Searching for an in vivo site for nascent amyloid fibril formation

2002 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zafer Ali-Khan
Keyword(s):  
Amyloid Fibril ◽  
Fibril Formation ◽  
Amyloid Fibril Formation

The dissociated form of κ-casein is the precursor to its amyloid fibril formation

2010 ◽  
Vol 429 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heath Ecroyd ◽  
David C. Thorn ◽  
Yanqin Liu ◽  
John A. Carver
Keyword(s):  
Disulfide Bonds ◽  
Amyloid Fibrils ◽  
Amyloid Fibril ◽  
Bovine Milk ◽  
Fibril Formation ◽  
Native Form ◽  
Amyloid Fibril Formation ◽  
Disulfide Linkages ◽  
Related Proteins

Bovine milk κ-casein forms a self-associating oligomeric micelle-like species, in equilibrium with dissociated forms. In its native form, intra- and inter-molecular disulfide bonds lead to the formation of multimeric species ranging from monomers to decamers. When incubated under conditions of physiological pH and temperature, both reduced and non-reduced κ-casein form highly structured β-sheet amyloid fibrils. We investigated whether the precursor to κ-casein fibril formation is a dissociated state of the protein or its oligomeric micelle-like form. We show that reduced κ-casein is capable of forming fibrils well below its critical micelle concentration, i.e. at concentrations where only dissociated forms of the protein are present. Moreover, by regulating the degree of disulfide linkages, we were able to investigate how oligomerization of κ-casein influences its propensity for fibril formation under conditions of physiological pH and temperature. Thus, using fractions containing different proportions of multimeric species, we demonstrate that the propensity of the disulfide-linked multimers to form fibrils is inversely related to their size, with monomeric κ-casein being the most aggregation prone. We conclude that dissociated forms of κ-casein are the amyloidogenic precursors to fibril formation rather than oligomeric micelle-like species. The results highlight the role of oligomerization and natural binding partners in preventing amyloid fibril formation by disease-related proteins in vivo.

scholarly journals Searching for the Best Transthyretin Aggregation Protocol to Study Amyloid Fibril Disruption

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 391
Author(s):  
Elisabete Ferreira ◽  
Zaida L. Almeida ◽  
Pedro F. Cruz ◽  
Marta Silva e Sousa ◽  
Paula Veríssimo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amyloid Fibrils ◽  
Amyloid Fibril ◽  
Fibril Formation ◽  
Resonance Spectroscopy ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Amyloid Fibril Formation ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Amyloid Aggregates ◽  
Screening Protocol

Several degenerative amyloid diseases, with no fully effective treatment, affect millions of people worldwide. These pathologies—amyloidoses—are known to be associated with the formation of ordered protein aggregates and highly stable and insoluble amyloid fibrils, which are deposited in multiple tissues and organs. The disruption of preformed amyloid aggregates and fibrils is one possible therapeutic strategy against amyloidosis; however, only a few compounds have been identified as possible fibril disruptors in vivo to date. To properly identify chemical compounds as potential fibril disruptors, a reliable, fast, and economic screening protocol must be developed. For this purpose, three amyloid fibril formation protocols using transthyretin (TTR), a plasma protein involved in several amyloidoses, were studied using thioflavin-T fluorescence assays, circular dichroism (CD), turbidity, dynamic light scattering (DLS), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), in order to characterize and select the most appropriate fibril formation protocol. Saturation transfer difference nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (STD NMR) was successfully used to study the interaction of doxycycline, a known amyloid fibril disruptor, with preformed wild-type TTR (TTRwt) aggregates and fibrils. DLS and TEM were also used to characterize the effect of doxycycline on TTRwt amyloid species disaggregation. A comparison of the TTR amyloid morphology formed in different experimental conditions is also presented.

scholarly journals Universal amyloidogenicity of patient-derived immunoglobulin light chains

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Sternke-Hoffmann ◽  
Thomas Pauly ◽  
Rasmus K Norrild ◽  
Jan Hansen ◽  
Mathieu Dupre ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acid ◽  
Amyloid Fibrils ◽  
Amyloid Fibril ◽  
Fibril Formation ◽  
Amino Acid Sequences ◽  
Light Chains ◽  
Immunoglobulin Light Chains ◽  
Aggregation Behaviour ◽  
Amyloid Fibril Formation

The deposition of immunoglobulin light chains (IgLCs) in the form of amorphous aggregates or amyloid fibrils in different tissues of patients can lead to severe and potentially fatal organ damage, requiring transplantation in some cases. There has been great interest in recent years to elucidate the origin of the very different in vivo solubilities of IgLCs, as well as the molecular determinants that drive either the formation of ordered amyloid fibrils or disordered amorphous aggregates. It is commonly thought that the reason of this differential aggregation behaviour is to be found in the amino acid sequences of the respective IgLCs, i.e. that some sequences display higher intrinsic tendencies to form amyloid fibrils. Here we perform in depth Thermodynamic and Aggregation Fingerprinting (ThAgg-Fip) of 9 multiple myeloma patient-derived IgLCs, the amino acid sequences of all of which we have solved by de novo protein sequencing with mass spectrometry. The latter technique was also used for one IgLc from a patient with AL amyloidosis. We find that all samples also contain proteases that fragment the proteins under physiologically relevant mildly acidic pH conditions, leading to amyloid fibril formation in all cases. Our results suggest that while every pathogenic IgLC has a unique ThAgg fingerprint, all sequences have comparable amyloidogenic potential. Therefore, extrinsic factors, in particular presence of, and susceptibility to, proteolytic cleavage is likely to be a strong determinant of in vivo aggregation behaviour. The important conclusion, which is corroborated by systematic analysis of our sequences, as well as many sequences of IgLCs from amyloidosis patients reported in the literature, challenges the current paradigm of the link between sequence and amyloid fibril formation of pathogenic light chains.

Immunocytochemical Localization of Amyloid Protein AA in the “Dense Fibrillar Inclusions” of the Reticuloendothelical Cells

1977 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 438-439
Author(s):  
T. Shirahama ◽  
M. Skinner ◽  
A.S. Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Amyloid Fibril ◽  
Close Association ◽  
Gel Filtration ◽  
Fibril Formation ◽  
Amyloid Protein ◽  
Electron Microscopic ◽  
Amyloid Deposits ◽  
Amyloid Fibril Formation ◽  
Electron Microscopic Technique ◽  
Lysosomal System

A1thought the mechanisms of amyloidogenesis have not been entirely clarified, proteolysis of the parent proteins may be one of the important steps in the amyloid fibril formation. Recently, we reported that "dense fibrillar inclusions" (DFI), which had the characteristics of lysosomes and contained organized fibrillar profiles as well, were observed in the reticuloendothelial cells in close association with the foci of new amyloid deposits. We considered the findings as evidence for the involvement of lysosomal system in amyloid fibril formation (l). In the present study, we attempted to determine the identity of the contents of the DFI by the use of antisera against the amyloid protein (AA) and an immuno-electron microscopic technique.Amyloidosis was induced in CBA/J mice by daily injections of casein (l). AA was isolated from amyloid-laden spleens by gel filtration and antibody to it was produced in rabbits (2). For immunocytochemistry, the unlabeled antibody enzyme method (3) was employed.

Effect of pH and inhibitors on beta-amyloid fibril assembly

1996 ◽  
Vol 54 ◽  
pp. 752-753
Author(s):  
Beverly E. Maleeff ◽  
Timothy K. Hart ◽  
Stephen J. Wood ◽  
Ronald Wetzel
Keyword(s):  
Amyloid Fibril ◽  
Peptide Fragment ◽  
Hydrophobic Peptides ◽  
Amyloid Fibril Formation ◽  
Effects Of Ph ◽  
Severity Of The Disease ◽  
Kinetics Of ◽  
The Brain

Alzheimer's disease is characterized post-mortem in part by abnormal extracellular neuritic plaques found in brain tissue. There appears to be a correlation between the severity of Alzheimer's dementia in vivo and the number of plaques found in particular areas of the brain. These plaques are known to be the deposition sites of fibrils of the protein β-amyloid. It is thought that if the assembly of these plaques could be inhibited, the severity of the disease would be decreased. The peptide fragment Aβ, a precursor of the p-amyloid protein, has a 40 amino acid sequence, and has been shown to be toxic to neuronal cells in culture after an aging process of several days. This toxicity corresponds to the kinetics of in vitro amyloid fibril formation. In this study, we report the biochemical and ultrastructural effects of pH and the inhibitory agent hexadecyl-N-methylpiperidinium (HMP) bromide, one of a class of ionic micellar detergents known to be capable of solubilizing hydrophobic peptides, on the in vitro assembly of the peptide fragment Aβ.

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