A Disulfide-Stabilized Aβ that Forms Dimers but Does Not Form Fibrils

α-Methylation Enables the X-ray Crystallographic Observation of Oligomeric Assemblies Formed by a β-Hairpin Peptide Derived from Aβ

The assembly of the β-amyloid peptide Aβ into toxic oligomers plays a significant role in the neurodegeneration associated with the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. Our laboratory has developed N-methylation as a tool to enable X-ray crystallographic studies of oligomers formed by macrocyclic β-hairpin peptides derived from Aβ. In this investigation, we set out to determine whether α-methylation could be used as an alternative to N-methylation in studying the oligomerization of a β-hairpin peptide derived from Aβ. α-Methylation permits the crystallographic assembly of a triangular trimer and ball-shaped dodecamer, resembling assemblies formed by the N-methylated homolog. Subtle differences are observed in the conformation of the α-methylated peptide when compared to the N-methylated homolog. Notably, α-methylation appears to promote a flatter and more extended β-sheet conformation than that of N-methylated β-sheets or a typical unmodified β-sheet. α-Methylation provides an alternative to N-methylation in X-ray crystallographic studies of oligomers formed by peptides derived from Aβ, with the attractive feature of preserving NH hydrogen-bond donors along the peptide backbone.

NMR studies of amyloid interactions

Amyloid fibrils are insoluble, fibrous nanostructures that accumulate extracellularly in biological tissue during the progression of several human disorders, including Alzheimer's disease (AD) and type 2 diabetes. Fibrils are assembled from protein monomers via the transient formation of soluble, cytotoxic oligomers, and have a common molecular architecture consisting of a spinal core of hydrogen-bonded protein β-strands. For the past 25 years, NMR spectroscopy has been at the forefront of research into the structure and assembly mechanisms of amyloid aggregates. Until the recent boom in fibril structure analysis by cryo-electron microscopy, solid-state NMR was unrivalled in its ability to provide atomic-level models of amyloid fibril architecture. Solution-state NMR has also provided complementary information on the early stages in the amyloid assembly mechanism. Now, both NMR modalities are proving to be valuable in unravelling the complex interactions between amyloid species and a diverse range of physiological metal ions, molecules and surfaces that influence the assembly pathway, kinetics, morphology and clearance in vivo. Here, an overview is presented of the main applications of solid-state and solution-state NMR for studying the interactions between amyloid proteins and biomembranes, glycosaminoglycan polysaccharides, metal ions, polyphenols, synthetic therapeutics and diagnostics. Key NMR methodology is reviewed along with examples of how to overcome the challenges of detecting interactions with aggregating proteins. The review heralds this new role for NMR in providing a comprehensive and pathologically-relevant view of the interactions between protein and non-protein components of amyloid. Coverage of both solid- and solution-state NMR methods and applications herein will be informative and valuable to the broad communities that are interested in amyloid proteins.

A turn for the worse: Aβ β-hairpins in Alzheimer's disease

Amyloid-β (Aβ) oligomers are a cause of neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease (AD). These soluble aggregates of the Aβ peptide have proven difficult to study due to their inherent metastability and heterogeneity. Strategies to isolate and stabilize homogenous Aβ oligomer populations have emerged such as mutations, covalent cross-linking, and protein fusions. These strategies along with molecular dynamics simulations have provided a variety of proposed structures of Aβ oligomers, many of which consist of molecules of Aβ in β-hairpin conformations. β-Hairpins are intramolecular antiparallel β-sheets composed of two β-strands connected by a loop or turn. Three decades of research suggests that Aβ peptides form several different β-hairpin conformations, some of which are building blocks of toxic Aβ oligomers. The insights from these studies are currently being used to design anti-Aβ antibodies and vaccines to treat AD. Research suggests that antibody therapies designed to target oligomeric Aβ may be more successful at treating AD than antibodies designed to target linear epitopes of Aβ or fibrillar Aβ. Aβ β-hairpins are good epitopes to use in antibody development to selectively target oligomeric Aβ. This review summarizes the research on β-hairpins in Aβ peptides and discusses the relevance of this conformation in AD pathogenesis and drug development.

β-Hairpin Alignment Alters Oligomer Formation in Aβ-Derived Peptides

Amyloid-β (Aβ) forms heterogeneous oligomers, which are implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Many Aβ oligomers consist of β-hairpin building blocks─Aβ peptides in β-hairpin conformations. β-Hairpins of Aβ can adopt a variety of alignments, but the role that β-hairpin alignment plays in the formation and heterogeneity of Aβ oligomers is poorly understood. To explore the effect of β-hairpin alignment on the oligomerization of Aβ peptides, we designed and studied two model peptides with two different β-hairpin alignments. Peptides Aβm17-36 and Aβm17-35 mimic two different β-hairpins that Aβ can form, the Aβ17-36 and Aβ17-35 β-hairpins, respectively. These hairpins are similar in composition but differ in hairpin alignment, altering the facial arrangements of the side chains of the residues that they contain. X-ray crystallography and SDS-PAGE demonstrate that the difference in facial arrangement between these peptides leads to distinct oligomer formation. In the crystal state, Aβm17-36 forms triangular trimers that further assemble to form hexamers, while Aβm17-35 forms tetrameric β-barrels. In SDS-PAGE, Aβm17-36 assembles to form a ladder of oligomers, while Aβm17-35 either assembles to form a dimer or does not assemble at all. The differences in the behavior of Aβm17-36 and Aβm17-35 suggest β-hairpin alignment as a source of the observed heterogeneity of Aβ oligomers.

A β-barrel-like tetramer formed by a β-hairpin derived from Aβ

β-Hairpins formed by the β-amyloid peptide Aβ are building blocks of Aβ oligomers. Three different alignments of β-hairpins have been observed in the structures of Aβ oligomers or fibrils. Differences in β-hairpin alignment likely contribute to the heterogeneity of Aβ oligomers and thus impede their study at high-resolution. Here, we designed, synthesized, and studied a series of β-hairpin peptides derived from Aβ12-40 in one of these three alignments and investigated their solution-phase assembly and folding. These assays reveal the formation of tetramers and octamers that are stabilized by intermolecular hydrogen bonding interactions between Aβ residues 12-14 and 38-40 as part of an extended β-hairpin conformation. X-ray crystallographic studies of one peptide from this series reveal the formation of β-barrel-like tetramers and octamers that are stabilized by edge-to-edge hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic packing. Dye-leakage and caspase 3/7 activation assays using tetramer and octamer forming peptides from this series reveal membrane-damaging and apoptotic properties. A molecular dynamics simulation of the β-barrel-like tetramer embedded in a lipid bilayer shows membrane disruption and water permeation. The tetramers and octamers described herein provide additional models of how Aβ may assemble into oligomers and supports the hypothesis that β-hairpin alignment and topology may contribute directly to oligomer heterogeneity.

Probing differences among Aβ oligomers with two triangular trimers derived from Aβ

The assembly of the β-amyloid peptide (Aβ) to form oligomers and fibrils is closely associated with the pathogenesis and progression of Alzheimer's disease. Aβ is a shape-shifting peptide capable of adopting many conformations and folds within the multitude of oligomers and fibrils the peptide forms. These properties have precluded detailed structural elucidation and biological characterization of homogeneous, well-defined Aβ oligomers. In this paper, we compare the structural, biophysical, and biological characteristics of two different covalently stabilized isomorphic trimers derived from the central and C-terminal regions Aβ. X-ray crystallography reveals the structures of the trimers and shows that each trimer forms a ball-shaped dodecamer. Solution-phase and cell-based studies demonstrate that the two trimers exhibit markedly different assembly and biological properties. One trimer forms small soluble oligomers that enter cells through endocytosis and activate capase-3/7-mediated apoptosis, while the other trimer forms large insoluble aggregates that accumulate on the outer plasma membrane and elicit cellular toxicity through an apoptosis-independent mechanism. The two trimers also exhibit different effects on the aggregation, toxicity, and cellular interaction of full-length Aβ, with one trimer showing a greater propensity to interact with Aβ than the other. The studies described in this paper indicate that the two trimers share structural, biophysical, and biological characteristics with oligomers of full-length Aβ. The varying structural, assembly, and biological characteristics of the two trimers provide a working model for how different Aβ trimers can assemble and lead to different biological effects, which may help shed light on the differences among Aβ oligomers.

Mismatched covalent and noncovalent templating leads to large coiled coil-templated macrocycles

Herein we describe the use of dynamic combinatorial chemistry to self-assemble complex coiled coil motifs. We amide-coupled a series of peptides designed to form homodimeric coiled coils with 3,5-dithiobenzoic acid (B) at the N-terminus and then allowed each B-peptide to undergo disulfide exchange. In the absence of peptide, monomer B forms cyclic trimers and tetramers, and thus we expected that addition of the peptide to monomer B would shift the equilibrium towards the tetramer to maximize coiled coil formation. Unexpectedly, we found that internal templation of the B-peptide through coiled coil formation shifts the equilibrium towards larger macrocycles up to 13 B-peptide subunits, with a preference for 4, 7, and 10-membered macrocycles. These macrocyclic assemblies display greater helicity and thermal stability relative to intermolecular coiled coil homodimer controls. The preference for large macrocycles is driven by the strength of the coiled coil, as increasing the coiled coil affinity increases the fraction of larger macrocycles. This system represents a new approach towards the development of complex peptide and protein assemblies.