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Comparisons with amyloid-? reveal an aspartate residue that stabilizes fibrils of the aortic amyloid peptide medin.

ABSTRACT: Aortic medial amyloid (AMA) is the most common localized human amyloid, occurring in virtually all of the Caucasian population over the age of 50. The main protein component of AMA, medin, readily assembles into amyloid-like fibrils in vitro. Despite the prevalence of AMA, little is known about the self-assembly mechanism of medin or the molecular architecture of the fibrils. The amino acid sequence of medin is strikingly similar to the sequence of the Alzheimer disease (AD) amyloid-? (A?) polypeptides around the structural turn region of A?, where mutations associated with familial, early onset AD, have been identified. Asp(25) and Lys(30) of medin align with residues Asp(23) and Lys(28) of A?, which are known to form a stabilizing salt bridge in some fibril morphologies. Here we show that substituting Asp(25) of medin with asparagine (D25N) impedes assembly into fibrils and stabilizes non-cytotoxic oligomers. Wild-type medin, by contrast, aggregates into ?-sheet-rich amyloid-like fibrils within 50 h. A structural analysis of wild-type fibrils by solid-state NMR suggests a molecular repeat unit comprising at least two extended ?-strands, separated by a turn stabilized by a Asp(25)-Lys(30) salt bridge. We propose that Asp(25) drives the assembly of medin by stabilizing the fibrillar conformation of the peptide and is thus reminiscent of the influence of Asp(23) on the aggregation of A?. Pharmacological comparisons of wild-type medin and D25N will help to ascertain the pathological significance of this poorly understood protein.

SUBMITTER: Davies HA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4367279 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Comparisons with amyloid-β reveal an aspartate residue that stabilizes fibrils of the aortic amyloid peptide medin.

Davies Hannah A HA Madine Jillian J Middleton David A DA

The Journal of biological chemistry 20150122 12

Aortic medial amyloid (AMA) is the most common localized human amyloid, occurring in virtually all of the Caucasian population over the age of 50. The main protein component of AMA, medin, readily assembles into amyloid-like fibrils in vitro. Despite the prevalence of AMA, little is known about the self-assembly mechanism of medin or the molecular architecture of the fibrils. The amino acid sequence of medin is strikingly similar to the sequence of the Alzheimer disease (AD) amyloid-β (Aβ) polyp ...[more]

PMID: 25614623

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Project description:The misfolding and aggregation of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides into amyloid fibrils is regarded as one of the causative events in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Tanshinones extracted from Chinese herb Danshen (Salvia Miltiorrhiza Bunge) were traditionally used as anti-inflammation and cerebrovascular drugs due to their antioxidation and antiacetylcholinesterase effects. A number of studies have suggested that tanshinones could protect neuronal cells. In this work, we examine the inhibitory activity of tanshinone I (TS1) and tanshinone IIA (TS2), the two major components in the Danshen herb, on the aggregation and toxicity of Aβ1-42 using atomic force microscopy (AFM), thioflavin-T (ThT) fluorescence assay, cell viability assay, and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. AFM and ThT results show that both TS1 and TS2 exhibit different inhibitory abilities to prevent unseeded amyloid fibril formation and to disaggregate preformed amyloid fibrils, in which TS1 shows better inhibitory potency than TS2. Live/dead assay further confirms that introduction of a very small amount of tanshinones enables protection of cultured SH-SY5Y cells against Aβ-induced cell toxicity. Comparative MD simulation results reveal a general tanshinone binding mode to prevent Aβ peptide association, showing that both TS1 and TS2 preferentially bind to a hydrophobic β-sheet groove formed by the C-terminal residues of I31-M35 and M35-V39 and several aromatic residues. Meanwhile, the differences in binding distribution, residues, sites, population, and affinity between TS1-Aβ and TS2-Aβ systems also interpret different inhibitory effects on Aβ aggregation as observed by in vitro experiments. More importantly, due to nonspecific binding mode of tanshinones, it is expected that tanshinones would have a general inhibitory efficacy of a wide range of amyloid peptides. These findings suggest that tanshinones, particularly TS1 compound, offer promising lead compounds with dual protective role in anti-inflammation and antiaggregation for further development of Aβ inhibitors to prevent and disaggregate amyloid formation.

Project description:Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the pathological aggregation of the amyloid-? peptide (A?). Monomeric soluble A? can switch from helicoidal to ?-sheet conformation, promoting its assembly into oligomers and subsequently to amyloid fibrils. Oligomers are highly toxic to neurons and have been reported to induce synaptic transmission impairments. The progression from oligomers to fibrils forming senile plaques is currently considered a protective mechanism to avoid the presence of the highly toxic oligomers. Protein nitration is a frequent post-translational modification under AD nitrative stress conditions. A? can be nitrated at tyrosine 10 (Y10) by peroxynitrite. Based on our analysis of ThT binding, Western blot and electron and atomic force microscopy, we report that A? nitration stabilizes soluble, highly toxic oligomers and impairs the formation of fibrils. We propose a mechanism by which fibril elongation is interrupted upon Y10 nitration: Nitration disrupts fibril-forming folds by preventing H14-mediated bridging, as shown with an A? analog containing a single residue (H to E) replacement that mimics the behavior of nitrated A? related to fibril formation and neuronal toxicity. The pathophysiological role of our findings in AD was highlighted by the study of these nitrated oligomers on mouse hippocampal neurons, where an increased NMDAR-dependent toxicity of nitrated A? oligomers was observed. Our results show that A? nitrotyrosination is a post-translational modification that increases A? synaptotoxicity. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT:We report that nitration (i.e., the irreversible addition of a nitro group) of the Alzheimer-related peptide amyloid-? (A?) favors the stabilization of highly toxic oligomers and inhibits the formation of A? fibrils. The nitrated A? oligomers are more toxic to neurons due to increased cytosolic calcium levels throughout their action on NMDA receptors. Sustained elevated calcium levels trigger excitotoxicity, a characteristic event in Alzheimer's disease.

Dataset Information

Comparisons with amyloid-? reveal an aspartate residue that stabilizes fibrils of the aortic amyloid peptide medin.

Publications

Comparisons with amyloid-β reveal an aspartate residue that stabilizes fibrils of the aortic amyloid peptide medin.

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