| 1. |
- Trillo-Muyo, Sergio, 1983, et al.
(author)
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Granule-stored MUC5B mucins are packed by the non-covalent formation of N-terminal head-to-head tetramers
- 2018
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In: Journal of Biological Chemistry. - : American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. - 0021-9258 .- 1083-351X. ; 293:15, s. 5746-5754
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Most MUC5B mucin polymers in the upper airways of humans and pigs are produced by submucosal glands. MUC5B forms N-terminal covalent dimers that are further packed into larger assemblies because of low pH and high Ca2+ in the secretory granule of the mucin-producing cell. We purified the recombinant MUC5B N-terminal covalent dimer and used single-particle electron microscopy to study its structure under intracellular conditions. We found that, at intragranular pH, the dimeric MUC5B organized into head-to-head noncovalent tetramers where the von Willebrand D1-D2 domains hooked into each other. These N-terminal tetramers further formed long linear complexes from which, we suggest, the mucin domains and their C termini project radially outwards. Using conventional and video microscopy, we observed that, upon secretion into the submucosal gland ducts, a flow of bicarbonate-rich fluid passes the mucin-secreting cells. We suggest that this unfolds and pulls out the MUC5B assemblies into long linear threads. These further assemble into thicker mucin bundles in the glandular ducts before emerging at the gland duct opening. We conclude that the combination of intracellular packing of the MUC5B mucin and the submucosal gland morphology creates an efficient machine for producing linear mucin bundles.
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| 2. |
- Chen, G., et al.
(author)
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Abilities of the BRICHOS domain to prevent neurotoxicity and fibril formation are dependent on a highly conserved Asp residue
- 2022
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In: RSC Chemical Biology. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 2633-0679. ; 3:11, s. 1342-1358
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Proteins can self-assemble into amyloid fibrils or amorphous aggregates and thereby cause disease. Molecular chaperones can prevent both these types of protein aggregation, but to what extent the respective mechanisms are overlapping is not fully understood. The BRICHOS domain constitutes a disease-associated chaperone family, with activities against amyloid neurotoxicity, fibril formation, and amorphous protein aggregation. Here, we show that the activities of BRICHOS against amyloid-induced neurotoxicity and fibril formation, respectively, are oppositely dependent on a conserved aspartate residue, while the ability to suppress amorphous protein aggregation is unchanged by Asp to Asn mutations. The Asp is evolutionarily highly conserved in >3000 analysed BRICHOS domains but is replaced by Asn in some BRICHOS families. The conserved Asp in its ionized state promotes structural flexibility and has a pKa value between pH 6.0 and 7.0, suggesting that chaperone effects can be differently affected by physiological pH variations.
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| 3. |
- Ambort, Daniel, 1978, et al.
(author)
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Calcium and pH-dependent packing and release of the gel-forming MUC2 mucin.
- 2012
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In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - 1091-6490 .- 0027-8424. ; 109:15, s. 5645-50
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- MUC2, the major colonic mucin, forms large polymers by N-terminal trimerization and C-terminal dimerization. Although the assembly process for MUC2 is established, it is not known how MUC2 is packed in the regulated secretory granulae of the goblet cell. When the N-terminal VWD1-D2-D'D3 domains (MUC2-N) were expressed in a goblet-like cell line, the protein was stored together with full-length MUC2. By mimicking the pH and calcium conditions of the secretory pathway we analyzed purified MUC2-N by gel filtration, density gradient centrifugation, and transmission electron microscopy. At pH 7.4 the MUC2-N trimer eluted as a single peak by gel filtration. At pH 6.2 with Ca(2+) it formed large aggregates that did not enter the gel filtration column but were made visible after density gradient centrifugation. Electron microscopy studies revealed that the aggregates were composed of rings also observed in secretory granulae of colon tissue sections. The MUC2-N aggregates were dissolved by removing Ca(2+) and raising pH. After release from goblet cells, the unfolded full-length MUC2 formed stratified layers. These findings suggest a model for mucin packing in the granulae and the mechanism for mucin release, unfolding, and expansion.
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| 4. |
- Chen, Gefei, et al.
(author)
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Bri2 BRICHOS client specificity and chaperone activity are governed by assembly state
- 2017
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In: Nature Communications. - : Nature Publishing Group. - 2041-1723. ; 8
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- . Protein misfolding and aggregation is increasingly being recognized as a cause of disease. In Alzheimer's disease the amyloid-beta peptide (A beta) misfolds into neurotoxic oligomers and assembles into amyloid fibrils. The Bri2 protein associated with Familial British and Danish dementias contains a BRICHOS domain, which reduces A beta fibrillization as well as neurotoxicity in vitro and in a Drosophila model, but also rescues proteins from irreversible nonfibrillar aggregation. How these different activities are mediated is not known. Here we show that Bri2 BRICHOS monomers potently prevent neuronal network toxicity of A beta, while dimers strongly suppress A beta fibril formation. The dimers assemble into high-molecular-weight oligomers with an apparent two-fold symmetry, which are efficient inhibitors of non-fibrillar protein aggregation. These results indicate that Bri2 BRICHOS affects qualitatively different aspects of protein misfolding and toxicity via different quaternary structures, suggesting a means to generate molecular chaperone diversity.
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| 5. |
- Chen, Gefei, et al.
(author)
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Short hydrophobic loop motifs in BRICHOS domains determine chaperone activity against amorphous protein aggregation but not against amyloid formation
- 2023
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In: Communications Biology. - : Springer Nature. - 2399-3642. ; 6:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BRICHOS domain oligomerization exposes three short hydrophobic motifs that are necessary for efficient chaperone activity against amorphous protein aggregation. ATP-independent molecular chaperones are important for maintaining cellular fitness but the molecular determinants for preventing aggregation of partly unfolded protein substrates remain unclear, particularly regarding assembly state and basis for substrate recognition. The BRICHOS domain can perform small heat shock (sHSP)-like chaperone functions to widely different degrees depending on its assembly state and sequence. Here, we observed three hydrophobic sequence motifs in chaperone-active domains, and found that they get surface-exposed when the BRICHOS domain assembles into larger oligomers. Studies of loop-swap variants and site-specific mutants further revealed that the biological hydrophobicities of the three short motifs linearly correlate with the efficiency to prevent amorphous protein aggregation. At the same time, they do not at all correlate with the ability to prevent ordered amyloid fibril formation. The linear correlations also accurately predict activities of chimeras containing short hydrophobic sequence motifs from a sHSP that is unrelated to BRICHOS. Our data indicate that short, exposed hydrophobic motifs brought together by oligomerisation are sufficient and necessary for efficient chaperone activity against amorphous protein aggregation.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Cheng, Kimberley, et al.
(author)
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Rapana thomasiana hemocyanin (RtH): Comparison of the two isoforms, RtH1 and RtH2, at 19 angstrom 16 angstrom resolution
- 2006
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In: Micron. - : Elsevier BV. - 0968-4328 .- 1878-4291. ; 37:6, s. 566-576
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Three-dimensional (3D) reconstructions of the two 8.4 MDa Rapana thomasiana hemocyanin isoforms, RtH1 and RtH2, have been obtained by cryoelectron microscopy of molecules embedded in vitreous ice and single particle image processing. The final 3D structures of the RtH1 and RtH2 didecamers at 19 angstrom and 16 angstrom resolution, respectively, are very similar to earlier reconstructions of gastropodan hemocyanins, revealing structural features such as the obliquely oriented subunits, the five- and two-fold symmetrical axes. Three new interactions are defined; two of them connecting the arch and the wall while the third is formed between the collar and the wall. The collar-wall connection and one of the arch-wall connections are positioned between two individual subunit dimers, while the second arch-wall connection is located between two subunits within the subunit dimer. All three interactions establish connections to the first tier of the wall. Furthermore, for each interaction we have allocated two first tier functional units most likely involved in forming the connections. (
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| 8. |
- Elmlund, Hans, et al.
(author)
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The cyclin-dependent kinase 8 module sterically blocks Mediator interactions with RNA polymerase II
- 2006
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In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - 0027-8424 .- 1091-6490. ; 103:43, s. 15788-15793
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- CDK8 (cyclin-dependent kinase 8), along with CycC, Med12, and Med13, form a repressive module (the Cdk8 module) that prevents RNA polymerase II (pol II) interactions with Mediator. Here, we report that the ability of the Cdk8 module to prevent pol II interactions is independent of the Cdk8-dependent kinase activity. We use electron microscopy and single-particle reconstruction to demonstrate that the Cdk8 module forms a distinct structural entity that binds to the head and middle region of Mediator, thereby sterically blocking interactions with pol II.
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| 9. |
- Härmark, Johan, et al.
(author)
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Shell thickness determination of polymer-shelled microbubbles using transmission electron microscopy
- 2016
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In: Micron. - : Elsevier. - 0968-4328 .- 1878-4291. ; 85, s. 39-43
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Intravenously injected microbubbles (MBs) can be utilized as ultrasound contrast agent (CA) resulting in enhanced image quality. A novel CA, consisting of air filled MBs stabilized with a shell of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) has been developed. These spherical MBs have been decorated with superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) in order to serve as both ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) CA. In this study, a mathematical model was introduced that determined the shell thickness of two types of SPIONs decorated MBs (Type A and Type B). The shell thickness of MBs is important to determine, as it affects the acoustical properties. In order to investigate the shell thickness, thin sections of plastic embedded MBs were prepared and imaged using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). However, the sections were cut at random distances from the MB center, which affected the observed shell thickness. Hence, the model determined the average shell thickness of the MBs from corrected mean values of the outer and inner radii observed in the TEM sections. The model was validated using simulated slices of MBs with known shell thickness and radius. The average shell thickness of Type A and Type B MBs were 651nm and 637nm, respectively.
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| 10. |
- Koeck, Philip J. B., et al.
(author)
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3D-correlation-averaging for membrane-protein-crystals
- 2008
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In: EMC 2008 14th European Microscopy Congress. - Berlin, Heidelberg : Springer Berlin Heidelberg. ; , s. 55-56
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Few 2-dimensional protein crystals can be used to determine high-resolution structures, whereas most electron crystallography projects remain at a resolution around 10 Ångström. This might be partly due to lack of flatness of many two-dimensional crystals [1]. We have investigated this problem and suggest single particle projection matching (3D-correlation averaging) of locally averaged unit cells to improve the quality of three-dimensional maps. Theoretical considerations and tests on simulated data demonstrate the feasibility of this refinement method [2].
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