The role of the IT-state in D76N ß2-microglobulin amyloid assembly: A crucial intermediate or an innocuous bystander?

The D76N variant of human ß2-microglobulin (ß2m) is the causative agent of a hereditary amyloid disease. Interestingly, D76N-associated amyloidosis has a distinctive pathology compared with aggregation of WT-ß2m, which occurs in dialysis-related amyloidosis. A folding intermediate of WT-ß2m, known as the IT-state, which contains a nonnative trans Pro-32, has been shown to be a key precursor of WT-ß2m aggregation in vitro However, how a single amino acid substitution enhances the rate of aggregation of D76N-ß2m and gives rise to a different amyloid disease remained unclear. Using real-time refolding experiments monitored by CD and NMR, we show that the folding mechanisms of WT- and D76N-ß2m are conserved in that both proteins fold slowly via an IT-state that has similar structural properties. Surprisingly, however, direct measurement of the equilibrium population of IT using NMR showed no evidence for an increased population of the IT-state for D76N-ß2m, ruling out previous models suggesting that this could explain its enhanced aggregation propensity. Producing a kinetically trapped analog of IT by deleting the N-terminal six amino acids increases the aggregation rate of WT-ß2m but slows aggregation of D76N-ß2m, supporting the view that although the folding mechanisms of the two proteins are conserved, their aggregation mechanisms differ. The results exclude the IT-state as the origin of the rapid aggregation of D76N-ß2m, suggesting that other nonnative states must cause its high aggregation rate. The results highlight how a single substitution at a solvent-exposed site can affect the mechanism of aggregation and the resulting disease.

The structure of a ß2-microglobulin fibril suggests a molecular basis for its amyloid polymorphism.

All amyloid fibrils contain a cross-ß fold. How this structure differs in fibrils formed from proteins associated with different diseases remains unclear. Here, we combine cryo-EM and MAS-NMR to determine the structure of an amyloid fibril formed in vitro from ß2-microglobulin (ß2m), the culprit protein of dialysis-related amyloidosis. The fibril is composed of two identical protofilaments assembled from subunits that do not share ß2m's native tertiary fold, but are formed from similar ß-strands. The fibrils share motifs with other amyloid fibrils, but also contain unique features including π-stacking interactions perpendicular to the fibril axis and an intramolecular disulfide that stabilises the subunit fold. We also describe a structural model for a second fibril morphology and show that it is built from the same subunit fold. The results provide insights into the mechanisms of fibril formation and the commonalities and differences within the amyloid fold in different protein sequences.

A peptide-display protein scaffold to facilitate single molecule force studies of aggregation-prone peptides.

Protein aggregation is linked with the onset of several neurodegenerative disorders, including Parkinson's disease (PD), which is associated with the aggregation of α-synuclein (αSyn). The structural mechanistic details of protein aggregation, including the nature of the earliest protein-protein interactions, remain elusive. In this study, we have used single molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS) to probe the first dimerization events of the central aggregation-prone region of αSyn (residues 71-82) that may initiate aggregation. This region has been shown to be necessary for the aggregation of full length αSyn and is capable of forming amyloid fibrils in isolation. We demonstrate that the interaction of αSyn71-82 peptides can be studied using SMFS when inserted into a loop of protein L, a mechanically strong and soluble scaffold protein that acts as a display system for SMFS studies. The corresponding fragment of the homolog protein γ-synuclein (γSyn), which has a lower aggregation propensity, has also been studied here. The results from SMFS, together with native mass spectrometry and aggregation assays, demonstrate that the dimerization propensity of γSyn71-82 is lower than that of αSyn71-82 , but that a mixed αSyn71-82 : γSyn71-82 dimer forms with a similar propensity to the αSyn71-82 homodimer, slowing amyloid formation. This work demonstrates the utility of a novel display method for SMFS studies of aggregation-prone peptides, which would otherwise be difficult to study.