The structures of the E22? mutant-type amyloid-? alloforms and the impact of E22? mutation on the structures of the wild-type amyloid-? alloforms.
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ABSTRACT: Structural differences between the intrinsically disordered fibrillogenic wild-type A?40 and A?42 peptides are linked to Alzheimer's disease. Recently, the E22? genetic missense mutation was detected in patients exhibiting Alzheimer's-disease type dementia. However, detailed knowledge about the E22? mutant-type A?40 and A?42 alloform structures as well as the differences from the wild-type A?40 and A?42 alloform structures is currently lacking. In this study, we present the structures of the E22? mutant-type A?40 and A?42 alloforms as well as the impact of E22? mutation on the wild-type A?40 and A?42 alloform structures. For this purpose, we performed extensive microsecond-time scale parallel tempering molecular dynamics simulations coupled with thermodynamic calculations. For studying the residual secondary structure component transition stabilities, we developed and applied a new theoretical strategy in our studies. We find that the E22? mutant-type A?40 might have a higher tendency toward aggregation due to more abundant ?-sheet formation in the C-terminal region in comparison to the E22? mutant-type A?42 peptide. More abundant ?-helix is formed in the mid-domain regions of the E22? mutant-type A? alloforms rather than in their wild-type forms. The turn structure at Ala21-Ala30 of the wild-type A?, which has been linked to the aggregation process, is less abundant upon E22? mutation of both A? alloforms. Intramolecular interactions between the N-terminal and central hydrophobic core (CHC), N- and C-terminal, and CHC and C-terminal regions are less abundant or disappear in the E22? mutant-type A? alloform structures. The thermodynamic trends indicate that the wild-type A?42 tends to aggregate more than the wild-type A?40 peptide, which is in agreement with experiments. However, this trend is vice versa for the E22? mutant-type alloforms. The structural properties of the E22? mutant-type A?40 and A?42 peptides reported herein may prove useful for the development of new drugs to block the formation of toxic E22? mutant-type oligomers by either stabilizing helical or destabilizing ?-sheet structure in the C-terminal region of these two mutant alloforms.
SUBMITTER: Coskuner O
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3582298 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Feb
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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