Competing interactions stabilize pro- and anti-aggregant conformations of human Tau.

ABSTRACT: Aggregation of Tau into amyloid-like fibrils is a key process in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer. To understand how natively disordered Tau stabilizes conformations that favor pathological aggregation, we applied single-molecule force spectroscopy. Intramolecular interactions that fold polypeptide stretches of ~19 and ~42 amino acids in the functionally important repeat domain of full-length human Tau (hTau40) support aggregation. In contrast, the unstructured N terminus randomly folds long polypeptide stretches >100 amino acids that prevent aggregation. The pro-aggregant mutant hTau40?K280 observed in frontotemporal dementia favored the folding of short polypeptide stretches and suppressed the folding of long ones. This trend was reversed in the anti-aggregant mutant hTau40?K280/PP. The aggregation inducer heparin introduced strong interactions in hTau40 and hTau40?K280 that stabilized aggregation-prone conformations. We show that the conformation and aggregation of Tau are regulated through a complex balance of different intra- and intermolecular interactions.

SUBMITTER: Wegmann S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3121454 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature