between these two states. The obtained structural and dynamic insights of β-barrel oligomers may help better understand the molecular mechanism of oligomer toxicities and design novel therapeutics targeting the toxic β-barrel oligomers. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Protein Aggregation and Misfolding at the Cell Membrane Interface edited by Ayyalusamy Ramamoorthy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinwei Ge
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, United States
| | - Yunxiang Sun
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, United States
| | - Feng Ding
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, United States.
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23
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Matthes D, Gapsys V, Griesinger C, de Groot BL. Resolving the Atomistic Modes of Anle138b Inhibitory Action on Peptide Oligomer Formation. ACS Chem Neurosci 2017; 8:2791-2808. [PMID: 28906103 DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.7b00325] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The diphenyl-pyrazole compound anle138b is a known inhibitor of oligomeric aggregate formation in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, anle138b is considered a promising drug candidate to beneficially interfere with neurodegenerative processes causing devastating pathologies in humans. The atomistic details of the aggregation inhibition mechanism, however, are to date unknown since the ensemble of small nonfibrillar aggregates is structurally heterogeneous and inaccessible to direct structural characterization. Here, we set out to elucidate anle138b's mode of action using all-atom molecular dynamics simulations on the multi-microsecond time scale. By comparing simulations of dimeric to tetrameric aggregates from fragments of four amyloidogenic proteins (Aβ, hTau40, hIAPP, and Sup35N) in the presence and absence of anle138b, we show that the compound reduces the overall number of intermolecular hydrogen bonds, disfavors the sampling of the aggregated state, and remodels the conformational distributions within the small oligomeric peptide aggregates. Most notably, anle138b preferentially interacts with the disordered structure ensemble via its pyrazole moiety, thereby effectively blocking interpeptide main chain interactions and impeding the spontaneous formation of ordered β-sheet structures, in particular those with out-of-register antiparallel β-strands. The structurally very similar compound anle234b was previously identified as inactive by in vitro experiments. Here, we show that anle234b has no significant effect on the aggregation process in terms of reducing the β-structure content. Moreover, we demonstrate that the hydrogen bonding capabilities are autoinhibited due to steric effects imposed by the molecular geometry of anle234b and thereby indirectly confirm the proposed inhibitory mechanism of anle138b. We anticipate that the prominent binding of anle138b to partially disordered and dynamical aggregate structures is a generic basis for anle138b's ability to suppress toxic oligomer formation in a wide range of amyloidogenic peptides and proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dirk Matthes
- Computational
Biomolecular Dynamics Group, Department of Theoretical and Computational
Biophysics, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Am Fassberg
11, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Vytautas Gapsys
- Computational
Biomolecular Dynamics Group, Department of Theoretical and Computational
Biophysics, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Am Fassberg
11, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Christian Griesinger
- Department
of Structural Biology, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Am Fassberg 11, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Bert L. de Groot
- Computational
Biomolecular Dynamics Group, Department of Theoretical and Computational
Biophysics, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Am Fassberg
11, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
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24
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Weber OC, Uversky VN. How accurate are your simulations? Effects of confined aqueous volume and AMBER FF99SB and CHARMM22/CMAP force field parameters on structural ensembles of intrinsically disordered proteins: Amyloid-β 42 in water. INTRINSICALLY DISORDERED PROTEINS 2017; 5:e1377813. [PMID: 30250773 DOI: 10.1080/21690707.2017.1377813] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2017] [Revised: 09/04/2017] [Accepted: 09/06/2017] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Amyloid-β42 (Aβ42) is an intrinsically disordered peptide intimately related to the pathogenesis of several neurodegenerative diseases. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are extensively utilized in the characterization of the structures and conformational dynamics of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) including Aβ42, with AMBER and CHARMM parameters being commonly used in these studies. Recently, comparison of the effects of force field parameters on the Aβ42 structures has started to gain significant attention. In this study, the structures of Aβ42 are simulated using AMBER FF99SB and CHARMM22/CMAP parameters via replica exchange MD simulations utilizing a widely used clustering algorithm. These analyses show that the structural properties (extent and positioning of the elements of secondary and tertiary structure), radius of gyration values, number and position of salt bridges are extremely dependent on the chosen force field parameters notably with the usage of clustering algorithms. For example, predicted secondary structure elements, which are of the great importance for better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases, deviate enormously in models generated using currently available force field parameters for proteins. Based on the derived models, chemical shift values are calculated and compared to the experimentally determined data. This comparison revealed that although both force field parameters yield results in agreement with experiments, the obtained structural properties were rather different using a clustering algorithm. In other words, these results show that the predicted structures depend heavily on the force field parameters. Importantly, since none of the force field parameters currently utilized in MD studies were developed specifically taking into account the disordered nature of IDPs, these findings clearly indicate that new force field parameters have to be developed for IDPs considering their rapid flexibility and dynamics with high amplitude. Furthermore, molecular simulations of IDPs are typically conducted using one water volume. We show that the confined aqueous volume impacts the predicted structural properties of Aβ42 in water. Although up to date, confined aqueous volume effects have been ignored in the MD simulations of IDPs in water, our data indicate that these effects have to be taken into account in predicting the structural and thermodynamic properties of disordered proteins in solution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Orkid Coskuner Weber
- Department of Chemistry and Neurosciences Institute, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA.,Institut für Physikalische Chemie, Universität zu Köln, Köln, Germany.,Molecular Biotechnology Division, Turkisch-Deutsche Universität, Istanbul Turkey
| | - Vladimir N Uversky
- Department of Molecular Medicine, USF Health Byrd Alzheimer's Research Institute, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA.,Laboratory of New Methods in Biology, Institute for Biological Instrumentation, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino, Moscow Region, Russia
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25
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Multi-scale simulations of biological systems using the OPEP coarse-grained model. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2017; 498:296-304. [PMID: 28917842 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2017.08.165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2017] [Accepted: 08/31/2017] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Biomolecules are complex machines that are optimized by evolution to properly fulfill or contribute to a variety of biochemical tasks in the cellular environment. Computer simulations based on quantum mechanics and atomistic force fields have been proven to be a powerful microscope for obtaining valuable insights into many biological, physical, and chemical processes. Many interesting phenomena involve, however, a time scale and a number of degrees of freedom, notably if crowding is considered, that cannot be explored at an atomistic resolution. To bridge the gap between reality and simulation, many different advanced computational techniques and coarse-grained (CG) models have been developed. Here, we report some applications of the CG OPEP protein model to amyloid fibril formation, the response of catch-bond proteins to two types of fluid flow, and interactive simulations to fold peptides with well-defined 3D structures or with intrinsic disorder.
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26
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Dorosh L, Stepanova M. Probing oligomerization of amyloid beta peptide in silico. MOLECULAR BIOSYSTEMS 2017; 13:165-182. [PMID: 27844078 DOI: 10.1039/c6mb00441e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
Aggregation of amyloid β (Aβ) peptide is implicated in fatal Alzheimer's disease, for which no cure is available. Understanding the mechanisms responsible for this aggregation is required in order for therapies to be developed. In an effort to better understand the molecular mechanisms involved in spontaneous aggregation of Aβ peptide, extensive molecular dynamics simulations are reported, and the results are analyzed through a combination of structural biology tools and a novel essential collective dynamics method. Several model systems composed of ten or twelve Aβ17-42 chains in water are investigated, and the influence of metal ions is probed. The results suggest that Aβ monomers tend to aggregate into stable globular-like oligomers with 13-23% of β-sheet content. Two stages of oligomer formation have been identified: quick collapse within the first 40 ns of the simulation, characterized by a decrease in inter-chain separation and build-up of β-sheets, and the subsequent slow relaxation of the oligomer structure. The resulting oligomers comprise a stable, coherently moving sub-aggregate of 6-9 strongly inter-correlated chains. Cu2+ and Fe2+ ions have been found to develop coordination bonds with carboxylate groups of E22, D23 and A42, which remain stable during 200 ns simulations. The presence of Fe2+, and particularly Cu2+ ions, in negatively charged cavities has been found to cause significant changes in the structure and dynamics of the oligomers. The results indicate, in particular, that formation of non-fibrillar oligomers might be involved in early template-free aggregation of Aβ17-42 monomers, with charged species such as Cu2+ or Fe2+ ions playing an important role.
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Affiliation(s)
- L Dorosh
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. and National Research Council of Canada, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - M Stepanova
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. and National Research Council of Canada, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and Department of Physics, Astronomy, and Materials Science, Missouri State University, Springfield, MO, USA
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27
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Tran TT, Nguyen PH, Derreumaux P. Lattice model for amyloid peptides: OPEP force field parametrization and applications to the nucleus size of Alzheimer's peptides. J Chem Phys 2017; 144:205103. [PMID: 27250331 DOI: 10.1063/1.4951739] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Coarse-grained protein lattice models approximate atomistic details and keep the essential interactions. They are, therefore, suitable for capturing generic features of protein folding and amyloid formation at low computational cost. As our aim is to study the critical nucleus sizes of two experimentally well-characterized peptide fragments Aβ16-22 and Aβ37-42 of the full length Aβ1-42 Alzheimer's peptide, it is important that simulations with the lattice model reproduce all-atom simulations. In this study, we present a comprehensive force field parameterization based on the OPEP (Optimized Potential for Efficient protein structure Prediction) force field for an on-lattice protein model, which incorporates explicitly the formation of hydrogen bonds and directions of side-chains. Our bottom-up approach starts with the determination of the best lattice force parameters for the Aβ16-22 dimer by fitting its equilibrium parallel and anti-parallel β-sheet populations to all-atom simulation results. Surprisingly, the calibrated force field is transferable to the trimer of Aβ16-22 and the dimer and trimer of Aβ37-42. Encouraged by this finding, we characterized the free energy landscapes of the two decamers. The dominant structure of the Aβ16-22 decamer matches the microcrystal structure. Pushing the simulations for aggregates between 4-mer and 12-mer suggests a nucleus size for fibril formation of 10 chains. In contrast, the Aβ37-42 decamer is largely disordered with mixed by parallel and antiparallel chains, suggesting that the nucleus size is >10 peptides. Our refined force field coupled to this on-lattice model should provide useful insights into the critical nucleation number associated with neurodegenerative diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thanh Thuy Tran
- Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, UPR 9080, CNRS, Université Denis Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité IBPC, 13 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Phuong H Nguyen
- Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, UPR 9080, CNRS, Université Denis Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité IBPC, 13 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Philippe Derreumaux
- Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, UPR 9080, CNRS, Université Denis Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité IBPC, 13 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France
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28
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Matthes D, Gapsys V, Brennecke JT, de Groot BL. An Atomistic View of Amyloidogenic Self-assembly: Structure and Dynamics of Heterogeneous Conformational States in the Pre-nucleation Phase. Sci Rep 2016; 6:33156. [PMID: 27616019 PMCID: PMC5018807 DOI: 10.1038/srep33156] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2016] [Accepted: 08/22/2016] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
The formation of well-defined filamentous amyloid structures involves a polydisperse collection of oligomeric states for which relatively little is known in terms of structural organization. Here we use extensive, unbiased explicit solvent molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to investigate the structural and dynamical features of oligomeric aggregates formed by a number of highly amyloidogenic peptides at atomistic resolution on the μs time scale. A consensus approach has been adopted to analyse the simulations in multiple force fields, yielding an in-depth characterization of pre-fibrillar oligomers and their global and local structure properties. A collision cross section analysis revealed structurally heterogeneous aggregate ensembles for the individual oligomeric states that lack a single defined quaternary structure during the pre-nucleation phase. To gain insight into the conformational space sampled in early aggregates, we probed their substructure and found emerging β-sheet subunit layers and a multitude of ordered intermolecular β-structure motifs with growing aggregate size. Among those, anti-parallel out-of-register β-strands compatible with toxic β-barrel oligomers were particularly prevalent already in smaller aggregates and formed prior to ordered fibrillar structure elements. Notably, also distinct fibril-like conformations emerged in the oligomeric state and underscore the notion that pre-nucleated oligomers serve as a critical intermediate step on-pathway to fibrils.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dirk Matthes
- Computational Biomolecular Dynamics Group, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Vytautas Gapsys
- Computational Biomolecular Dynamics Group, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Julian T Brennecke
- Computational Biomolecular Dynamics Group, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Bert L de Groot
- Computational Biomolecular Dynamics Group, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany
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29
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Chiricotto M, Tran TT, Nguyen PH, Melchionna S, Sterpone F, Derreumaux P. Coarse-grained and All-atom Simulations towards the Early and Late Steps of Amyloid Fibril Formation. Isr J Chem 2016. [DOI: 10.1002/ijch.201600048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Mara Chiricotto
- Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, UPR 9080 CNRS; Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, IBPC; 13 Rue Pierre et Marie Curie 75005 Paris France
| | - Thanh Thuy Tran
- Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, UPR 9080 CNRS; Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, IBPC; 13 Rue Pierre et Marie Curie 75005 Paris France
| | - Phuong H. Nguyen
- Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, UPR 9080 CNRS; Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, IBPC; 13 Rue Pierre et Marie Curie 75005 Paris France
| | - Simone Melchionna
- Istituto Sistemi Complessi; Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche; P. le A. Moro 2 00185 Rome Italy
| | - Fabio Sterpone
- Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, UPR 9080 CNRS; Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, IBPC; 13 Rue Pierre et Marie Curie 75005 Paris France
| | - Philippe Derreumaux
- Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, UPR 9080 CNRS; Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, IBPC; 13 Rue Pierre et Marie Curie 75005 Paris France
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30
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Luiken JA, Bolhuis PG. Prediction of a stable associated liquid of short amyloidogenic peptides. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2016; 17:10556-67. [PMID: 25804723 DOI: 10.1039/c5cp00284b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Amyloid fibril formation is believed to be a nucleation-controlled process. Depending on the nature of peptide sequence, fibril nucleation can occur in one step, straight from a dilute solution, or in multiple steps via oligomers or disordered aggregates. What determines this process is poorly understood. Since the fibril formation kinetics is driven by thermodynamic forces, knowledge of the phase behavior is crucial. Here, we investigated the phase behavior of three short peptide sequences of varying side-chain hydrophobicity. Replica exchange molecular dynamics simulations of a mid-resolution model indicate that the weakly hydrophobic peptide forms fibrils directly from solution, whereas the most hydrophobic peptide forms a dense liquid phase before crystallizing into ordered fibrils at low temperatures. For the medium hydrophobic peptide we found evidence of a novel additional transition to a liquid phase consisting of clusters of aligned peptides, implying a three-step nucleation process. We tested the robustness of this prediction by applying Wertheim's theory and statistical associating fluid theory to a hard-sphere model dressed with isotropic and anisotropic attractions. We found that the ratio of interaction strengths strongly affects the phase behavior, and under certain conditions indeed gives rise to a stable polymerized liquid phase. The peptide clusters in the associated liquid tend to be slow and long-lived, which may give the oligomer droplet more time to act as a toxic oligomer, before turning into a fibril.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jurriaan A Luiken
- van 't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
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31
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Peptides Composed of Alternating L- and D-Amino Acids Inhibit Amyloidogenesis in Three Distinct Amyloid Systems Independent of Sequence. J Mol Biol 2016; 428:2317-2328. [PMID: 27012425 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2016.03.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2015] [Revised: 03/07/2016] [Accepted: 03/12/2016] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
There is now substantial evidence that soluble oligomers are primary toxic agents in amyloid diseases. The development of an antibody recognizing the toxic soluble oligomeric forms of different and unrelated amyloid species suggests a common conformational intermediate during amyloidogenesis. We previously observed a common occurrence of a novel secondary structure element, which we call α-sheet, in molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of various amyloidogenic proteins, and we hypothesized that the toxic conformer is composed of α-sheet structure. As such, α-sheet may represent a conformational signature of the misfolded intermediates of amyloidogenesis and a potential unique binding target for peptide inhibitors. Recently, we reported the design and characterization of a novel hairpin peptide (α1 or AP90) that adopts stable α-sheet structure and inhibits the aggregation of the β-Amyloid Peptide Aβ42 and transthyretin. AP90 is a 23-residue hairpin peptide featuring alternating D- and L-amino acids with favorable conformational propensities for α-sheet formation, and a designed turn. For this study, we reverse engineered AP90 to identify which of its design features is most responsible for conferring α-sheet stability and inhibitory activity. We present experimental characterization (CD and FTIR) of seven peptides designed to accomplish this. In addition, we measured their ability to inhibit aggregation in three unrelated amyloid species: Aβ42, transthyretin, and human islet amylin polypeptide. We found that a hairpin peptide featuring alternating L- and D-amino acids, independent of sequence, is sufficient for conferring α-sheet structure and inhibition of aggregation. Additionally, we show a correlation between α-sheet structural stability and inhibitory activity.
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32
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Zou Y, Sun Y, Zhu Y, Ma B, Nussinov R, Zhang Q. Critical Nucleus Structure and Aggregation Mechanism of the C-terminal Fragment of Copper-Zinc Superoxide Dismutase Protein. ACS Chem Neurosci 2016; 7:286-96. [PMID: 26815332 PMCID: PMC7842942 DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.5b00242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The aggregation of the copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (SOD1) protein is linked to familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a progressive neurodegenerative disease. A recent experimental study has shown that the (147)GVIGIAQ(153) SOD1 C-terminal segment not only forms amyloid fibrils in isolation but also accelerates the aggregation of full-length SOD1, while substitution of isoleucine at site 149 by proline blocks its fibril formation. Amyloid formation is a nucleation-polymerization process. In this study, we investigated the oligomerization and the nucleus structure of this heptapeptide. By performing extensive replica-exchange molecular dynamics (REMD) simulations and conventional MD simulations, we found that the GVIGIAQ hexamers can adopt highly ordered bilayer β-sheets and β-barrels. In contrast, substitution of I149 by proline significantly reduces the β-sheet probability and results in the disappearance of bilayer β-sheet structures and the increase of disordered hexamers. We identified mixed parallel-antiparallel bilayer β-sheets in both REMD and conventional MD simulations and provided the conformational transition from the experimentally observed parallel bilayer sheets to the mixed parallel-antiparallel bilayer β-sheets. Our simulations suggest that the critical nucleus consists of six peptide chains and two additional peptide chains strongly stabilize this critical nucleus. The stabilized octamer is able to recruit additional random peptides into the β-sheet. Therefore, our simulations provide insights into the critical nucleus formation and the smallest stable nucleus of the (147)GVIGIAQ(153) peptide.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Zou
- College of Physical Education and Training, Shanghai University of Sport, 399 Chang Hai Road, Shanghai 200438, China
| | - Yunxiang Sun
- Department of Physics, Fudan University, 220 Handan Road, Shanghai 200433, China
| | - Yuzhen Zhu
- College of Physical Education and Training, Shanghai University of Sport, 399 Chang Hai Road, Shanghai 200438, China
| | - Buyong Ma
- Basic Science Program, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Cancer and Inflammation Program, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland 21702, United States
| | - Ruth Nussinov
- Basic Science Program, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Cancer and Inflammation Program, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland 21702, United States
- Sackler Inst. of Molecular Medicine, Department of Human Genetics and Molecular Medicine, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel
| | - Qingwen Zhang
- College of Physical Education and Training, Shanghai University of Sport, 399 Chang Hai Road, Shanghai 200438, China
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33
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Do TD, LaPointe NE, Nelson R, Krotee P, Hayden EY, Ulrich B, Quan S, Feinstein SC, Teplow DB, Eisenberg D, Shea JE, Bowers MT. Amyloid β-Protein C-Terminal Fragments: Formation of Cylindrins and β-Barrels. J Am Chem Soc 2016; 138:549-57. [PMID: 26700445 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.5b09536] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
In order to evaluate potential therapeutic targets for treatment of amyloidoses such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), it is essential to determine the structures of toxic amyloid oligomers. However, for the amyloid β-protein peptide (Aβ), thought to be the seminal neuropathogenetic agent in AD, its fast aggregation kinetics and the rapid equilibrium dynamics among oligomers of different size pose significant experimental challenges. Here we use ion-mobility mass spectrometry, in combination with electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and computational modeling, to test the hypothesis that Aβ peptides can form oligomeric structures resembling cylindrins and β-barrels. These structures are hypothesized to cause neuronal injury and death through perturbation of plasma membrane integrity. We show that hexamers of C-terminal Aβ fragments, including Aβ(24-34), Aβ(25-35) and Aβ(26-36), have collision cross sections similar to those of cylindrins. We also show that linking two identical fragments head-to-tail using diglycine increases the proportion of cylindrin-sized oligomers. In addition, we find that larger oligomers of these fragments may adopt β-barrel structures and that β-barrels can be formed by folding an out-of-register β-sheet, a common type of structure found in amyloid proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thanh D Do
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and ‡Department of Physics, ¶Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of California , Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States.,Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Biological Chemistry, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, UCLA-DOE Institute for Genomics and Proteomics, and ∥Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, ∇Mary S. Easton Center for Alzheimer's Disease Research at UCLA, and Brain Research Institute and Molecular Biology Institute, University of California , 635 Charles Young Drive South, Los Angeles, California 90095, United States
| | - Nichole E LaPointe
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and ‡Department of Physics, ¶Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of California , Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States.,Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Biological Chemistry, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, UCLA-DOE Institute for Genomics and Proteomics, and ∥Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, ∇Mary S. Easton Center for Alzheimer's Disease Research at UCLA, and Brain Research Institute and Molecular Biology Institute, University of California , 635 Charles Young Drive South, Los Angeles, California 90095, United States
| | - Rebecca Nelson
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and ‡Department of Physics, ¶Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of California , Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States.,Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Biological Chemistry, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, UCLA-DOE Institute for Genomics and Proteomics, and ∥Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, ∇Mary S. Easton Center for Alzheimer's Disease Research at UCLA, and Brain Research Institute and Molecular Biology Institute, University of California , 635 Charles Young Drive South, Los Angeles, California 90095, United States
| | - Pascal Krotee
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and ‡Department of Physics, ¶Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of California , Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States.,Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Biological Chemistry, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, UCLA-DOE Institute for Genomics and Proteomics, and ∥Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, ∇Mary S. Easton Center for Alzheimer's Disease Research at UCLA, and Brain Research Institute and Molecular Biology Institute, University of California , 635 Charles Young Drive South, Los Angeles, California 90095, United States
| | - Eric Y Hayden
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and ‡Department of Physics, ¶Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of California , Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States.,Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Biological Chemistry, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, UCLA-DOE Institute for Genomics and Proteomics, and ∥Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, ∇Mary S. Easton Center for Alzheimer's Disease Research at UCLA, and Brain Research Institute and Molecular Biology Institute, University of California , 635 Charles Young Drive South, Los Angeles, California 90095, United States
| | - Brittany Ulrich
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and ‡Department of Physics, ¶Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of California , Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States.,Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Biological Chemistry, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, UCLA-DOE Institute for Genomics and Proteomics, and ∥Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, ∇Mary S. Easton Center for Alzheimer's Disease Research at UCLA, and Brain Research Institute and Molecular Biology Institute, University of California , 635 Charles Young Drive South, Los Angeles, California 90095, United States
| | - Sarah Quan
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and ‡Department of Physics, ¶Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of California , Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States.,Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Biological Chemistry, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, UCLA-DOE Institute for Genomics and Proteomics, and ∥Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, ∇Mary S. Easton Center for Alzheimer's Disease Research at UCLA, and Brain Research Institute and Molecular Biology Institute, University of California , 635 Charles Young Drive South, Los Angeles, California 90095, United States
| | - Stuart C Feinstein
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and ‡Department of Physics, ¶Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of California , Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States.,Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Biological Chemistry, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, UCLA-DOE Institute for Genomics and Proteomics, and ∥Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, ∇Mary S. Easton Center for Alzheimer's Disease Research at UCLA, and Brain Research Institute and Molecular Biology Institute, University of California , 635 Charles Young Drive South, Los Angeles, California 90095, United States
| | - David B Teplow
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and ‡Department of Physics, ¶Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of California , Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States.,Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Biological Chemistry, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, UCLA-DOE Institute for Genomics and Proteomics, and ∥Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, ∇Mary S. Easton Center for Alzheimer's Disease Research at UCLA, and Brain Research Institute and Molecular Biology Institute, University of California , 635 Charles Young Drive South, Los Angeles, California 90095, United States
| | - David Eisenberg
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and ‡Department of Physics, ¶Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of California , Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States.,Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Biological Chemistry, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, UCLA-DOE Institute for Genomics and Proteomics, and ∥Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, ∇Mary S. Easton Center for Alzheimer's Disease Research at UCLA, and Brain Research Institute and Molecular Biology Institute, University of California , 635 Charles Young Drive South, Los Angeles, California 90095, United States
| | - Joan-Emma Shea
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and ‡Department of Physics, ¶Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of California , Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States.,Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Biological Chemistry, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, UCLA-DOE Institute for Genomics and Proteomics, and ∥Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, ∇Mary S. Easton Center for Alzheimer's Disease Research at UCLA, and Brain Research Institute and Molecular Biology Institute, University of California , 635 Charles Young Drive South, Los Angeles, California 90095, United States
| | - Michael T Bowers
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and ‡Department of Physics, ¶Neuroscience Research Institute and Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of California , Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States.,Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Biological Chemistry, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, UCLA-DOE Institute for Genomics and Proteomics, and ∥Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, ∇Mary S. Easton Center for Alzheimer's Disease Research at UCLA, and Brain Research Institute and Molecular Biology Institute, University of California , 635 Charles Young Drive South, Los Angeles, California 90095, United States
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34
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Carballo-Pacheco M, Ismail AE, Strodel B. Oligomer Formation of Toxic and Functional Amyloid Peptides Studied with Atomistic Simulations. J Phys Chem B 2015; 119:9696-705. [PMID: 26130191 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.5b04822] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Amyloids are associated with diseases, including Alzheimer's, as well as functional roles such as storage of peptide hormones. It is still unclear what differences exist between aberrant and functional amyloids. However, it is known that soluble oligomers formed during amyloid aggregation are more toxic than the final fibrils. Here, we perform molecular dynamics simulations to study the aggregation of the amyloid-β peptide Aβ25-35, associated with Alzheimer's disease, and two functional amyloid-forming tachykinin peptides: kassinin and neuromedin K. Although the three peptides have similar primary sequences, tachykinin peptides, in contrast to Aβ25-35, form nontoxic amyloids. Our simulations reveal that the charge of the C-terminus is essential to controlling the aggregation process. In particular, when the kassinin C-terminus is not amidated, the aggregation kinetics decreases considerably. In addition, we observe that the monomeric peptides in extended conformations aggregate faster than those in collapsed hairpin-like conformations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martín Carballo-Pacheco
- †AICES Graduate School and Aachener Verfahrenstechnik: Molecular Simulations and Transformations, RWTH Aachen University, Schinkelstraße 2, 52062 Aachen, Germany.,‡Institute of Complex Systems: Structural Biochemistry (ICS-6), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany
| | - Ahmed E Ismail
- †AICES Graduate School and Aachener Verfahrenstechnik: Molecular Simulations and Transformations, RWTH Aachen University, Schinkelstraße 2, 52062 Aachen, Germany
| | - Birgit Strodel
- ‡Institute of Complex Systems: Structural Biochemistry (ICS-6), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany.,¶Institute of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Universitätstraße 1, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
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35
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Nasica-Labouze J, Nguyen PH, Sterpone F, Berthoumieu O, Buchete NV, Coté S, De Simone A, Doig AJ, Faller P, Garcia A, Laio A, Li MS, Melchionna S, Mousseau N, Mu Y, Paravastu A, Pasquali S, Rosenman DJ, Strodel B, Tarus B, Viles JH, Zhang T, Wang C, Derreumaux P. Amyloid β Protein and Alzheimer's Disease: When Computer Simulations Complement Experimental Studies. Chem Rev 2015; 115:3518-63. [PMID: 25789869 DOI: 10.1021/cr500638n] [Citation(s) in RCA: 475] [Impact Index Per Article: 52.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jessica Nasica-Labouze
- †Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique (IBPC), UPR9080 CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 13 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Phuong H Nguyen
- †Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique (IBPC), UPR9080 CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 13 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Fabio Sterpone
- †Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique (IBPC), UPR9080 CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 13 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Olivia Berthoumieu
- ‡LCC (Laboratoire de Chimie de Coordination), CNRS, Université de Toulouse, Université Paul Sabatier (UPS), Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse (INPT), 205 route de Narbonne, BP 44099, Toulouse F-31077 Cedex 4, France
| | | | - Sébastien Coté
- ∥Département de Physique and Groupe de recherche sur les protéines membranaires (GEPROM), Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, succursale Centre-ville, Montréal, Québec H3C 3T5, Canada
| | - Alfonso De Simone
- ⊥Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
| | - Andrew J Doig
- #Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, University of Manchester, 131 Princess Street, Manchester M1 7DN, United Kingdom
| | - Peter Faller
- ‡LCC (Laboratoire de Chimie de Coordination), CNRS, Université de Toulouse, Université Paul Sabatier (UPS), Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse (INPT), 205 route de Narbonne, BP 44099, Toulouse F-31077 Cedex 4, France
| | | | - Alessandro Laio
- ○The International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), Via Bonomea 265, 34136 Trieste, Italy
| | - Mai Suan Li
- ◆Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Al. Lotnikow 32/46, 02-668 Warsaw, Poland.,¶Institute for Computational Science and Technology, SBI Building, Quang Trung Software City, Tan Chanh Hiep Ward, District 12, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
| | - Simone Melchionna
- ⬠Instituto Processi Chimico-Fisici, CNR-IPCF, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, 00185 Roma, Italy
| | | | - Yuguang Mu
- ▲School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 60 Nanyang Drive, 637551 Singapore
| | - Anant Paravastu
- ⊕National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, 1800 East Paul Dirac Drive, Tallahassee, Florida 32310, United States
| | - Samuela Pasquali
- †Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique (IBPC), UPR9080 CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 13 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France
| | | | - Birgit Strodel
- △Institute of Complex Systems: Structural Biochemistry (ICS-6), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany
| | - Bogdan Tarus
- †Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique (IBPC), UPR9080 CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 13 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France
| | - John H Viles
- ▼School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS, United Kingdom
| | - Tong Zhang
- †Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique (IBPC), UPR9080 CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 13 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France.,▲School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, 60 Nanyang Drive, 637551 Singapore
| | | | - Philippe Derreumaux
- †Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique (IBPC), UPR9080 CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 13 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France.,□Institut Universitaire de France, 75005 Paris, France
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36
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Pouplana R, Campanera JM. Energetic contributions of residues to the formation of early amyloid-β oligomers. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2014; 17:2823-37. [PMID: 25503571 DOI: 10.1039/c4cp04544k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Low-weight amyloid-β (Aβ) oligomers formed at early stages of oligomerization rather than fibril assemblies seem to be the toxic components that drive neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease. Unfortunately, detailed knowledge of the structure of these early oligomers at the residue level is not yet available. In this study, we performed all-atom explicit solvent molecular dynamics simulations to examine the oligomerization process of Aβ10-35 monomers when forming dimers, trimers, tetramers and octamers, with four independent simulations of a total simulated time of 3 μs for each oligomer system. The decomposition of the stability free energy by MM-GBSA methodology allowed us to unravel the network of energetic interactions that stabilize such oligomers. The contribution of the intermonomeric van der Waals term is the most significant energy feature of the oligomerization process, consistent with the so-called hydrophobic effect. Furthermore, the decomposition of the stability free energy into residues and residue-pairwise terms revealed that it is mainly apolar interactions between the three specific hydrophobic fragments 31-35 (C-terminal region), 17-20 (central hydrophobic core) and 12-14 (N-terminal region) that are responsible for such a favourable effect. The conformation in which the hydrophobic cthr-chc interaction is oriented perpendicularly is particularly important. We propose three other model substructures that favour the oligomerization process and can thus be considered as molecular targets for future inhibitors. Understanding Aβ oligomerization at the residue level could lead to more efficient design of inhibitors of this process.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Pouplana
- Departament de Fisicoquímica, Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona, Av. Joan XXIII, s/n, Diagonal Sud, 08028, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
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Berhanu WM, Hansmann UHE. Stability of amyloid oligomers. ADVANCES IN PROTEIN CHEMISTRY AND STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY 2014; 96:113-41. [PMID: 25443956 DOI: 10.1016/bs.apcsb.2014.06.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/12/2023]
Abstract
Molecular simulations are now commonly used to complement experimental techniques in investigating amyloids and their role in human diseases. In this chapter, we will summarize techniques and approaches often used in amyloid simulations and will present recent success stories. Our examples will be focused on lessons learned from molecular dynamics simulations in aqueous environments that start from preformed aggregates. These studies explore the limitations that arise from the choice of force field, the role of mutations in the growth of amyloid aggregates, segmental polymorphism, and the importance of cross-seeding. Furthermore, they give evidence for potential toxicity mechanisms. We finally discuss the role of molecular simulations in the search for aggregation inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Workalemahu M Berhanu
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA
| | - Ulrich H E Hansmann
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA.
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38
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Sterpone F, Melchionna S, Tuffery P, Pasquali S, Mousseau N, Cragnolini T, Chebaro Y, St-Pierre JF, Kalimeri M, Barducci A, Laurin Y, Tek A, Baaden M, Nguyen PH, Derreumaux P. The OPEP protein model: from single molecules, amyloid formation, crowding and hydrodynamics to DNA/RNA systems. Chem Soc Rev 2014; 43:4871-93. [PMID: 24759934 PMCID: PMC4426487 DOI: 10.1039/c4cs00048j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 120] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
The OPEP coarse-grained protein model has been applied to a wide range of applications since its first release 15 years ago. The model, which combines energetic and structural accuracy and chemical specificity, allows the study of single protein properties, DNA-RNA complexes, amyloid fibril formation and protein suspensions in a crowded environment. Here we first review the current state of the model and the most exciting applications using advanced conformational sampling methods. We then present the current limitations and a perspective on the ongoing developments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabio Sterpone
- Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, UPR 9080 CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, IBPC, 13 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005, Paris, France.
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39
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Li Y, Xu W, Mu Y, Zhang JZH. Acidic pH retards the fibrillization of human Islet Amyloid Polypeptide due to electrostatic repulsion of histidines. J Chem Phys 2014; 139:055102. [PMID: 23927287 DOI: 10.1063/1.4817000] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
The human Islet Amyloid Polypeptide (hIAPP) is the major constituent of amyloid deposits in pancreatic islets of type-II diabetes. IAPP is secreted together with insulin from the acidic secretory granules at a low pH of approximately 5.5 to the extracellular environment at a neutral pH. The increased accumulation of extracellular hIAPP in diabetes indicates that changes in pH may promote amyloid formation. To gain insights and underlying mechanisms of the pH effect on hIAPP fibrillogenesis, all-atom molecular dynamics simulations in explicit solvent model were performed to study the structural properties of five hIAPP protofibrillar oligomers, under acidic and neutral pH, respectively. In consistent with experimental findings, simulation results show that acidic pH is not conducive to the structural stability of these oligomers. This provides a direct evidence for a recent experiment [L. Khemtemourian, E. Domenech, J. P. F. Doux, M. C. Koorengevel, and J. A. Killian, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 133, 15598 (2011)], which suggests that acidic pH inhibits the fibril formation of hIAPP. In addition, a complementary coarse-grained simulation shows the repulsive electrostatic interactions among charged His18 residues slow down the dimerization process of hIAPP by twofold. Besides, our all-atom simulations reveal acidic pH mainly affects the local structure around residue His18 by destroying the surrounding hydrogen-bonding network, due to the repulsive interactions between protonated interchain His18 residues at acidic pH. It is also disclosed that the local interactions nearby His18 operating between adjacent β-strands trigger the structural transition, which gives hints to the experimental findings that the rate of hIAPP fibril formation and the morphologies of the fibrillar structures are strongly pH-dependent.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yang Li
- State Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, Department of Physics, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
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40
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Nguyen PH, Li MS, Derreumaux P. Amyloid oligomer structure characterization from simulations: A general method. J Chem Phys 2014; 140:094105. [DOI: 10.1063/1.4866902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
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41
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Nguyen P, Derreumaux P. Understanding amyloid fibril nucleation and aβ oligomer/drug interactions from computer simulations. Acc Chem Res 2014; 47:603-11. [PMID: 24368046 DOI: 10.1021/ar4002075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 102] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Evolution has fine-tuned proteins to accomplish a variety of tasks. Yet, with aging, some proteins assemble into harmful amyloid aggregates associated with neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), which presents a complex and costly challenge to our society. Thus, far, drug after drug has failed to slow the progression of AD, characterized by the self-assembly of the 39-43 amino acid β-amyloid (Aβ) protein into extracellular senile plaques that form a cross-β structure. While there is experimental evidence that the Aβ small oligomers are the primary toxic species, standard tools of biology have failed to provide structures of these transient, inhomogeneous assemblies. Despite extensive experimental studies, researchers have not successfully characterized the nucleus ensemble, the starting point for rapid fibril formation. Similarly scientists do not have atomic data to show how the compounds that reduce both fibril formation and toxicity in cells bind to Aβ42 oligomers. In this context, computer simulations are important tools for gaining insights into the self-assembly of amyloid peptides and the molecular mechanism of inhibitors. This Account reviews what analytical models and simulations at different time and length scales tell us about the dynamics, kinetics, and thermodynamics of amyloid fibril formation and, notably, the nucleation process. Though coarse-grained and mesoscopic protein models approximate atomistic details by averaging out unimportant degrees of freedom, they provide generic features of amyloid formation and insights into mechanistic details of the self-assembly process. The thermodynamics and kinetics vary from linear peptides adopting straight β-strands in fibrils to longer peptides adopting in parallel U shaped conformations in fibrils. In addition, these properties change with the balance between electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions and the intrinsic disorder of the system. However, simulations suggest that the critical nucleus size might be on the order of 20 chains under physiological conditions. The transition state might be characterized by a simultaneous change from mixed antiparallel/parallel β-strands with random side-chain packing to the final antiparallel or parallel states with the steric zipper packing of the side chains. Second, we review our current computer-based knowledge of the 3D structures of inhibitors with Aβ42 monomer and oligomers, a prerequisite for developing new drugs against AD. Recent extensive all-atom simulations of Aβ42 dimers with known inhibitors such as the green tea compound epigallocatechin-3-gallate and 1,4-naphthoquinon-2-yl-l-tryptophan provide a spectrum of initial Aβ42/inhibitor structures useful for screening and drug design. We conclude by discussing future directions that may offer opportunities to fully understand nucleation and further AD drug development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Phuong Nguyen
- Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, UPR 9080 CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, IBPC, 13 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Philippe Derreumaux
- Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, UPR 9080 CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, IBPC, 13 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France
- Institut Universitaire de France, IUF, 103 Boulevard Saint-Michel, 75005 Paris, France
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42
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Nguyen PH, Tarus B, Derreumaux P. Familial Alzheimer A2 V Mutation Reduces the Intrinsic Disorder and Completely Changes the Free Energy Landscape of the Aβ1–28 Monomer. J Phys Chem B 2014; 118:501-10. [DOI: 10.1021/jp4115404] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Phuong H. Nguyen
- Laboratoire
de Biochimie Théorique, UPR 9080 CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, IBPC, 13 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Bogdan Tarus
- Laboratoire
de Biochimie Théorique, UPR 9080 CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, IBPC, 13 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Philippe Derreumaux
- Laboratoire
de Biochimie Théorique, UPR 9080 CNRS, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, IBPC, 13 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France
- Institut Universitaire de France, IUF, 103 Boulevard Saint-Michel, 75005 Paris, France
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43
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Zhu M, Simone AD, Schenk D, Toth G, Dobson CM, Vendruscolo M. Identification of small-molecule binding pockets in the soluble monomeric form of the Aβ42 peptide. J Chem Phys 2013; 139:035101. [PMID: 23883055 PMCID: PMC5011423 DOI: 10.1063/1.4811831] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The aggregation of intrinsically disordered peptides and proteins is associated with a wide range of highly debilitating neurological and systemic disorders. In this work we explored the potential of a structure-based drug discovery procedure to target one such system, the soluble monomeric form of the Aβ42 peptide. We utilised for this purpose a set of structures of the Aβ42 peptide selected from clusters of conformations within an ensemble generated by molecular dynamics simulations. Using these structures we carried out fragment mapping calculations to identify binding "hot spots" on the monomeric form of the Aβ42 peptide. This procedure provided a set of hot spots with ligand efficiencies comparable to those observed for structured proteins, and clustered into binding pockets. Such binding pockets exhibited a propensity to bind small molecules known to interact with the Aβ42 peptide. Taken together these results provide an initial indication that fragment-based drug discovery may represent a potential therapeutic strategy for diseases associated with the aggregation of intrinsically disordered proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maximillian Zhu
- Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1EW, UK
| | - Alfonso De Simone
- Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1EW, UK
| | - Dale Schenk
- Elan Pharmaceuticals, South San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
| | - Gergely Toth
- Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1EW, UK
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44
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Nguyen PH, Derreumaux P. Conformational ensemble and polymorphism of the all-atom Alzheimer's Aβ(37-42) amyloid peptide oligomers. J Phys Chem B 2013; 117:5831-40. [PMID: 23581814 DOI: 10.1021/jp401563n] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Although the Aβ(37-42) peptide has two opposite terminal charges, counterintuitively its current fibril amyloid structure reveals in register parallel β-strands, as formed by the full length Aβ peptide. In this study, we carried out a replica exchange molecular dynamics simulation of 16 all-atom Aβ(37-42) peptides in explicit water starting from randomized and dispersed chains. The extensive conformational sampling (48 replicas, 460 ns/replica) with a total simulation time of 23 μs allows us to obtain a full picture on the equilibrium conformational distribution of oligomers and β-sheet sizes and gain some insights into the oligomerization process at 300 K. At the peptide concentration of 12 mM, self-assembly is described by the condensation-polymerization mechanism with conversion from micelle-like to high β-sheet structures. At equilibrium, the oligomer distribution consists of large aggregates and free monomers, representing 70% and 25% of all species, respectively. Though the formation/dissociation of β-strand is high, the population of 4-5 fully parallel β-strands, consistent with the arrangement in the current fibril, is marginal and that of 4-5 fully antiparallel β-strands, consistent with amyloid polymorphism, is non-negligible. However, the system adopts essentially mixed parallel/antiparallel β-strands. This indicates that a system of 16 Aβ(37-42) chains in explicit solvent still does not form more stable species that will irreversibly grow to a fibril, independently of polymorphism. Our results also suggest that the Aβ(37-42) fibril may display packing polymorphism with antiparallel β-strands, in addition to the experimentally observed in register parallel β-strands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Phuong H Nguyen
- Laboratoire de Biochimie Théorique, UPR 9080, CNRS, Université Denis Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, IBPC, 13 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France.
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45
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Abstract
In biomolecular systems (especially all-atom models) with many degrees of freedom such as proteins and nucleic acids, there exist an astronomically large number of local-minimum-energy states. Conventional simulations in the canonical ensemble are of little use, because they tend to get trapped in states of these energy local minima. Enhanced conformational sampling techniques are thus in great demand. A simulation in generalized ensemble performs a random walk in potential energy space and can overcome this difficulty. From only one simulation run, one can obtain canonical-ensemble averages of physical quantities as functions of temperature by the single-histogram and/or multiple-histogram reweighting techniques. In this article we review uses of the generalized-ensemble algorithms in biomolecular systems. Three well-known methods, namely, multicanonical algorithm, simulated tempering, and replica-exchange method, are described first. Both Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics versions of the algorithms are given. We then present various extensions of these three generalized-ensemble algorithms. The effectiveness of the methods is tested with short peptide and protein systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ayori Mitsutake
- Department of Physics, Keio University, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
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46
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Abstract
Coarse-grained models for protein folding and aggregation are used to explore large dimension scales and timescales that are inaccessible to all-atom models in explicit aqueous solution. Combined with enhanced configuration search methods, these simplified models with various levels of granularity offer the possibility to determine equilibrium structures, compare folding kinetics and thermodynamics with experiments for single proteins and understand the dynamic assembly of amyloid proteins leading to neurodegenerative diseases. I shall describe recent progress in developing such models, and discuss their potentials and limitations in probing the folding and misfolding of proteins with computer simulations.
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47
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Liu C, Zhao M, Jiang L, Cheng PN, Park J, Sawaya MR, Pensalfini A, Gou D, Berk AJ, Glabe CG, Nowick J, Eisenberg D. Out-of-register β-sheets suggest a pathway to toxic amyloid aggregates. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2012; 109:20913-8. [PMID: 23213214 PMCID: PMC3529048 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1218792109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 158] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Although aberrant protein aggregation has been conclusively linked to dozens of devastating amyloid diseases, scientists remain puzzled about the molecular features that render amyloid fibrils or small oligomers toxic. Here, we report a previously unobserved type of amyloid fibril that tests as cytotoxic: one in which the strands of the contributing β-sheets are out of register. In all amyloid fibrils previously characterized at the molecular level, only in-register β-sheets have been observed, in which each strand makes its full complement of hydrogen bonds with the strands above and below it in the fibril. In out-of-register sheets, strands are sheared relative to one another, leaving dangling hydrogen bonds. Based on this finding, we designed out-of-register β-sheet amyloid mimics, which form both cylindrin-like oligomers and fibrils, and these mimics are cytotoxic. Structural and energetic considerations suggest that out-of-register fibrils can readily convert to toxic cylindrins. We propose that out-of-register β-sheets and their related cylindrins are part of a toxic amyloid pathway, which is distinct from the more energetically favored in-register amyloid pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cong Liu
- aUCLA-DOE Institute for Genomics and Proteomics, The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Molecular Biology Institute and
| | - Minglei Zhao
- aUCLA-DOE Institute for Genomics and Proteomics, The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Molecular Biology Institute and
| | - Lin Jiang
- aUCLA-DOE Institute for Genomics and Proteomics, The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Molecular Biology Institute and
| | | | - Jiyong Park
- aUCLA-DOE Institute for Genomics and Proteomics, The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Molecular Biology Institute and
| | - Michael R. Sawaya
- aUCLA-DOE Institute for Genomics and Proteomics, The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Molecular Biology Institute and
| | - Anna Pensalfini
- cMolecular Biology and Biochemistry, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697-2025
| | - Dawei Gou
- dMolecular Biology Institute and Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095; and
| | - Arnold J. Berk
- dMolecular Biology Institute and Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095; and
| | - Charles G. Glabe
- cMolecular Biology and Biochemistry, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697-2025
| | - James Nowick
- Departments of bChemistry and
- 3To whom correspondence may be addressed. E-mail: or
| | - David Eisenberg
- aUCLA-DOE Institute for Genomics and Proteomics, The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Molecular Biology Institute and
- 3To whom correspondence may be addressed. E-mail: or
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48
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Lu Y, Wei G, Derreumaux P. Structural, thermodynamical, and dynamical properties of oligomers formed by the amyloid NNQQ peptide: insights from coarse-grained simulations. J Chem Phys 2012; 137:025101. [PMID: 22803563 DOI: 10.1063/1.4732761] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Characterizing the early formed oligomeric intermediates of amyloid peptides is of particular interest due to their links with neurodegenerative diseases. Here we study the NNQQ peptide, known to display parallel β-strands in amyloid fibrils by x-ray microcrystallography, and investigate the structural, thermodynamical, and dynamical properties of 20 NNQQ peptides using molecular dynamics and replica exchange molecular dynamics simulations coupled to a coarse-grained force field. All simulations are initiated from randomized and fully dispersed monomeric conformations. Our simulations reveal that the phase transition is characterized by a change in the oligomer and β-sheet size distributions and the percentage of mixed parallel/antiparallel β-strands when the sheets are formed. At all temperatures, however, the fraction of parallel β-strands remains low, though there are many association/fragmentation events. This work and a growing body of computational studies provide strong evidence that the critical nucleus goes beyond 20 chains and reordering of the β-strands occurs in larger oligomers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yan Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics, and Department of Physics, Fudan University, 220 Handan Road, Shanghai 200433, China
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49
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Saracino GAA, Cigognini D, Silva D, Caprini A, Gelain F. Nanomaterials design and tests for neural tissue engineering. Chem Soc Rev 2012; 42:225-62. [PMID: 22990473 DOI: 10.1039/c2cs35065c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 106] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Nanostructured scaffolds recently showed great promise in tissue engineering: nanomaterials can be tailored at the molecular level and scaffold morphology may more closely resemble features of extracellular matrix components in terms of porosity, framing and biofunctionalities. As a consequence, both biomechanical properties of scaffold microenvironments and biomaterial-protein interactions can be tuned, allowing for improved transplanted cell engraftment and better controlled diffusion of drugs. Easier said than done, a nanotech-based regenerative approach encompasses different fields of know-how, ranging from in silico simulations, nanomaterial synthesis and characterization at the nano-, micro- and mesoscales to random library screening methods (e.g. phage display), in vitro cellular-based experiments and validation in animal models of the target injury. All of these steps of the "assembly line" of nanostructured scaffolds are tightly interconnected both in their standard analysis techniques and in their most recent breakthroughs: indeed their efforts have to jointly provide the deepest possible analyses of the diverse facets of the challenging field of neural tissue engineering. The purpose of this review is therefore to provide a critical overview of the recent advances in and drawbacks and potential of each mentioned field, contributing to the realization of effective nanotech-based therapies for the regeneration of peripheral nerve transections, spinal cord injuries and brain traumatic injuries. Far from being the ultimate overview of such a number of topics, the reader will acknowledge the intrinsic complexity of the goal of nanotech tissue engineering for a conscious approach to the development of a regenerative therapy and, by deciphering the thread connecting all steps of the research, will gain the necessary view of its tremendous potential if each piece of stone is correctly placed to work synergically in this impressive mosaic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gloria A A Saracino
- Center for Nanomedicine and Tissue Engineering, A.O. Ospedale Niguarda Cà Granda, Milan, 20162, Italy
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50
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Srivastava A, Balaji PV. Size, orientation and organization of oligomers that nucleate amyloid fibrils: Clues from MD simulations of pre-formed aggregates. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-PROTEINS AND PROTEOMICS 2012; 1824:963-73. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbapap.2012.05.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2011] [Revised: 04/27/2012] [Accepted: 05/04/2012] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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