Protein structural changes characterized by high-pressure, pulsed field gradient diffusion NMR spectroscopy.

Pulsed-field gradient NMR spectroscopy is widely used to measure the translational diffusion and hydrodynamic radius (Rh) of biomolecules in solution. For unfolded proteins, the Rh provides a sensitive reporter on the ensemble-averaged conformation and the extent of polypeptide chain expansion as a function of added denaturant. Hydrostatic pressure is a convenient and reversible alternative to chemical denaturants for the study of protein folding, and enables NMR measurements to be performed on a single sample. While the impact of pressure on the viscosity of water is well known, and our water diffusivity measurements agree closely with theoretical expectations, we find that elevated pressures increase the Rh of dioxane and other small molecules by amounts that correlate with their hydrophobicity, with parallel increases in rotational friction indicated by 13C longitudinal relaxation times. These data point to a tighter coupling with water for hydrophobic surfaces at elevated pressures. Translational diffusion measurement of the unfolded state of a pressure-sensitized ubiquitin mutant (VA2-ubiquitin) as a function of hydrostatic pressure or urea concentration shows that Rh values of both the folded and the unfolded states remain nearly invariant. At ca 23 Å, the Rh of the fully pressure-denatured state is essentially indistinguishable from the urea-denatured state, and close to the value expected for an idealized random coil of 76 residues. The intrinsically disordered protein (IDP) α-synuclein shows slight compaction at pressures above 2 kbar. Diffusion of unfolded ubiquitin and α-synuclein is significantly impacted by sample concentration, indicating that quantitative measurements need to be carried out under dilute conditions.

Application of an optimized marker amplification protocol in immunohistochemistry - a valuable tool for visualizing antigenic sites of low signal strength or sparse distribution.

Amplification of immunohistochemical markers received considerable attention during the 1980s and 1990s. The amplification approach was largely abandoned following the development of antigen retrieval and reporter amplification techniques, because the latter were incorporated more easily into high throughput automated procedures in industrial and diagnostic laboratories. There remain, however, a number of instances where marker amplification still has much to offer. Consequently, we examined experimentally the utility of an optimized marker amplification technique in diagnostically relevant tissue where either the original signal strength was low or positive sites were visible, but sparsely distributed. Marker amplification in the former case not only improved the visibility of existing positive sites, but also revealed additional sites that previously were undetectable. In the latter case, positive sites were rendered more intense and therefore more easily seen during low magnification examination of large areas of tissue.

Changing relations between proteins and osmolytes: a choice of nature.

Many studies aimed at advancing our understanding of the mechanisms of protein stabilization that support the survival of organisms under harsh environmental conditions are focused on deciphering the role of osmolytes as additives in the stabilization of protein. The exact interaction of an osmolyte with protein has been a matter of debate for a long time, but a clear unifying statement still cannot be provided regarding the actual behavior of the osmolyte. A literature survey reveals that there exist a large number of scholarly articles as well as elegant reviews that could aid a resolution of some problems of understanding systems comprising osmolytes and proteins. Additionally, there is no doubt from a vast literature survey that osmolytes display stabilizing behavior toward proteins. However, there are also a number of research articles available in the open literature that emphasize the destabilizing effects of osmolytes on protein stability and function. Therefore, a complete acquaintance of each osmolyte with respect to each protein is one of the most challenging tasks in the development of protein formulation and may be still needed in order to reliably administer the correct protein formulations through injection only. The lack of a comprehensive evaluation of a broad range of these osmolytes in protein systems stimulated our interest for the present perspective in this research field. To the best of our knowledge, this perspective delineates the most recent successful advances in the open literature and also on the basis of our research experience and should aid current researchers in the field of protein stabilization to develop new strategies.

Conformational flexibility within the nascent polypeptide-associated complex enables its interactions with structurally diverse client proteins.

As newly synthesized polypeptides emerge from the ribosome, it is crucial that they fold correctly. To prevent premature aggregation, nascent chains interact with chaperones that facilitate folding or prevent misfolding until protein synthesis is complete. Nascent polypeptide-associated complex (NAC) is a ribosome-associated chaperone that is important for protein homeostasis. However, how NAC binds its substrates remains unclear. Using native electrospray ionization MS (ESI-MS), limited proteolysis, NMR, and cross-linking, we analyzed the conformational properties of NAC from Caenorhabditis elegans and studied its ability to bind proteins in different conformational states. Our results revealed that NAC adopts an array of compact and expanded conformations and binds weakly to client proteins that are unfolded, folded, or intrinsically disordered, suggestive of broad substrate compatibility. Of note, we found that this weak binding retards aggregation of the intrinsically disordered protein α-synuclein both in vitro and in vivo These findings provide critical insights into the structure and function of NAC. Specifically, they reveal the ability of NAC to exploit its conformational plasticity to bind a repertoire of substrates with unrelated sequences and structures, independently of actively translating ribosomes.

Dimerization propensities of Synucleins are not predictive for Synuclein aggregation.

Aggregation and fibril formation of human alpha-Synuclein (αS) are neuropathological hallmarks of Parkinson's disease and other synucleinopathies. The molecular mechanisms of αS aggregation and fibrillogenesis are largely unknown. Several studies suggested a sequence of events from αS dimerization via oligomerization and pre-fibrillar aggregation to αS fibril formation. In contrast to αS, little evidence suggests that γS can form protein aggregates in the brain, and for ßS its neurotoxic properties and aggregation propensities are controversially discussed. These apparent differences in aggregation behavior prompted us to investigate the first step in Synuclein aggregation, i.e. the formation of dimers or oligomers, by Bimolecular Fluorescence Complementation in cells. This assay showed some Synuclein-specific limitations, questioning its performance on a single cell level. Nevertheless, we unequivocally demonstrate that all Synucleins can interact with each other in a very similar way. Given the divergent aggregation properties of the three Synucleins this suggests that formation of dimers is not predictive for the aggregation of αS, ßS or γS in the aged or diseased brain.

The chaperone-like activity of α-synuclein attenuates aggregation of its alternatively spliced isoform, 112-synuclein in vitro: plausible cross-talk between isoforms in protein aggregation.

Abnormal oligomerization and aggregation of α-synuclein (α-syn/WT-syn) has been shown to be a precipitating factor in the pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease (PD). Earlier observations on the induced-alternative splicing of α-syn by Parkinsonism mimetics as well as identification of region specific abnormalities in the transcript levels of 112-synuclein (112-syn) in diseased subjects underscores the role of 112-syn in the pathophysiology of PD. In the present study, we sought to identify the aggregation potential of 112-syn in the presence or absence of WT-syn to predict its plausible role in protein aggregation events. Results demonstrate that unlike WT-syn, lack of 28 aa in the C-terminus results in the loss of chaperone-like activity with a concomitant gain in vulnerability to heat-induced aggregation and time-dependent fibrillation. The effects were dose and time-dependent and a significant aggregation of 112-syn was evident at as low as 45 °C following 10 min of incubation. The heat-induced aggregates were found to be ill-defined structures and weakly positive towards Thioflavin-T (ThT) staining as compared to clearly distinguishable ThT positive extended fibrils resulting upon 24 h of incubation at 37 °C. Further, the chaperone-like activity of WT-syn significantly attenuated heat-induced aggregation of 112-syn in a dose and time-dependent manner. On contrary, WT-syn synergistically enhanced fibrillation of 112-syn. Overall, the present findings highlight a plausible cross-talk between isoforms of α-syn and the relative abundance of these isoforms may dictate the nature and fate of protein aggregates.

Role of genomics in translational research for Parkinson's disease.

Research on Parkinson's disease (PD) has made remarkable progress in recent decades, due largely to new genomic technologies, such as high throughput sequencing and microarray analyses. Since the discovery of a linkage of a missense mutation of the α-synuclein (αS) gene to a rare familial dominant form of PD in 1996, positional cloning and characterization of a number of familial PD risk factors have established a hypothesis that aggregation of αS may play a major role in the pathogenesis of PD. Furthermore, dozens of sensitizing alleles related to the disease have been identified by genome wide association studies (GWAS) and meta-GWAS, contributing to a better understanding of the pathological mechanisms of sporadic PD. Thus, the knowledge obtained from the association studies will be valuable for "the personal genome" of PD. Besides summarizing such progress, this paper focuses on the role of microRNAs in the field of PD research, since microRNAs might be promising as a biomarker and as a therapeutic reagent for PD. We further refer to a recent view that neurodegenerative diseases, including PD, coexist with metabolic disorders and are stimulated by type II diabetes, the most common disease among elderly populations. The development of genomic approaches may potentially contribute to therapeutic intervention for PD.

Synucleins: are they two-edged swords?

The synuclein family consists of three distinct highly homologous genes, α-synuclein, ß-synuclein, and γ-synuclein, which have so far been found only in vertebrates. Proteins encoded by these genes are characterized by an acidic C-terminal region and five or six imperfect repeat motifs (KTKEGV) distributed throughout the highly conserved N-terminal region. Numerous data demonstrate that synucleins are implicated in two groups of the most devastating human disorders, i.e., neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs) and cancer. Mutations in the α-synuclein gene are associated with familial forms of Parkinson's disease (PD), and accumulation of α-synuclein inclusions is a hallmark of this disorder. In breast cancer, increased expression of γ-synuclein correlates with disease progression. Conversely, some results indicate that the members of the synuclein family may have a protective effect. How might these small proteins combine such controversial properties? We present evidence that synuclein's features are basically regulated by two mechanisms, i.e., posttranslational modifications (PTMs) and the level of their expression. We also discuss a new, emerging area of investigation of synucleins, namely, their role in the cell-to-cell propagation of pathology.

The conformational ensembles of α-synuclein and tau: combining single-molecule FRET and simulations.

Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) are increasingly recognized for their important roles in a range of biological contexts, both in normal physiological function and in a variety of devastating human diseases. However, their structural characterization by traditional biophysical methods, for the purposes of understanding their function and dysfunction, has proved challenging. Here, we investigate the model IDPs α-Synuclein (αS) and tau, that are involved in major neurodegenerative conditions including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, using excluded volume Monte Carlo simulations constrained by pairwise distance distributions from single-molecule fluorescence measurements. Using this, to our knowledge, novel approach we find that a relatively small number of intermolecular distance constraints are sufficient to accurately determine the dimensions and polymer conformational statistics of αS and tau in solution. Moreover, this method can detect local changes in αS and tau conformations that correlate with enhanced aggregation. Constrained Monte Carlo simulations produce ensembles that are in excellent agreement both with experimental measurements on αS and tau and with all-atom, explicit solvent molecular dynamics simulations of αS, with much lower configurational sampling requirements and computational expense.

Systematic mutagenesis of α-synuclein reveals distinct sequence requirements for physiological and pathological activities.

α-Synuclein is an abundant presynaptic protein that binds to phospholipids and synaptic vesicles. Physiologically, α-synuclein functions as a SNARE-protein chaperone that promotes SNARE-complex assembly for neurotransmitter release. Pathologically, α-synuclein mutations and α-synuclein overexpression cause Parkinson's disease, and aggregates of α-synuclein are found as Lewy bodies in multiple neurodegenerative disorders ("synucleinopathies"). The relation of the physiological functions to the pathological effects of α-synuclein remains unclear. As an initial avenue of addressing this question, we here systematically examined the effect of α-synuclein mutations on its physiological and pathological activities. We generated 26 α-synuclein mutants spanning the entire molecule, and analyzed them compared with wild-type α-synuclein in seven assays that range from biochemical studies with purified α-synuclein, to analyses of α-synuclein expression in cultured neurons, to examinations of the effects of virally expressed α-synuclein introduced into the mouse substantia nigra by stereotactic injections. We found that both the N-terminal and C-terminal sequences of α-synuclein were required for its physiological function as SNARE-complex chaperone, but that these sequences were not essential for its neuropathological effects. In contrast, point mutations in the central region of α-synuclein, referred to as nonamyloid ß component (residues 61-95), as well as point mutations linked to Parkinson's disease (A30P, E46K, and A53T) increased the neurotoxicity of α-synuclein but did not affect its physiological function in SNARE-complex assembly. Thus, our data show that the physiological function of α-synuclein, although protective of neurodegeneration in some contexts, is fundamentally distinct from its neuropathological effects, thereby dissociating the two activities of α-synuclein.

Distance information for disordered proteins from NMR and ESR measurements using paramagnetic spin labels.

The growing recognition of the many roles that disordered protein states play in biology places an increasing importance on developing approaches to characterize the structural properties of this class of proteins and to clarify the links between these properties and the associated biological functions. Disordered proteins, when isolated in solution, do not adopt a fixed structure, but can and often do contain detectable and significant residual or transient structure, including both secondary and long-range structure. Such residual structure can play a role in nucleating local structural transitions as well as modulating intramolecular or intermolecular tertiary interactions, including those involved in ordered protein aggregation. An increasing array of tools has been recruited to help characterize the structural properties of disordered proteins. While a number of methods can report on residual secondary structure, detecting and quantifying transient long-range structure has proven to be more difficult. This chapter describes the use of paramagnetic spin labeling in combination with paramagnetic relaxation enhancement (PRE) in NMR spectroscopy and pulsed dipolar ESR spectroscopy (PDS) for this purpose.

Size-exclusion chromatography in structural analysis of intrinsically disordered proteins.

Gel-filtration chromatography, also known as size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) or gel-permeation chromatography, is a useful tool for structural and conformational analyses of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs). SEC can be utilized for the estimation of the hydrodynamic dimensions of a given IDP, for evaluation of the association state, for the analysis of IDP interactions with binding partners, and for the induced folding studies. It also can be used to physically separate IDP conformers based on their hydrodynamic dimensions, thus providing a unique possibility for the independent analysis of their physicochemical properties.

Evolution of structurally disordered proteins promotes neostructuralization.

Protein structure is generally more conserved than sequence, but for regions that can adopt different structures in different environments, does this hold true? Understanding how structurally disordered regions evolve altered secondary structure element propensities as well as conformational flexibility among paralogs are fundamental questions for our understanding of protein structural evolution. We have investigated the evolutionary dynamics of structural disorder in protein families containing both orthologs and paralogs using phylogenetic tree reconstruction, protein structure disorder prediction, and secondary structure prediction in order to shed light upon these questions. Our results indicate that the extent and location of structurally disordered regions are not universally conserved. As structurally disordered regions often have high conformational flexibility, this is likely to have an effect on how protein structure evolves as spatially altered conformational flexibility can also change the secondary structure propensities for homologous regions in a protein family.

Amyloidogenic protein-membrane interactions: mechanistic insight from model systems.

The toxicity of amyloid-forming proteins is correlated with their interactions with cell membranes. Binding events between amyloidogenic proteins and membranes result in mutually disruptive structural perturbations, which are associated with toxicity. Membrane surfaces promote the conversion of amyloid-forming proteins into toxic aggregates, and amyloidogenic proteins, in turn, compromise the structural integrity of the cell membrane. Recent studies with artificial model membranes have highlighted the striking resemblance of the mechanisms of membrane permeabilization of amyloid-forming proteins to those of pore-forming toxins and antimicrobial peptides.

Modeling proteasome dynamics in Parkinson's disease.

In Parkinson's disease (PD), there is evidence that alpha-synuclein (alphaSN) aggregation is coupled to dysfunctional or overburdened protein quality control systems, in particular the ubiquitin-proteasome system. Here, we develop a simple dynamical model for the on-going conflict between alphaSN aggregation and the maintenance of a functional proteasome in the healthy cell, based on the premise that proteasomal activity can be titrated out by mature alphaSN fibrils and their protofilament precursors. In the presence of excess proteasomes the cell easily maintains homeostasis. However, when the ratio between the available proteasome and the alphaSN protofilaments is reduced below a threshold level, we predict a collapse of homeostasis and onset of oscillations in the proteasome concentration. Depleted proteasome opens for accumulation of oligomers. Our analysis suggests that the onset of PD is associated with a proteasome population that becomes occupied in periodic degradation of aggregates. This behavior is found to be the general state of a proteasome/chaperone system under pressure, and suggests new interpretations of other diseases where protein aggregation could stress elements of the protein quality control system.

Recapitulation of zebrafish sncga expression pattern and labeling the habenular complex in transgenic zebrafish using green fluorescent protein reporter gene.

Human synuclein family consists of alpha-, beta-, and gamma-synucleins. Here, we cloned three genes, sncb, sncga and sncgb from zebrafish. They encode beta-, gamma1-, and gamma2-synucleins, respectively. The zSyn-beta, zSyn-gamma1, and zSyn-gamma2 proteins display 69%, 47%, and 50% identity to human beta-synuclein and gamma-synuclein, respectively. By reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, we demonstrated that sncb and sncga mRNA were abundant in brain and eye, while sncgb expression was moderate in brain, kidney, ovary and testis. The 1.8-kb 5'-upstream/promoter region of the sncga gene was sufficient to direct green fluorescent protein (GFP) expression in the central nervous system and cranial ganglions. A transgenic line, Tg(sncga:GFP), was generated and its GFP expression is similar to that of endogenous sncga mRNA. Moreover, this line also labels the habenular complex and the domain of GFP expression is larger in the left than in the right habenula. Thus, this line can be used to study sncga gene regulation and for left-right asymmetry study in zebrafish brain.

Residual structure, backbone dynamics, and interactions within the synuclein family.

The human synuclein protein family includes alpha-synuclein, which has been linked to both familial and sporadic Parkinson's disease, and the highly homologous beta and gamma-synuclein. Mutations in alpha-synuclein cause autosomal dominant early onset Parkinson's, and the protein is found deposited in a fibrillar form in hereditary and idiopathic forms of the disease. No genetic link between beta and gamma-synuclein, and any neurodegenerative disease has been established, and it is generally considered that these proteins are not highly pathogenic. In addition, beta and gamma-synuclein are reported to aggregate less readily than alpha-synuclein in vitro. Indeed, beta-synuclein has been reported to protect against alpha-synuclein aggregation in vitro, as well as alpha-synuclein-mediated toxicity in vivo. Earlier, we compared the structural properties of the highly helical states adopted by all three synucleins in association with detergent micelles in an attempt to delineate the basis for functional differences between the three proteins. Here, we report a comparison of the structural and dynamic properties of the free states of all three proteins in order to shed light on differences that may help to explain their different propensities to aggregate, which in turn may underlie their differing contributions to the etiology of Parkinson's disease. We find that gamma-synuclein closely resembles alpha-synuclein in its free-state residual secondary structure, consistent with the more similar propensities of the two proteins to aggregate in vitro. beta-Synuclein, however, differs significantly from alpha-synuclein, exhibiting a lower predisposition towards helical structure in the second half of its lipid-binding domain, and a higher preference for extended structures in its C-terminal tail. Both beta and gamma-synuclein show less extensive transient long-range structure than that observed in alpha-synuclein. These results raise questions regarding the role of secondary structure propensities and transient long-range contacts in directing synuclein aggregation reactions.

Organic solvents mediate self-assembly of GAV-9 peptide on mica surface.

Self-assembly of peptides into fibrils and other morphologies has attracted much attention in many fields, especially in nanofabrication, pathology and biochemistry. In this paper, self-assembly of GAV-9 peptide in organic solvents, ethanol and acetone, was investigated using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). The results indicated that GAV-9 self-assembled into various nanostructures in both solvents after deposited and evaporated on mica. Fibrils with beta-sheet conformation were observed in both solvents when the peptide concentration was higher than 280 microM. However, ordered fibrils with beta-sheet conformation were formed in ethanol, but not in acetone, with a peptide concentration ranging from 7 microM to 28 microM. We attribute the formation of various nanostructures to the different physicochemical properties of the polar organic solvents on the self-assembly of GAV-9 peptide.

Agrin binds alpha-synuclein and modulates alpha-synuclein fibrillation.

Recent studies have begun to investigate the role of agrin in brain and suggest that agrin's function likely extends beyond that of a synaptogenic protein. Particularly, it has been shown that agrin is associated with the pathological lesions of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and may contribute to the formation of beta-amyloid (Abeta) plaques in AD. We have extended the analysis of agrin's function in neurodegenerative diseases to investigate its role in Parkinson's disease (PD). Alpha-synuclein is a critical molecular determinant in familial and sporadic PD, with the formation of alpha-synuclein fibrils being enhanced by sulfated macromolecules. In the studies reported here, we show that agrin binds to alpha-synuclein in a heparan sulfate-dependent (HS-dependent) manner, induces conformational changes in this protein characterized by beta-sheet structure, and enhances insolubility of alpha-synuclein. We also show that agrin accelerates the formation of protofibrils by alpha-synuclein and decreases the half-time of fibril formation. The association of agrin with PD lesions was also explored in PD human brain, and these studies shown that agrin colocalizes with alpha-synuclein in neuronal Lewy bodies in the substantia nigra of PD brain. These studies indicate that agrin is capable of accelerating the formation of insoluble protein fibrils in a second common neurodegenerative disease. These findings may indicate shared molecular mechanisms leading to the pathophysiology in these two neurodegenerative disorders.