Cryo-EM Structures of Prion protein filaments from Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker disease
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ABSTRACT: Aggregation of the prion protein (PrP) and formation of PrP amyloid (APrP) is severe in some Prion diseases. In the dominantly inherited prion protein amyloidosis known as Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker (GSS) disease, plaques made of PrP amyloid are a distinct feature. The TTC to TCC mutation in Prion protein gene (PRNP), resulting in a phenylalanine to serine amino acid substitution at PrP residue 198, causes a severe amyloidosis in a well-studied GSS variant. The neuropathologic phenotype of this neurodegenerative disease is characterized by the presence of numerous extracellular APrP plaques and intracytoplasmic tau neuronal inclusions which are identical to neurofibrillary tangles of Alzheimer disease. Using cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM), we determined for the first time the structures of filaments of human APrP, isolated post-mortem from the brain of a symptomatic PRNP F198S mutation carrier. We report that in GSS (F198S) APrP filaments are composed of dimeric, trimeric and tetrameric left-handed protofilaments with their protomers sharing a common protein fold. The protomers in the cross-β spines consist of sixty-two amino acids and span from glycine 80 to phenylalanine 141, adopting a previously unseen spiral fold with a thicker outer layer and a thinner inner layer. Each protomer comprises nine short β-strands. The β1 and β8 strands as well as the β4 and β9 strands are engaged in a steric zipper. The new data, obtained by Cryo-EM, provide insights into the complexity of the structure of pathogenic PrP, and reveal the difference of PrP’s structure in brain disease versus that of recombinant PrP, highlighting the urgency of extending our knowledge of the structure of the amyloid filaments involved in human neurodegenerative diseases.
INSTRUMENT(S): Orbitrap Eclipse
ORGANISM(S): Homo Sapiens (human)
TISSUE(S): Brain
DISEASE(S): Gerstmann-straussler-scheinker Syndrome
SUBMITTER: Emma Doud
LAB HEAD: Amber Mosley
PROVIDER: PXD032402 | Pride | 2022-07-18
REPOSITORIES: Pride
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