1
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Puławski W, Dec R, Dzwolak W. Clues to the Design of Aggregation-Resistant Insulin from Proline Scanning of Highly Amyloidogenic Peptides Derived from the N-Terminal Segment of the A-Chain. Mol Pharm 2024; 21:2025-2033. [PMID: 38525800 PMCID: PMC10988558 DOI: 10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.4c00077] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2024] [Revised: 03/05/2024] [Accepted: 03/12/2024] [Indexed: 03/26/2024]
Abstract
Insulin aggregation poses a significant problem in pharmacology and medicine as it occurs during prolonged storage of the hormone and in vivo at insulin injection sites. We have recently shown that dominant forces driving the self-assembly of insulin fibrils are likely to arise from intermolecular interactions involving the N-terminal segment of the A-chain (ACC1-13). Here, we study how proline substitutions within the pilot GIVEQ sequence of this fragment affect its propensity to aggregate in both neutral and acidic environments. In a reasonable agreement with in silico prediction based on the Cordax algorithm, proline substitutions at positions 3, 4, and 5 turn out to be very effective in preventing aggregation according to thioflavin T-fluorescence-based kinetic assay, infrared spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Since the valine and glutamate side chains within this segment are strongly involved in the interactions with the insulin receptor, we have focused on the possible implications of the Q → P substitution for insulin's stability and interactions with the receptor. To this end, comparative molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of the Q5P mutant and wild-type insulin were carried out for both free and receptor-bound (site 1) monomers. The results point to a mild destabilization of the mutant vis à vis the wild-type monomer, as well as partial preservation of key contacts in the complex between Q5P insulin and the receptor. We discuss the implications of these findings in the context of the design of aggregation-resistant insulin analogues retaining hormonal activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wojciech Puławski
- Bioinformatics
Laboratory, Mossakowski Medical Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Pawinski Street 5, 02-106 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Robert Dec
- Faculty
of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Pasteur Street 1, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Wojciech Dzwolak
- Faculty
of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Pasteur Street 1, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
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2
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Fortunka M, Dec R, Puławski W, Guza M, Dzwolak W. Self-Assembly of Insulin-Derived Chimeric Peptides into Two-Component Amyloid Fibrils: The Role of Coulombic Interactions. J Phys Chem B 2023; 127:6597-6607. [PMID: 37492019 PMCID: PMC10405213 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.3c00976] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2023] [Revised: 07/05/2023] [Indexed: 07/27/2023]
Abstract
Canonical amyloid fibrils are composed of covalently identical polypeptide chains. Here, we employ kinetic assays, atomic force microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, circular dichroism, and molecular dynamics simulations to study fibrillization patterns of two chimeric peptides, ACC1-13E8 and ACC1-13K8, in which a potent amyloidogenic stretch derived from the N-terminal segment of the insulin A-chain (ACC1-13) is coupled to octaglutamate or octalysine segments, respectively. While large electric charges prevent aggregation of either peptide at neutral pH, stoichiometric mixing of ACC1-13E8 and ACC1-13K8 triggers rapid self-assembly of two-component fibrils driven by favorable Coulombic interactions. The low-symmetry nonpolar ACC1-13 pilot sequence is crucial in enforcing the fibrillar structure consisting of parallel β-sheets as the self-assembly of free poly-E and poly-K chains under similar conditions results in amorphous antiparallel β-sheets. Interestingly, ACC1-13E8 forms highly ordered fibrils also when paired with nonpolypeptide polycationic amines such as branched polyethylenimine, instead of ACC1-13K8. Such synthetic polycations are more effective in triggering the fibrillization of ACC1-13E8 than poly-K (or poly-E in the case of ACC1-13K8). The high conformational flexibility of these polyamines makes up for the apparent mismatch in periodicity of charged groups. The results are discussed in the context of mechanisms of heterogeneous disease-related amyloidogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mateusz Fortunka
- Faculty
of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Pasteur Street 1, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Robert Dec
- Faculty
of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Pasteur Street 1, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Wojciech Puławski
- Bioinformatics
Laboratory, Mossakowski Medical Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Pawinski Street 5, 02-106 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Marcin Guza
- Faculty
of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Pasteur Street 1, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Wojciech Dzwolak
- Faculty
of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Pasteur Street 1, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
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3
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Puławski W, Koliński A, Koliński M. Integrative modeling of diverse protein-peptide systems using CABS-dock. PLoS Comput Biol 2023; 19:e1011275. [PMID: 37405984 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1011275] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2023] [Accepted: 06/15/2023] [Indexed: 07/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The CABS model can be applied to a wide range of protein-protein and protein-peptide molecular modeling tasks, such as simulating folding pathways, predicting structures, docking, and analyzing the structural dynamics of molecular complexes. In this work, we use the CABS-dock tool in two diverse modeling tasks: 1) predicting the structures of amyloid protofilaments and 2) identifying cleavage sites in the peptide substrates of proteolytic enzymes. In the first case, simulations of the simultaneous docking of amyloidogenic peptides indicated that the CABS model can accurately predict the structures of amyloid protofilaments which have an in-register parallel architecture. Scoring based on a combination of symmetry criteria and estimated interaction energy values for bound monomers enables the identification of protofilament models that closely match their experimental structures for 5 out of 6 analyzed systems. For the second task, it has been shown that CABS-dock coarse-grained docking simulations can be used to identify the positions of cleavage sites in the peptide substrates of proteolytic enzymes. The cleavage site position was correctly identified for 12 out of 15 analyzed peptides. When combined with sequence-based methods, these docking simulations may lead to an efficient way of predicting cleavage sites in degraded proteins. The method also provides the atomic structures of enzyme-substrate complexes, which can give insights into enzyme-substrate interactions that are crucial for the design of new potent inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wojciech Puławski
- Bioinformatics Laboratory, Mossakowski Medical Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | | | - Michał Koliński
- Bioinformatics Laboratory, Mossakowski Medical Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
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4
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Dec R, Okoń R, Puławski W, Wacławska M, Dzwolak W. Forced amyloidogenic cooperativity of structurally incompatible peptide segments: Fibrillization behavior of highly aggregation-prone A-chain fragment of insulin coupled to all-L, and alternating L/D octaglutamates. Int J Biol Macromol 2022; 223:362-369. [PMID: 36368353 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2022.11.050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2022] [Accepted: 11/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Aggregation of proteins into amyloid fibrils is driven by interactions between relatively small amyloidogenic segments. The interplay between aggregation-prone and aggregation-resistant fragments within a single polypeptide chain remains obscure. Here, we examine fibrillization behavior of two chimeric peptides, ACC1-13E8 and ACC1-13E8(L/D), in which the highly amyloidogenic fragment of insulin (ACC1-13) is extended by an octaglutamate segment composed of all-L (E8), or alternating L/D residues (E8(L/D)). As separate entities, ACC1-13 readily forms fibrils with the infrared features of parallel β-sheet while E8 forms antiparallel β-sheets with the distinct infrared characteristics. This contrasts with the profoundly aggregation-resistant E8(L/D), although L/D patterns have been hypothesized as compatible with aggregated α-sheets. ACC1-13E8 and ACC1-13E8(L/D) are found to be equally prone to fibrillization at low pH, or in the presence of Ca2+ ions. Fibrillar states of both ACC1-13E8 and ACC1-13E8(L/D) reveal the infrared features of highly ordered parallel β-sheet without evidence of β2-aggregates (ACC1-13E8) or α-sheets (ACC1-13E8(L/D)). Hence, the preferred structural pattern of ACC1-13 overrides the tendency of E8 to form antiparallel β-sheets and enforces the fibrillar order in E8(L/D). We demonstrate how the powerful amyloid stretch determines the overall amyloid structure forcing non-amyloidogenic fragments to participate in its native amyloid pattern.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Dec
- Faculty of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Pasteur Street 1, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Róża Okoń
- Faculty of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Pasteur Street 1, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Wojciech Puławski
- Bioinformatics Laboratory, Mossakowski Medical Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Pawinskiego Street 5, 02-106 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Matylda Wacławska
- Faculty of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Pasteur Street 1, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Wojciech Dzwolak
- Faculty of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Pasteur Street 1, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland; Institute of High Pressure Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Sokołowska Street 29/37, 01-142 Warsaw, Poland.
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5
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Puławski W, Dzwolak W. Virtual Quasi-2D Intermediates as Building Blocks for Plausible Structural Models of Amyloid Fibrils from Proteins with Complex Topologies: A Case Study of Insulin. Langmuir 2022; 38:7024-7034. [PMID: 35617668 PMCID: PMC9178918 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.2c00699] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2022] [Revised: 05/08/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Conformational transitions of globular proteins into amyloid fibrils are complex multistage processes exceedingly challenging to simulate using molecular dynamics (MD). Slow monomer diffusion rates and rugged free energy landscapes disfavor swift self-assembly of orderly amyloid architectures within timescales accessible to all-atom MD. Here, we conduct a multiscale MD study of the amyloidogenic self-assembly of insulin: a small protein with a complex topology defined by two polypeptide chains interlinked by three disulfide bonds. To avoid kinetic traps, unconventional preplanarized insulin conformations are used as amyloid building blocks. These starting conformers generated through uniaxial compression of the native monomer in various spatial directions represent 6 distinct (out of 16 conceivable) two-dimensional (2D) topological classes varying in N-/C-terminal segments of insulin's A- and B-chains being placed inside or outside of the central loop constituted by the middle sections of both chains and Cys7A-Cys7B/Cys19B-Cys20A disulfide bonds. Simulations of the fibrillar self-assembly are initiated through a biased in-register alignment of two, three, or four layers of flat conformers belonging to a single topological class. The various starting topologies are conserved throughout the self-assembly process resulting in polymorphic amyloid fibrils varying in structural features such as helical twist, presence of cavities, and overall stability. Some of the protofilament structures obtained in this work are highly compatible with the earlier biophysical studies on insulin amyloid and high-resolution studies on insulin-derived amyloidogenic peptide models postulating the presence of steric zippers. Our approach provides in silico means to study amyloidogenic tendencies and viable amyloid architectures of larger disulfide-constrained proteins with complex topologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wojciech Puławski
- Institute
of High Pressure Physics, Polish Academy
of Sciences, 29/37 Sokołowska
Str., 01-142 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Wojciech Dzwolak
- Institute
of High Pressure Physics, Polish Academy
of Sciences, 29/37 Sokołowska
Str., 01-142 Warsaw, Poland
- Faculty
of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, 1 Pasteur Str., 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
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Abstract
ATP acts as a biological hydrotrope preventing protein aggregation. Here, we report a novel chimeric peptide, ACC1-13K8, with an unusual capacity to bind and incorporate ATP while self-assembling into amyloid fibrils. The amino acid sequence combines a highly amyloidogenic segment of insulin's A-chain (ACC1-13) and octalysine (K8). Fibrillization requires binding 2 ATP molecules per ACC1-13K8 monomer and is not triggered by adenosine di- and monophosphates (ADP, AMP). Infrared and CD spectra and AFM-based morphological analysis reveal tight and orderly entrapment of ATP within superstructural hybrid peptide-ATP fibrils. The incorporation of ATP is an emergent property of ACC1-13K8 not observed for ACC1-13 and K8 segments separately. We demonstrate how new functionalities (e.g. ATP storage) emerge from synergistic coupling of amyloidogenic segments with non-amyloidogenic peptide ligands, and suggest that ATP's role in protein misfolding is more nuanced than previously assumed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Dec
- Faculty of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, 1 Pasteur Street, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland. .,Institute of High Pressure Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, 29/37 Sokołowska Street, 01-142 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Wojciech Puławski
- Institute of High Pressure Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, 29/37 Sokołowska Street, 01-142 Warsaw, Poland.,Bioinformatics Laboratory, Mossakowski Medical Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, 5 Pawinskiego Street, 02-106 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Wojciech Dzwolak
- Faculty of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, 1 Pasteur Street, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland. .,Institute of High Pressure Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, 29/37 Sokołowska Street, 01-142 Warsaw, Poland
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7
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Wacławska M, Guza M, Ścibisz G, Fortunka M, Dec R, Puławski W, Dzwolak W. Reversible Freeze-Induced β-Sheet-to-Disorder Transition in Aggregated Homopolypeptide System. J Phys Chem B 2019; 123:9080-9086. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.9b06097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Matylda Wacławska
- Faculty of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, 1 Pasteur Str., Warsaw 02-093, Poland
| | - Marcin Guza
- Faculty of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, 1 Pasteur Str., Warsaw 02-093, Poland
| | - Grzegorz Ścibisz
- Faculty of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, 1 Pasteur Str., Warsaw 02-093, Poland
| | - Mateusz Fortunka
- Faculty of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, 1 Pasteur Str., Warsaw 02-093, Poland
| | - Robert Dec
- Faculty of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, 1 Pasteur Str., Warsaw 02-093, Poland
| | - Wojciech Puławski
- Institute of High Pressure Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Sokołowska 29/37 Str., Warsaw 01-142, Poland
| | - Wojciech Dzwolak
- Faculty of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, 1 Pasteur Str., Warsaw 02-093, Poland
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8
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Kluz M, Nieznańska H, Dec R, Dzięcielewski I, Niżyński B, Ścibisz G, Puławski W, Staszczak G, Klein E, Smalc-Koziorowska J, Dzwolak W. Revisiting the conformational state of albumin conjugated to gold nanoclusters: A self-assembly pathway to giant superstructures unraveled. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0218975. [PMID: 31247048 PMCID: PMC6597083 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0218975] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2019] [Accepted: 06/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Bovine serum albumin (BSA) is often employed as a proteinaceous component for synthesis of luminescent protein-stabilized gold nanoclusters (AuNC): intriguing systems with many potential applications. Typically, the formation of BSA-AuNC conjugate occurs under strongly alkaline conditions. Due to the sheer complexity of intertwined chemical and structural transitions taking place upon BSA-AuNC formation, the state of albumin enveloping AuNCs remains poorly characterized. Here, we study the conformational properties of BSA bound to AuNCs using an array of biophysical tools including vibrational spectroscopy, circular dichroism, fluorescence spectroscopy and trypsin digestion. The alkaline conditions of BSA-AuNC self-assembly appear to be primary responsible for the profound irreversible disruption of tertiary contacts, partial unfolding of native α-helices, hydrolysis of disulfide bonds and the protein becoming vulnerable to trypsin digestion. Further unfolding of BSA-AuNC by guanidinium hydrochloride (GdnHCl) is fully reversible equally in terms of albumin's secondary structure and conjugate's luminescent properties. This suggests that binding to AuNCs traps the albumin molecule in a state that is both partly disordered and refractory to irreversible misfolding. Indeed, when BSA-AuNC is subjected to conditions favoring self-association of BSA into amyloid-like fibrils, the buildup of non-native β-sheet conformation is less pronounced than in a control experiment with unmodified BSA. Unexpectedly, BSA-AuNC reveals a tendency to self-assemble into giant twisted superstructures of micrometer lengths detectable with transmission electron microscopy (TEM), a property absent in unmodified BSA. The process is accompanied by ordering of bound AuNCs into elongated streaks and simultaneous decrease in fluorescence intensity. The newly discovered self-association pathway appears to be specifically accessible to protein molecules with a certain restriction on structural dynamics which in the case of BSA-AuNC arises from binding to metal nanoclusters. Our results have been discussed in the context of mechanisms of protein misfolding and applications of BSA-AuNC.
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MESH Headings
- Amino Acid Sequence
- Animals
- Cattle
- Circular Dichroism
- Gold/chemistry
- Metal Nanoparticles/chemistry
- Metal Nanoparticles/ultrastructure
- Microscopy, Atomic Force
- Microscopy, Electron, Scanning
- Microscopy, Electron, Transmission
- Models, Molecular
- Protein Aggregates
- Protein Conformation
- Protein Denaturation
- Protein Stability
- Serum Albumin, Bovine/chemistry
- Serum Albumin, Bovine/genetics
- Serum Albumin, Bovine/ultrastructure
- Spectrometry, Fluorescence
- Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
- Spectrum Analysis, Raman
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Affiliation(s)
- Michał Kluz
- Institute of High Pressure Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Hanna Nieznańska
- Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Robert Dec
- Institute of High Pressure Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
- Department of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Igor Dzięcielewski
- Institute of High Pressure Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Bartosz Niżyński
- Department of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Grzegorz Ścibisz
- Department of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Wojciech Puławski
- Institute of High Pressure Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Grzegorz Staszczak
- Institute of High Pressure Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Ewelina Klein
- Institute of High Pressure Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | | | - Wojciech Dzwolak
- Institute of High Pressure Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
- Department of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
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9
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Hernik-Magoń A, Fedorczyk B, Dec R, Puławski W, Misicka A, Dzwolak W. Effects of terminal capping on the fibrillation of short (L-Glu) n peptides. Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces 2017; 159:861-868. [PMID: 28892870 DOI: 10.1016/j.colsurfb.2017.08.061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2017] [Revised: 08/23/2017] [Accepted: 08/30/2017] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Several homopolypeptides including poly-l-glutamic acid (PLGA) form amyloid-like fibrils under favorable physicochemical conditions. We have shown recently that even short uncapped (Glu)n peptides (for n>3) form fibrillar β-aggregates which cross-seed with amyloid fibrils obtained from high molecular weight fractions of PLGA. Here we investigate effects of N-terminal acetylation and C-terminal amidation on the amyloidogenic tendencies of (Glu)n peptides containing 3, 4, and 5 residues. Our results based primarily on time-lapse FT-IR spectroscopy and AFM microscopy indicate that selective modifications of C-termini (and, to a lesser degree, of N-termini) decrease capacity of tetra- and pentapeptides to form fibrils. On the other hand, peptides modified at both ends appear to form fibrils as fast as unmodified analogues. In fact, the double terminal modification enables fibrillation of (Glu)3 which is not fibrillogenic in the unmodified state. The AFM data suggests that the double capping results in the aggregates becoming more tape-like or acquiring noticeable tendencies to bend. According to seeding and cross-seeding experiments, there is a high degree of promiscuity between modified and unmodified peptides. Possible mechanisms explaining how amyloidogenic propensities of (Glu)n peptides are affected by terminal modifications have been discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Agnieszka Hernik-Magoń
- Department of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Pasteur 1 St., 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Bartłomiej Fedorczyk
- Department of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Pasteur 1 St., 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Robert Dec
- Department of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Pasteur 1 St., 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Wojciech Puławski
- Department of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Pasteur 1 St., 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Aleksandra Misicka
- Department of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Pasteur 1 St., 02-093 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Wojciech Dzwolak
- Department of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Pasteur 1 St., 02-093 Warsaw, Poland.
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10
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Hernik-Magoń A, Puławski W, Fedorczyk B, Tymecka D, Misicka A, Szymczak P, Dzwolak W. Beware of Cocktails: Chain-Length Bidispersity Triggers Explosive Self-Assembly of Poly-L-Glutamic Acid β2-Fibrils. Biomacromolecules 2016; 17:1376-82. [PMID: 26909651 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biomac.5b01770] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Chain-length polydispersity is among the least understood factors governing the fibrillation propensity of homopolypeptides. For monodisperse poly-L-glutamic acid (PLGA), the tendency to form fibrils depends of the main-chain length. Long-chained PLGA, so-called (Glu)200, fibrillates more readily than short (Glu)5 fragments. Here we show that conversion of α-helical (Glu)200 into amyloid-like β-fibrils is dramatically accelerated in the presence of intrinsically disordered (Glu)5. While separately self-assembled fibrils of (Glu)200 and (Glu)5 reveal distinct morphological and infrared characteristics, accelerated fibrillation in mixed (Glu)200 and (Glu)5 leads to aggregates similar to neat (Glu)200 fibrils, even in excess of (Glu)5. According to molecular dynamics simulations and circular dichroism measurements, local events of "misfolding transfer" from (Glu)5 to (Glu)200 may play a key role in the initial stages of conformational dynamics underlying the observed phenomenon. Our results highlight chain-length polydispersity as a potent, although so-far unrecognized factor profoundly affecting the fibrillation propensity of homopolypeptides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Agnieszka Hernik-Magoń
- Department of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, and ‡Institute of Theoretical Physics, Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw , Warsaw, Poland
| | - Wojciech Puławski
- Department of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, and ‡Institute of Theoretical Physics, Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw , Warsaw, Poland
| | - Bartłomiej Fedorczyk
- Department of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, and ‡Institute of Theoretical Physics, Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw , Warsaw, Poland
| | - Dagmara Tymecka
- Department of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, and ‡Institute of Theoretical Physics, Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw , Warsaw, Poland
| | - Aleksandra Misicka
- Department of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, and ‡Institute of Theoretical Physics, Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw , Warsaw, Poland
| | - Piotr Szymczak
- Department of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, and ‡Institute of Theoretical Physics, Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw , Warsaw, Poland
| | - Wojciech Dzwolak
- Department of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, and ‡Institute of Theoretical Physics, Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw , Warsaw, Poland
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11
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Hernik A, Puławski W, Fedorczyk B, Tymecka D, Misicka A, Filipek S, Dzwolak W. Amyloidogenic Properties of Short α-L-Glutamic Acid Oligomers. Langmuir 2015; 31:10500-10507. [PMID: 26362583 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.5b02915] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Poly-L-glutamic acid (PLGA) forms amyloid-like β2-fibrils with the main spectral component of vibrational amide I' band unusually shifted below 1600 cm(-1). This distinct infrared feature has been attributed to the presence of bifurcated hydrogen bonds coupling C═O and N-D (N-H) groups of the main chains to glutamate side chains. Here, we investigate how decreasing the chain length of PLGA affects its capacity to form β2-fibrils. A series of acidified aqueous solutions of synthetic (l-Glu)n peptides (n ≈ 200, 10, 6, 5, 4, and 3) were incubated at high temperature. We observed that n = 4 is the critical chain length for which formation of aggregates with the β2-like infrared features is still observed under such conditions. Interestingly, according to atomic force microscopy (AFM), the self-assembly of (L-Glu)n chains varying vastly in length produces fibrils with rather uniform diameters of approximately 4-6 nm. Kinetic experiments on (L-Glu)5 and (L-Glu)200 peptides indicate that the fibrillation is significantly accelerated not only in the presence of homologous seeds but also upon cross-seeding, suggesting thereby a common self-assembly theme for (L-Glu)n chains of various lengths. Our results are discussed in the context of mechanisms of amyloidogenic fibrillation of homopolypeptides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Agnieszka Hernik
- Department of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw , 00-927 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Wojciech Puławski
- Department of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw , 00-927 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Bartłomiej Fedorczyk
- Department of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw , 00-927 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Dagmara Tymecka
- Department of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw , 00-927 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Aleksandra Misicka
- Department of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw , 00-927 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Sławomir Filipek
- Department of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw , 00-927 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Wojciech Dzwolak
- Department of Chemistry, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw , 00-927 Warsaw, Poland
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