Insights into the molecular mechanism of amyloid filament formation: Segmental folding of α-synuclein on lipid membranes.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Antonschmidt L
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8121418 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Similar Datasets
Project description:Mapping conformational changes of α-synuclein (α-syn) from soluble, unstructured monomers to β-sheet- rich aggregates is crucial towards understanding amyloid formation. Raman microspectroscopy is now used to spatially resolve conformational heterogeneity of amyloid aggregates and monitor amyloid formation of segmentally 13 C-labeled α-syn in real-time. As the 13 C-isotope shifts the amide-I stretching frequency to lower energy, the ligated construct, 13 C1-86 12 CS87C-140 -α-syn, exhibits two distinct bands allowing for simultaneous detection of secondary structural changes in N-terminal 1-86 and C-terminal 87-140 residues. The disordered-to-β-sheet conformational change is first observed for the N-terminal followed by the C-terminal region. Finally, Raman spectroscopic changes occurred prior to Thioflavin T fluorescence enhancement, indicating that the amide-I band is a superior probe of amyloid formation.
| S-EPMC6688611 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundLewy body in the substantia nigra is a cardinal pathological feature of Parkinson's disease. Despite enormous efforts, the cause-and-effect relationship between Lewy body formation and the disorder is yet to be explicitly unveiled.Methodology/principal findingsHere, we showed that radiating amyloid fibrils (RAFs) were instantly developed on the surface of synthetic lipid membranes from the β-sheet free oligomeric species of α-synuclein through a unit-assembly process. The burgeoning RAFs were successfully matured by feeding them with additional oligomers, which led to concomitant dramatic shrinkage and disintegration of the membranes by pulling off lipid molecules to the extending fibrils. Mitochondria and lysosomes were demonstrated to be disrupted by the oligomeric α-synuclein via membrane-dependent fibril formation.ConclusionThe physical structure formation of amyloid fibrils, therefore, could be considered as detrimental to the cells by affecting membrane integrity of the intracellular organelles, which might be a molecular cause for the neuronal degeneration observed in Parkinson's disease.
| S-EPMC3471876 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Cooperative binding is a key feature of metabolic pathways, signaling, and transport processes. It provides tight regulation over a narrow concentration interval of a ligand, thus enabling switching to be triggered by small concentration variations. The data presented in this work reveal strong positive cooperativity of α-synuclein binding to phospholipid membranes. Fluorescence cross-correlation spectroscopy, confocal microscopy, and cryo-TEM results show that in excess of vesicles α-synuclein does not distribute randomly but binds only to a fraction of all available vesicles. Furthermore, α-synuclein binding to a supported lipid bilayer observed with total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy displays a much steeper dependence of bound protein on total protein concentration than expected for independent binding. The same phenomenon was observed in the case of α-synuclein binding to unilamellar vesicles of sizes in the nm and μm range as well as to flat supported lipid bilayers, ruling out that nonuniform binding of the protein is governed by differences in membrane curvature. Positive cooperativity of α-synuclein binding to lipid membranes means that the affinity of the protein to a membrane is higher where there is already protein bound compared to a bare membrane. The phenomenon described in this work may have implications for α-synuclein function in synaptic transmission and other membrane remodeling events.
| S-EPMC8291482 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Amyloid formation by α-synuclein (αSyn) occurs in Parkinson's disease, multiple system atrophy, and dementia with Lewy bodies. Deciphering the residues that regulate αSyn amyloid fibril formation will not only provide mechanistic insight but may also reveal targets to prevent and treat disease. Previous investigations have identified several regions of αSyn to be important in the regulation of amyloid formation, including the non-amyloid-β component (NAC), P1 region (residues 36 to 42), and residues in the C-terminal domain. Recent studies have also indicated the importance of the N-terminal region of αSyn for both its physiological and pathological roles. Here, the role of residues 2 to 7 in the N-terminal region of αSyn is investigated in terms of their ability to regulate amyloid fibril formation in vitro and in vivo. Deletion of these residues (αSynΔN7) slows the rate of fibril formation in vitro and reduces the capacity of the protein to be recruited by wild-type (αSynWT) fibril seeds, despite cryo-EM showing a fibril structure consistent with those of full-length αSyn. Strikingly, fibril formation of αSynΔN7 is not induced by liposomes, despite the protein binding to liposomes with similar affinity to αSynWT. A Caenorhabditis elegans model also showed that αSynΔN7::YFP forms few puncta and lacks motility and lifespan defects typified by expression of αSynWT::YFP. Together, the results demonstrate the involvement of residues 2 to 7 of αSyn in amyloid formation, revealing a target for the design of amyloid inhibitors that may leave the functional role of the protein in membrane binding unperturbed.
| S-EPMC11348338 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Aggregation of the protein α-Synuclein (αSyn) is of great interest due to its involvement in the pathology of Parkinson's disease. However, under in vitro conditions αSyn is very soluble and kinetically stable for extended time periods. As a result, most αSyn aggregation assays rely on conditions that artificially induce or enhance aggregation, often by introducing rather non-native conditions. It has been shown that αSyn interacts with membranes and conditions have been identified in which membranes can promote as well as inhibit αSyn aggregation. It has also been shown that αSyn has the intrinsic capability to assemble lipid-protein-particles, in a similar way as apolipoproteins can form lipid-bilayer nanodiscs. Here we show that these αSyn-lipid particles (αSyn-LiPs) can also effectively induce, accelerate or inhibit αSyn aggregation, depending on the applied conditions. αSyn-LiPs therefore provide a general platform and additional tool, complementary to other setups, to study various aspects of αSyn amyloid fibril formation.
| S-EPMC6451039 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Electrostatic interactions play crucial roles in protein function. Measuring pKa value perturbations upon complex formation or self-assembly of e.g. amyloid fibrils gives valuable information about the effect of electrostatic interactions in those processes. Site-specific pKa value determination by solution NMR spectroscopy is challenged by the high molecular weight of amyloid fibrils. Here we report a pH increase during fibril formation of α-synuclein, observed using three complementary experimental methods: pH electrode measurements in water; colorimetric changes of a fluorescent indicator; and chemical shift changes for histidine residues using solution state NMR spectroscopy. A significant pH increase was detected during fibril formation in water, on average by 0.9 pH units from 5.6 to 6.5, showing that protons are taken up during fibril formation. The pH upshift was used to calculate the average change in the apparent pKaave value of the acidic residues, which was found to increase by at least 1.1 unit due to fibril formation. Metropolis Monte Carlo simulations were performed on a comparable system that also showed a proton uptake due to fibril formation. Fibril formation moreover leads to a significant change in proton binding capacitance. Parallel studies of a mutant with five charge deletions in the C-terminal tail revealed a smaller pH increase due to fibril formation, and a smaller change (0.5 units on average) in the apparent pKaave values of the acidic residues. We conclude that the proton uptake during the fibril formation is connected to the high density of acidic residues in the C-terminal tail of α-synuclein.
| S-EPMC8161422 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The protein ?-Synuclein (?S) is linked to Parkinson's disease through its abnormal aggregation, which is thought to involve cytosolic and membrane-bound forms of ?S. Following previous studies using micelles and vesicles, we present a comprehensive study of ?S interaction with phospholipid bilayer nanodiscs. Using a combination of NMR-spectroscopic, biophysical, and computational methods, we structurally and kinetically characterize ?S interaction with different membrane discs in a quantitative and site-resolved way. We obtain global and residue-specific ?S membrane affinities, and determine modulations of ?S membrane binding due to ?S acetylation, membrane plasticity, lipid charge density, and accessible membrane surface area, as well as the consequences of the different binding modes for ?S amyloid fibril formation. Our results establish a structural and kinetic link between the observed dissimilar binding modes and either aggregation-inhibiting properties, largely unperturbed aggregation, or accelerated aggregation due to membrane-assisted fibril nucleation.
| S-EPMC6123806 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The aggregation and amyloid formation of α-synuclein is associated with Parkinson's disease and other synucleinopathies. In its native, monomeric form α-synuclein is an intrinsically disordered protein represented by highly dynamic conformational ensembles. Inhibition of α-synuclein aggregation using small molecules, peptides, or proteins has been at the center of interest in recent years. Our aim was to explore the effects of cross-linking on the structure and aggregation/amyloid formation properties of α-synuclein. Comparative analysis of available high-resolution amyloid structures and representative structural models and MD trajectory of monomeric α-synuclein revealed that potential cross-links in the monomeric protein are mostly incompatible with the amyloid forms and thus might inhibit fibrillation. Monomeric α-synuclein has been intramolecularly chemically cross-linked under various conditions using different cross-linkers. We determined the location of cross-links and their frequency using mass spectrometry and found that most of them cannot be realized in the amyloid structures. The inhibitory potential of cross-linked proteins has been experimentally investigated using various methods, including thioflavin-T fluorescence and transmission electron microscopy. We found that conformational constraints applied by cross-linking fully blocked α-synuclein amyloid formation. Moreover, DTSSP-cross-linked molecules exhibited an inhibitory effect on the aggregation of unmodified α-synuclein as well.
| S-EPMC10487470 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Amyloid fibril formation is associated with various amyloidoses, including neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. Amyloid fibrils form above the solubility of amyloidogenic proteins or peptides upon breaking supersaturation, followed by a nucleation and elongation mechanism, which is similar to the crystallization of solutes. Many additives, including salts, detergents, and natural compounds, promote or inhibit amyloid formation. However, the underlying mechanisms of the opposing effects are unclear. We examined the effects of two polyphenols, that is, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and kaempferol-7─O─glycoside (KG), with high and low solubilities, respectively, on the amyloid formation of α-synuclein (αSN). EGCG and KG inhibited and promoted amyloid formation of αSN, respectively, when monitored by thioflavin T (ThT) fluorescence or transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis revealed that, although interactions of αSN with soluble EGCG increased the solubility of αSN, thus inhibiting amyloid formation, interactions of αSN with insoluble KG reduced the solubility of αSN, thereby promoting amyloid formation. Our study suggests that opposing effects of polyphenols on amyloid formation of proteins and peptides can be interpreted based on the solubility of polyphenols.
| S-EPMC8284582 | biostudies-literature
Project description:α-Synuclein is a presynaptic protein that binds to phospholipid membranes and is involved in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). In this paper, we describe the effects of adding wild-type α-synuclein (WT) and three familial PD mutants (A53T, A30P, and E46K) to membranes containing 15-35 mol % anionic lipid. Tubules were observed to form in the membranes to an extent that depended on the α-synuclein variant, the anionic lipid content, and the protein concentration. For all four variants, tubule formation decreased with increasing anionic lipid content. Tubules were more readily observed with A30P and E46K than with WT or A53T. The results are consistent with a model wherein the helical content of α-synuclein increases with increasing anionic lipid content, and α-synuclein conformers with low helical content have a high propensity to induce tubule formation. This work, combined with previous work from our laboratory (Pandey et al. Biophys. J. 2009, 96, 540), shows that WT adsorption of the protein has deleterious effects on the membrane when the anionic lipid concentration is less than 30 mol % (tubule formation) or greater than 40 mol % (reorganization of the bilayer, clustering of protein).
| S-EPMC3098118 | biostudies-literature