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Costa-Rodrigues D, Leite JP, Saraiva MJ, Almeida MR, Gales L. Transthyretin monomers: a new plasma biomarker for pre-symptomatic transthyretin-related amyloidosis. Amyloid 2024; 31:202-208. [PMID: 38946492 DOI: 10.1080/13506129.2024.2368860] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2024] [Revised: 05/14/2024] [Accepted: 06/12/2024] [Indexed: 07/02/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Genotyping and amyloid fibril detection in tissues are generally considered the diagnostic gold standard in transthyretin-related amyloidosis. Patients carry less stable TTR homotetramers prone to dissociation into non-native monomers, which rapidly self-assemble into oligomers and, ultimately, amyloid fibrils. Thus, the initial event of the amyloid cascade produces the smallest transthyretin species: the monomers. This creates engineering opportunities for diagnosis that remain unexplored. METHODS We hypothesise that molecular sieving represents a promising method for isolating and concentrating trace TTR monomers from the tetramers present in plasma samples. Subsequently, immunodetection can be utilised to distinguish monomeric TTR from other low molecular weight proteins within the adsorbed fraction. A two-step assay was devised (ImmunoSieve assay), combining molecular sieving and immunodetection for sensing monomeric transthyretin. This assay was employed to analyse plasma microsamples from 10 individuals, including 5 pre-symptomatic carriers of TTR-V30M, the most prevalent amyloidosis-associated TTR variant worldwide, and 5 healthy controls. RESULTS The ImmunoSieve assay enable sensitive detection of monomeric transthyretin in plasma microsamples. Moreover, the circulating monomeric TTR levels were significantly higher in carriers of amyloidogenic TTR mutation. CONCLUSIONS Monomeric TTR can function as a biomarker for evaluating disease progression and assessing responses to therapies targeted at stabilising native TTR.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diogo Costa-Rodrigues
- i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Portugal
- IBMC - Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Portugal
- ICBAS - Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Portugal
| | - José P Leite
- ICBAS - Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Portugal
| | - Maria João Saraiva
- i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Portugal
- IBMC - Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Portugal
| | - Maria Rosário Almeida
- i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Portugal
- IBMC - Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Portugal
- ICBAS - Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Portugal
| | - Luís Gales
- i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Portugal
- IBMC - Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Portugal
- ICBAS - Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Portugal
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Peck A, Yao Q, Brewster AS, Zwart PH, Heumann JM, Sauter NK, Jensen GJ. Challenges in solving structures from radiation-damaged tomograms of protein nanocrystals assessed by simulation. Acta Crystallogr D Struct Biol 2021; 77:572-586. [PMID: 33950014 PMCID: PMC8098477 DOI: 10.1107/s2059798321002369] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2020] [Accepted: 03/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Structure-determination methods are needed to resolve the atomic details that underlie protein function. X-ray crystallography has provided most of our knowledge of protein structure, but is constrained by the need for large, well ordered crystals and the loss of phase information. The rapidly developing methods of serial femtosecond crystallography, micro-electron diffraction and single-particle reconstruction circumvent the first of these limitations by enabling data collection from nanocrystals or purified proteins. However, the first two methods also suffer from the phase problem, while many proteins fall below the molecular-weight threshold required for single-particle reconstruction. Cryo-electron tomography of protein nanocrystals has the potential to overcome these obstacles of mainstream structure-determination methods. Here, a data-processing scheme is presented that combines routines from X-ray crystallography and new algorithms that have been developed to solve structures from tomograms of nanocrystals. This pipeline handles image-processing challenges specific to tomographic sampling of periodic specimens and is validated using simulated crystals. The tolerance of this workflow to the effects of radiation damage is also assessed. The simulations indicate a trade-off between a wider tilt range to facilitate merging data from multiple tomograms and a smaller tilt increment to improve phase accuracy. Since phase errors, but not merging errors, can be overcome with additional data sets, these results recommend distributing the dose over a wide angular range rather than using a finer sampling interval to solve the protein structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ariana Peck
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
| | - Qing Yao
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
| | - Aaron S. Brewster
- Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Petrus H. Zwart
- Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
- Center for Advanced Mathematics in Energy Research Applications, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley CA 94720, USA
| | - John M. Heumann
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
| | - Nicholas K. Sauter
- Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Grant J. Jensen
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
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Abstract
X-ray crystallography enables detailed structural studies of proteins to understand and modulate their function. Conducting crystallographic experiments at cryogenic temperatures has practical benefits but potentially limits the identification of functionally important alternative protein conformations that can be revealed only at room temperature (RT). This review discusses practical aspects of preparing, acquiring, and analyzing X-ray crystallography data at RT to demystify preconceived impracticalities that freeze progress of routine RT data collection at synchrotron sources. Examples are presented as conceptual and experimental templates to enable the design of RT-inspired studies; they illustrate the diversity and utility of gaining novel insights into protein conformational landscapes. An integrative view of protein conformational dynamics enables opportunities to advance basic and biomedical research.
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Wright ND, Collins P, Koekemoer L, Krojer T, Talon R, Nelson E, Ye M, Nowak R, Newman J, Ng JT, Mitrovich N, Wiggers H, von Delft F. The low-cost Shifter microscope stage transforms the speed and robustness of protein crystal harvesting. Acta Crystallogr D Struct Biol 2021; 77:62-74. [PMID: 33404526 PMCID: PMC7787106 DOI: 10.1107/s2059798320014114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2019] [Accepted: 10/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite the tremendous success of X-ray cryo-crystallography in recent decades, the transfer of crystals from the drops in which they are grown to diffractometer sample mounts remains a manual process in almost all laboratories. Here, the Shifter, a motorized, interactive microscope stage that transforms the entire crystal-mounting workflow from a rate-limiting manual activity to a controllable, high-throughput semi-automated process, is described. By combining the visual acuity and fine motor skills of humans with targeted hardware and software automation, it was possible to transform the speed and robustness of crystal mounting. Control software, triggered by the operator, manoeuvres crystallization plates beneath a clear protective cover, allowing the complete removal of film seals and thereby eliminating the tedium of repetitive seal cutting. The software, either upon request or working from an imported list, controls motors to position crystal drops under a hole in the cover for human mounting at a microscope. The software automatically captures experimental annotations for uploading to the user's data repository, removing the need for manual documentation. The Shifter facilitates mounting rates of 100-240 crystals per hour in a more controlled process than manual mounting, which greatly extends the lifetime of the drops and thus allows a dramatic increase in the number of crystals retrievable from any given drop without loss of X-ray diffraction quality. In 2015, the first in a series of three Shifter devices was deployed as part of the XChem fragment-screening facility at Diamond Light Source, where they have since facilitated the mounting of over 120 000 crystals. The Shifter was engineered to have a simple design, providing a device that could be readily commercialized and widely adopted owing to its low cost. The versatile hardware design allows use beyond fragment screening and protein crystallography.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathan David Wright
- Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Oxford, ORCRB, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7DQ, United Kingdom
| | - Patrick Collins
- I04-1, Diamond Light Source Ltd, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0QX, United Kingdom
| | - Lizbé Koekemoer
- Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Oxford, ORCRB, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7DQ, United Kingdom
| | - Tobias Krojer
- Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Oxford, ORCRB, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7DQ, United Kingdom
| | - Romain Talon
- Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Oxford, ORCRB, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7DQ, United Kingdom
- I04-1, Diamond Light Source Ltd, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0QX, United Kingdom
| | - Elliot Nelson
- Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Oxford, ORCRB, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7DQ, United Kingdom
| | - Mingda Ye
- Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Oxford, ORCRB, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7DQ, United Kingdom
| | - Radosław Nowak
- Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Oxford, ORCRB, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7DQ, United Kingdom
| | - Joseph Newman
- Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Oxford, ORCRB, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7DQ, United Kingdom
| | - Jia Tsing Ng
- Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Oxford, ORCRB, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7DQ, United Kingdom
| | - Nick Mitrovich
- Oxford Lab Technologies Ltd, Kemp House, 160 City Road, London EC1V 2N, United Kingdom
| | - Helton Wiggers
- Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Oxford, ORCRB, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7DQ, United Kingdom
| | - Frank von Delft
- Structural Genomics Consortium, University of Oxford, ORCRB, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7DQ, United Kingdom
- I04-1, Diamond Light Source Ltd, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot OX11 0QX, United Kingdom
- Faculty of Science, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, Johannesburg 2006, South Africa
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Hiromoto T, Nishikawa K, Inoue S, Matsuura H, Hirano Y, Kurihara K, Kusaka K, Cuneo M, Coates L, Tamada T, Higuchi Y. Towards cryogenic neutron crystallography on the reduced form of [NiFe]-hydrogenase. ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION D-STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY 2020; 76:946-953. [PMID: 33021496 DOI: 10.1107/s2059798320011365] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2020] [Accepted: 08/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
A membrane-bound hydrogenase from Desulfovibrio vulgaris Miyazaki F is a metalloenzyme that contains a binuclear Ni-Fe complex in its active site and mainly catalyzes the oxidation of molecular hydrogen to generate a proton gradient in the bacterium. The active-site Ni-Fe complex of the aerobically purified enzyme shows its inactive oxidized form, which can be reactivated through reduction by hydrogen. Here, in order to understand how the oxidized form is reactivated by hydrogen and further to directly evaluate the bridging of a hydride ligand in the reduced form of the Ni-Fe complex, a neutron structure determination was undertaken on single crystals grown in a hydrogen atmosphere. Cryogenic crystallography is being introduced into the neutron diffraction research field as it enables the trapping of short-lived intermediates and the collection of diffraction data to higher resolution. To optimize the cooling of large crystals under anaerobic conditions, the effects on crystal quality were evaluated by X-rays using two typical methods, the use of a cold nitrogen-gas stream and plunge-cooling into liquid nitrogen, and the former was found to be more effective in cooling the crystals uniformly than the latter. Neutron diffraction data for the reactivated enzyme were collected at the Japan Photon Accelerator Research Complex under cryogenic conditions, where the crystal diffracted to a resolution of 2.0 Å. A neutron diffraction experiment on the reduced form was carried out at Oak Ridge National Laboratory under cryogenic conditions and showed diffraction peaks to a resolution of 2.4 Å.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takeshi Hiromoto
- Institute for Quantum Life Science, National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology, 2-4 Shirakata, Tokai, Ibaraki 319-1106, Japan
| | - Koji Nishikawa
- Graduate School of Life Science, University of Hyogo, 3-2-1 Koto, Kamigori, Hyogo 678-1297, Japan
| | - Seiya Inoue
- Graduate School of Life Science, University of Hyogo, 3-2-1 Koto, Kamigori, Hyogo 678-1297, Japan
| | - Hiroaki Matsuura
- Graduate School of Life Science, University of Hyogo, 3-2-1 Koto, Kamigori, Hyogo 678-1297, Japan
| | - Yu Hirano
- Institute for Quantum Life Science, National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology, 2-4 Shirakata, Tokai, Ibaraki 319-1106, Japan
| | - Kazuo Kurihara
- Institute for Quantum Life Science, National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology, 2-4 Shirakata, Tokai, Ibaraki 319-1106, Japan
| | - Katsuhiro Kusaka
- Frontier Research Center for Applied Atomic Sciences, Ibaraki University, 162-1 Shirakata, Tokai, Ibaraki 319-1106, Japan
| | - Matthew Cuneo
- Neutron Scattering Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 1 Bethel Valley Road, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
| | - Leighton Coates
- Neutron Scattering Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 1 Bethel Valley Road, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
| | - Taro Tamada
- Institute for Quantum Life Science, National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology, 2-4 Shirakata, Tokai, Ibaraki 319-1106, Japan
| | - Yoshiki Higuchi
- Graduate School of Life Science, University of Hyogo, 3-2-1 Koto, Kamigori, Hyogo 678-1297, Japan
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Moreau DW, Atakisi H, Thorne RE. Solvent flows, conformation changes and lattice reordering in a cold protein crystal. Acta Crystallogr D Struct Biol 2019; 75:980-994. [PMID: 31692472 PMCID: PMC6834080 DOI: 10.1107/s2059798319013822] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2019] [Accepted: 10/10/2019] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
When protein crystals are abruptly cooled, the unit-cell, protein and solvent-cavity volumes all contract, but the volume of bulk-like internal solvent may expand. Outflow of this solvent from the unit cell and its accumulation in defective interior crystal regions has been suggested as one cause of the large increase in crystal mosaicity on cooling. It is shown that when apoferritin crystals are abruptly cooled to temperatures between 220 and 260 K, the unit cell contracts, solvent is pushed out and the mosaicity grows. On temperature-dependent timescales of 10 to 200 s, the unit-cell and solvent-cavity volume then expand, solvent flows back in, and the mosaicity and B factor both drop. Expansion and reordering at fixed low temperature are associated with small-amplitude but large-scale changes in the conformation and packing of apoferritin. These results demonstrate that increases in mosaicity on cooling arise due to solvent flows out of or into the unit cell and to incomplete, arrested relaxation of protein conformation. They indicate a critical role for time in variable-temperature crystallographic studies, and the feasibility of probing interactions and cooperative conformational changes that underlie cold denaturation in the presence of liquid solvent at temperatures down to ∼200 K.
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Affiliation(s)
- David W. Moreau
- Physics Department, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Hakan Atakisi
- Physics Department, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
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7
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Harrison K, Wu Z, Juers DH. A comparison of gas stream cooling and plunge cooling of macromolecular crystals. J Appl Crystallogr 2019; 52:1222-1232. [PMID: 31636524 PMCID: PMC6782077 DOI: 10.1107/s1600576719010318] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2018] [Accepted: 07/18/2019] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Cryocooling for macromolecular crystallography is usually performed via plunging the crystal into a liquid cryogen or placing the crystal in a cold gas stream. These two approaches are compared here for the case of nitro-gen cooling. The results show that gas stream cooling, which typically cools the crystal more slowly, yields lower mosaicity and, in some cases, a stronger anomalous signal relative to rapid plunge cooling. During plunging, moving the crystal slowly through the cold gas layer above the liquid surface can produce mosaicity similar to gas stream cooling. Annealing plunge cooled crystals by warming and recooling in the gas stream allows the mosaicity and anomalous signal to recover. For tetragonal thermolysin, the observed effects are less pronounced when the cryosolvent has smaller thermal contraction, under which conditions the protein structures from plunge cooled and gas stream cooled crystals are very similar. Finally, this work also demonstrates that the resolution dependence of the reflecting range is correlated with the cooling method, suggesting it may be a useful tool for discerning whether crystals are cooled too rapidly. The results support previous studies suggesting that slower cooling methods are less deleterious to crystal order, as long as ice formation is prevented and dehydration is limited.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaitlin Harrison
- Department of Physics and Program in Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology, Whitman College, 345 Boyer Avenue, Walla Walla, WA 99362, USA
| | - Zhenguo Wu
- Department of Physics and Program in Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology, Whitman College, 345 Boyer Avenue, Walla Walla, WA 99362, USA
| | - Douglas H Juers
- Department of Physics and Program in Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology, Whitman College, 345 Boyer Avenue, Walla Walla, WA 99362, USA
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Moreau DW, Atakisi H, Thorne RE. Ice formation and solvent nanoconfinement in protein crystals. IUCRJ 2019; 6:346-356. [PMID: 31098016 PMCID: PMC6503922 DOI: 10.1107/s2052252519001878] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2018] [Accepted: 01/31/2019] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
Ice formation within protein crystals is a major obstacle to the cryocrystallographic study of protein structure, and has limited studies of how the structural ensemble of a protein evolves with temperature in the biophysically interesting range from ∼260 K to the protein-solvent glass transition near 200 K. Using protein crystals with solvent cavities as large as ∼70 Å, time-resolved X-ray diffraction was used to study the response of protein and internal solvent during rapid cooling. Solvent nanoconfinement suppresses freezing temperatures and ice-nucleation rates so that ice-free, low-mosaicity diffraction data can be reliably collected down to 200 K without the use of cryoprotectants. Hexagonal ice (Ih) forms in external solvent, but internal crystal solvent forms stacking-disordered ice (Isd) with a near-random stacking of cubic and hexagonal planes. Analysis of powder diffraction from internal ice and single-crystal diffraction from the host protein structure shows that the maximum crystallizable solvent fraction decreases with decreasing crystal solvent-cavity size, and that an ∼6 Å thick layer of solvent adjacent to the protein surface cannot crystallize. These results establish protein crystals as excellent model systems for the study of nanoconfined solvent. By combining fast cooling, intense X-ray beams and fast X-ray detectors, complete structural data sets for high-value targets, including membrane proteins and large complexes, may be collected at ∼220-240 K that have much lower mosaicities and comparable B factors, and that may allow more confident identification of ligand binding than in current cryocrystallographic practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- David W. Moreau
- Physics Department, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Hakan Atakisi
- Physics Department, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
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