The Japanese mutant A? (?E22-A?(1-39)) forms fibrils instantaneously, with low-thioflavin T fluorescence: seeding of wild-type A?(1-40) into atypical fibrils by ?E22-A?(1-39).
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ABSTRACT: The ?E693 (Japanese) mutation of the ?-amyloid precursor protein leads to production of ?E22-A? peptides such as ?E22-A?(1-39). Despite reports that these peptides do not form fibrils, here we show that, on the contrary, the peptide forms fibrils essentially instantaneously. The fibrils are typical amyloid fibrils in all respects except that they cause only low levels of thioflavin T (ThT) fluorescence, which, however, develops with no lag phase. The fibrils bind ThT, but with a lower affinity and a smaller number of binding sites than wild-type (WT) A?(1-40). Fluorescence depolarization confirms extremely rapid aggregation of ?E22-A?(1-39). Size exclusion chromatography (SEC) indicates very low concentrations of soluble monomer and oligomer, but only in the presence of some organic solvent, e.g., 2% (v/v) DMSO. The critical concentration is approximately 1 order of magnitude lower for ?E22-A?(1-39) than for WT A?(1-40). Several lines of evidence point to an altered structure for ?E22-A?(1-39) compared to that of WT A?(1-40) fibrils. In addition to differences in ThT binding and fluorescence, PITHIRDS-CT solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements of ?E22-A?(1-39) are not compatible with the parallel in-register ?-sheet generally observed for WT A?(1-40) fibrils. X-ray fibril diffraction showed different D spacings: 4.7 and 10.4 Å for WT A?(1-40) and 4.7 and 9.6 Å for ?E22-A?(1-39). Equimolar mixtures of ?E22-A?(1-39) and WT A?(1-40) also produced fibrils extremely rapidly, and by the criteria of ThT fluorescence and electron microscopic appearance, they were the same as fibrils made from pure ?E22-A?(1-39). X-ray diffraction of fibrils formed from 1:1 molar mixtures of ?E22-A?(1-39) and WT A?(1-40) showed the same D spacings as fibrils of the pure mutant peptide, not the wild-type peptide. These findings are consistent with extremely rapid nucleation by ?E22-A?(1-39), followed by fibril extension by WT A?(1-40), and "conversion" of the wild-type peptide to a structure similar to that of the mutant peptide, in a manner reminiscent of the prion conversion phenomenon.
SUBMITTER: Cloe AL
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3631511 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Mar
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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