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L P Hosszu L, Sangar D, Batchelor M, Risse E, Hounslow AM, Collinge J, Waltho JP, Bieschke J. Loss of residues 119 - 136, including the first β-strand of human prion protein, generates an aggregation-competent partially "open" form. J Mol Biol 2023:168158. [PMID: 37244570 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2023.168158] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2022] [Revised: 05/18/2023] [Accepted: 05/19/2023] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
In prion replication, the cellular form of prion protein (PrPC) must undergo a full conformational transition to its disease-associated fibrillar form. Transmembrane forms of PrP have been implicated in this structural conversion. The cooperative unfolding of a structural core in PrPC presents a substantial energy barrier to prion formation, with membrane insertion and detachment of parts of PrP presenting a plausible route to its reduction. Here, we examined the removal of residues 119 - 136 of PrP, a region which includes the first β-strand and a substantial portion of the conserved hydrophobic region of PrP, a region which associates with the ER membrane, on the structure, stability and self-association of the folded domain of PrPC. We see an "open" native-like conformer with increased solvent exposure which fibrilises more readily than the native state. These data suggest a stepwise folding transition, which is initiated by the conformational switch to this "open" form of PrPC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laszlo L P Hosszu
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, 33 Cleveland Street, London, W1W 7FF, UK
| | - Daljit Sangar
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, 33 Cleveland Street, London, W1W 7FF, UK
| | - Mark Batchelor
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, 33 Cleveland Street, London, W1W 7FF, UK
| | - Emmanuel Risse
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, 33 Cleveland Street, London, W1W 7FF, UK
| | - Andrea M Hounslow
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield, Firth Court, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK
| | - John Collinge
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, 33 Cleveland Street, London, W1W 7FF, UK
| | - Jonathan P Waltho
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield, Firth Court, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK; Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, University of Manchester, 131 Princess Street, Manchester, M1 7DN, UK
| | - Jan Bieschke
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, 33 Cleveland Street, London, W1W 7FF, UK.
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Arshad H, Patel Z, Amano G, Li LY, Al-Azzawi ZAM, Supattapone S, Schmitt-Ulms G, Watts JC. A single protective polymorphism in the prion protein blocks cross-species prion replication in cultured cells. J Neurochem 2023; 165:230-245. [PMID: 36511154 DOI: 10.1111/jnc.15739] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2022] [Revised: 11/22/2022] [Accepted: 11/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
The bank vole (BV) prion protein (PrP) can function as a universal acceptor of prions. However, the molecular details of BVPrP's promiscuity for replicating a diverse range of prion strains remain obscure. To develop a cultured cell paradigm capable of interrogating the unique properties of BVPrP, we generated monoclonal lines of CAD5 cells lacking endogenous PrP but stably expressing either hamster (Ha), mouse (Mo), or BVPrP (M109 or I109 polymorphic variants) and then challenged them with various strains of mouse or hamster prions. Cells expressing BVPrP were susceptible to both mouse and hamster prions, whereas cells expressing MoPrP or HaPrP could only be infected with species-matched prions. Propagation of mouse and hamster prions in cells expressing BVPrP resulted in strain adaptation in several instances, as evidenced by alterations in conformational stability, glycosylation, susceptibility to anti-prion small molecules, and the inability of BVPrP-adapted mouse prion strains to infect cells expressing MoPrP. Interestingly, cells expressing BVPrP containing the G127V prion gene variant, identified in individuals resistant to kuru, were unable to become infected with prions. Moreover, the G127V polymorphic variant impeded the spontaneous aggregation of recombinant BVPrP. These results demonstrate that BVPrP can facilitate cross-species prion replication in cultured cells and that a single amino acid change can override the prion-permissive nature of BVPrP. This cellular paradigm will be useful for dissecting the molecular features of BVPrP that allow it to function as a universal prion acceptor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hamza Arshad
- Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Zeel Patel
- Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Genki Amano
- Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Le Yao Li
- Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Zaid A M Al-Azzawi
- Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Surachai Supattapone
- Department of Biochemistry, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
- Department of Medicine, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
| | - Gerold Schmitt-Ulms
- Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Joel C Watts
- Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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Pauly T, Bolakhrif N, Kaiser J, Nagel-Steger L, Gremer L, Gohlke H, Willbold D. Met/Val129 polymorphism of the full-length human prion protein dictates distinct pathways of amyloid formation. J Biol Chem 2022; 298:102430. [PMID: 36037966 PMCID: PMC9513279 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2022.102430] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2022] [Revised: 08/18/2022] [Accepted: 08/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Methionine/valine polymorphism at position 129 of the human prion protein, huPrP, is tightly associated with the pathogenic phenotype, disease progress, and age of onset of neurodegenerative diseases such as Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease or Fatal Familial Insomnia. This raises the question of whether and how the amino acid type at position 129 influences the structural properties of huPrP, affecting its folding, stability, and amyloid formation behavior. Here, our detailed biophysical characterization of the 129M and 129V variants of recombinant full-length huPrP(23–230) by amyloid formation kinetics, CD spectroscopy, molecular dynamics simulations, and sedimentation velocity analysis reveals differences in their aggregation propensity and oligomer content, leading to deviating pathways for the conversion into amyloid at acidic pH. We determined that the 129M variant exhibits less secondary structure content before amyloid formation and higher resistance to thermal denaturation compared to the 129V variant, whereas the amyloid conformation of both variants shows similar thermal stability. Additionally, our molecular dynamics simulations and rigidity analyses at the atomistic level identify intramolecular interactions responsible for the enhanced monomer stability of the 129M variant, involving more frequent minimum distances between E196 and R156, forming a salt bridge. Removal of the N-terminal half of the 129M full-length variant diminishes its differences compared to the 129V full-length variant and highlights the relevance of the flexible N terminus in huPrP. Taken together, our findings provide insight into structural properties of huPrP and the effects of the amino acid identity at position 129 on amyloid formation behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Pauly
- Institute of Biological Information Processing (IBI-7: Structural Biochemistry) and JuStruct: Jülich Center of Structural Biology, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany; Institut für Physikalische Biologie, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Najoua Bolakhrif
- Institute of Biological Information Processing (IBI-7: Structural Biochemistry) and JuStruct: Jülich Center of Structural Biology, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany; Institut für Physikalische Biologie, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Jesko Kaiser
- Institute for Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Luitgard Nagel-Steger
- Institute of Biological Information Processing (IBI-7: Structural Biochemistry) and JuStruct: Jülich Center of Structural Biology, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany; Institut für Physikalische Biologie, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Lothar Gremer
- Institute of Biological Information Processing (IBI-7: Structural Biochemistry) and JuStruct: Jülich Center of Structural Biology, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany; Institut für Physikalische Biologie, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Holger Gohlke
- Institute for Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany; Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany; Institute of Bio- and Geosciences (IBG-4: Bioinformatics), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany; John von Neumann Institute for Computing (NIC), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425 Jülich, Germany
| | - Dieter Willbold
- Institute of Biological Information Processing (IBI-7: Structural Biochemistry) and JuStruct: Jülich Center of Structural Biology, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich, Germany; Institut für Physikalische Biologie, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany.
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4
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Sangeetham SB, Engelke AD, Fodor E, Krausz SL, Tatzelt J, Welker E. The G127V variant of the prion protein interferes with dimer formation in vitro but not in cellulo. Sci Rep 2021; 11:3116. [PMID: 33542378 PMCID: PMC7862613 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-82647-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2020] [Accepted: 12/10/2020] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Scrapie prion, PrPSc, formation is the central event of all types of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), while the pathway with possible intermediates and their mechanism of formation from the normal isoform of prion (PrP), remains not fully understood. Recently, the G127V variant of the human PrP is reported to render the protein refractory to transmission of TSEs, via a yet unknown mechanism. Molecular dynamics studies suggested that this mutation interferes with the formation of PrP dimers. Here we analyze the dimerization of 127G and 127VPrP, in both in vitro and a mammalian cell culture system. Our results show that while molecular dynamics may capture the features affecting dimerization in vitro, G127V inhibiting dimer formation of PrP, these are not evidenced in a more complex cellular system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sudheer Babu Sangeetham
- Institute of Biochemistry, Biological Research Centre, Szeged, 6726, Hungary
- Doctoral School of Multidisciplinary Medical Sciences, University of Szeged, Dugonics square 13, Szeged, 6720, Hungary
| | - Anna Dorothee Engelke
- Department Biochemistry of Neurodegenerative Diseases, Institute of Biochemistry and Pathobiochemistry, Ruhr University Bochum, 44801, Bochum, Germany
- Department of Neurology, Medical Faculty, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Elfrieda Fodor
- Institute of Biochemistry, Biological Research Centre, Szeged, 6726, Hungary
| | - Sarah Laura Krausz
- Institute of Enzymology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, 1117, Hungary
- School of Ph.D. Studies, Semmelweis University, Budapest, 1085, Hungary
- Aktogen Hungary Ltd., Kecskemét, 6000, Hungary
| | - Jörg Tatzelt
- Department Biochemistry of Neurodegenerative Diseases, Institute of Biochemistry and Pathobiochemistry, Ruhr University Bochum, 44801, Bochum, Germany.
- Cluster of Excellence RESOLV, Bochum, Germany.
| | - Ervin Welker
- Institute of Biochemistry, Biological Research Centre, Szeged, 6726, Hungary.
- Institute of Enzymology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, 1117, Hungary.
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