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- Moparthi, Satish Babu
(författare)
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Biophysical studies of protein folding upon interaction with molecular chaperones
- 2009
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Proteins are biological macromolecules that serve all functions in cells. Every protein consists of a sequence of amino acids that is folded into a three‐dimensional structure to maintain the unique information it contains and to allow the protein to perform its specific actions. Improper folding caused by mutations in the amino acid sequence or environmental stress can lead to protein aggregation and ultimately to protein conformational disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and other dreadful diseases. Nature has developed special classes of protein guards called foldases and chaperones that can increase folding efficiency in the crowded intracellular milieu by preventing protein aggregation. The present research was aimed to elucidate how chaperones and foldases interact with their target proteins during folding. Special attention was focused on refolding kinetics and dynamic remodulation of site‐specific labeled cysteine variants of the protein human carbonic anhydrase (HCA II) upon interaction with the PPIase cyclophilin18 (Cyp18) and the chaperonin GroEL. Part of the work also compared properties of the group I chaperonin GroEL and the group II chaperonin TRiC, considering how they mediate structural alterations uponinteraction with the cytoskeletal target protein β‐actin. These interactions were studied by various fluorescence techniques, including fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) and fluorescence anisotropy.Refolding of HCA II is an extremely complicated process that involves very fast and slow folding events, and research has shown that Cyp18 enhances the slow rate‐limiting cistrans proline isomerization steps during the refolding process. Furthermore, the active‐site mutant Cyp18R55A has been reported to posses only about 1% catalytic efficiency when acting on short chromogenic peptide substrates. However, we found that Cyp18R55A is as efficient as the wild‐type Cyp18 in accelerating HCA II refolding. We also noted that Cyp18 enhanced the final yield of the severely destabilized HCA IIH107N, and HCA IIH107F mutants by rescuing transient molten globule intermediates from misfolding as a result of condensation of hydrophobic patches at very early stages of the folding process. These findings led to the conclusion that Arg 55, located in the active site of Cyp18, is not required for prolyl cistrans isomerization of protein substrates, and that Cyp18 can function as both a folding catalyst and a chaperone during HCA II folding.Studies have demonstrated that sequestering of protein substrates by the chaperonin GroEL alone results in binding‐induced unfolding of aggregation‐prone molten globule intermediates. It was previously assumed that the co‐chaperonin GroES does not play an independent role in folding. However, based on FRET measurements, we found that GroEL alone stretches the protein substrate as an early event, and also that GroES alone can transiently remodulate the structure of the molten globule intermediate during the refolding process. In addition, GroES acts in i concert with GroEL to exert additive transient stretchng effects on the protein core, and it reverses the unfoldase activity of the GroEL termini, leading to compaction of the structure to attain the more constrained native state.Earlier investigations have shown that partially folded β‐actin binds to both GroEL and the TRiC chaperonin. However, only TRiC guides correct folding of β‐actin, whereas the GroEL–β‐actin interaction is non‐productive. Homo‐FRET measurements on β‐actin mutants labeled with fluorescein during interaction with GroEL and TRiC indicated that interplay with both the chaperonins lead to binding‐induced unfolding and dynamic remodulation of β‐actin. More specifically, the interaction with TRiC resulted in considerable expansion of the entrance of the ATP‐binding cleft of β‐actin by effecting specific modulation of the β‐actin sub‐domains followed by the formation of a compressed state (native‐like) during release from TriC. Conformational rearrangements of β‐actin by GroEL on the other and were ore modest. β‐actin remained rather compact in the complex and consequently did not lead to the native‐like state ven in the encapsulated cis‐cavity when capped by GroES.
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| 2. |
- Sjölander, Daniel
(författare)
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Luminescent molecular recognition of pathognomonic and aging associated protein aggregates
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Various protein inclusions have been recognized to be associated with aging and pathogenic conditions, such as in Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Type 2 diabetes, and the prionoses Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Chronic wasting disease (CWD), and Mad cow disease. The causative transition of protein aggregation is the alteration in the conformation of the protein that renders the protein susceptible towards self-assembly. Variations in the physico-chemical ultrastructure of the protein deposit, i.e. the conformation and the chemical nature of the fibril constituent protein monomers, translate into specific structure-property phenotype, hence clinicopathology. Upon transmission and/or propagation this phenomenon gives rise to specific protein aggregate strains. Today most potential treatments of the protein conformational diseases have been a huge failure, effectively due to late diagnosis and subsequent therapeutic intervention. An imperative for efficient treatment is early detection and accurate identification for proper clinical diagnosis.The purpose of the studies in this thesis was to develop highly sensitive methods for detection and discrimination of age- and disease associated protein deposits both for in vitro and ex vivo utilization.Herein we have shown that, for in vitro usage, Nile red will bind to amyloid-like protein aggregates derived from a plethora of precursor proteins. It was also found that the fluorescence was insensitive to acidic assay conditions in contrast to the standard in vitro dye Thioflavin T (ThT). Further, Nile red was shown to discriminate between conformational isoforms thus enabling conformational typing of amyloid structures.For the development of ex vivo detection methods we employed luminescent conjugated oligothiophenes (LCOs) and utilized the structure-conformation induced optical properties of this class of protein aggregate ligands. The heptameric oligothiophene h-FTAA was successfully used to detect, with high sensitivity, protein deposits from various systemic amyloidoses (ATTR, AA, AL-λ/κ, and the local amyloidosis AIAPP) derived from biopsy specimens. Also aging-associated protein deposits were detected which was found promising for early detection of potentially pathogenic protein inclusions. Further, LCO staining of tissue sections was found compatible with immunolabeling enabling subtyping of involved proteins. Early detection of amyloidosis also requires relatively non-invasive methods, why h-FTAA staining was directed towards fine-needle-aspirated (FNA) abdominal fat tissue smears. Staining of protein deposits and detection with high sensitivity was also found in the fat tissue smears.In addition to the relatively rare prionoses it has lately been shown that Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s diseases share similar properties as the prion pathologies. Hence the urgent need for ligands that will recognize specific disease specific strain aggregates. Using an established murine model for prion strain propagation we were able to discriminate two different prion strains, murine adapted Sheep Scrapie (mSS) and murine adapted Chronic wasting disease (mCWD) from each other by using multimodal fluorescence microscopy entailing emission/excitation spectral imaging and fluorescent lifetime imaging (FLIM).In conclusion we have shown that the LCOs will recognize protein aggregates with high sensitivity and selectivity. In addition we have shown that the LCOs detect protein aggregates that Congo red failed to recognize thus allowing potentially early diagnosis. Last, we show that the LCOs will recognize and discriminate between different protein aggregate strains which potentially will allow disease specific therapeutic targeting.
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| 3. |
- Gårdmark, Truls, 1965-
(författare)
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Urinary Bladder Carcinoma – Studies of Outcome of Current Management and Experimental Therapy
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The thesis concerns the epidemiology, current and possible future treatment of urothelial cancer of the urinary bladder. The Swedish National Quality Registry for Bladder Cancer 1997-2001 was used to explore epidemiology, current therapies and outcome. More common in men, the incidence for Ta and T1 tumours peaks in the age range 70-79 years. There were differences in treatment activity between the reporting regions. An increasing activity was seen. Older patients received less intravesical treatment, which was also a tendency for women. The five year relative survival for all stages (Ta-T4) was 70%; 93% for Ta and 75% for T1. For Ta or T1 survival did not differ significantly between regions. Because the registry has only been running since 1997 a long term follow-up (ten years) of 250 patients comparing Bacillus Calmette-Guerin and Mitomycin-C, was performed. No differences regarding complementary treatment, progression or survival (overall or disease specific) were shown. Looking for new drugs, gemcitabine was tried for intravesical instillations. Patients were randomised to one of three dose schedules. The effect on a marker tumour lesion was evaluated after nine weeks. The overall complete response rate was 31% (9/29). Side effects were more common in women but generally mild; the most common was nausea. One patient stopped instillations (nausea and fever). No patients were excluded due to pathological changes in laboratory parameters. For metastasised disease, over-expression of the growth factor receptor HER2 on urothelial cancer cells was explored in primary tumours and metastases, aiming at radionuclide target therapy. With a new antigen retrieval procedure and evaluation protocol 80% of primary tumours overexpressed the receptor and 72% remained so in the metastases. In conclusion current therapies were increasingly used by clinicians. Superiority for BCG could not be proven. Prerequisites for new therapies have been explored and the way has been paved for future studies.
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| 4. |
- Persson, Mikael, 1975-
(författare)
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Antibody Mediated Radionuclide Targeting of HER-2 for Cancer Diagnostics and Therapy : Preclinical Studies
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Targeted radionuclide therapy (TRT) holds great promise for the treatment of cancer. In TRT, radioactive nuclides are delivered specifically to tumours by molecules that recognise and bind to structures overexpressed by, or specific to, cancer cells. Human epidermal growth factor receptor like protein 2 (HER-2) is an oncogene product overexpressed in e.g. urological, breast, or ovarian cancers that have been correlated to poor prognosis and resistance to hormonal therapy. There is also evidence that tumour cells retain their HER-2 overexpression in metastases. Trastuzumab and pertuzumab are two humanised monoclonal antibodies targeting different parts of HER-2. This thesis describes the radiolabelling of these antibodies for use in TRT and diagnostics. The thesis also investigates possible methods for modifying uptake and retention of radioactivity delivered with antibodies binding to HER-2. Modification of the cellular retention of 125I by using polyhedral boron anion based linker molecules (DABI and NBI) is investigated, and it is shown that linking 125I to trastuzumab using DABI increases cellular accumulation of radioactivity by 33%. It is also shown that trastuzumab can be efficiently coupled to the positron emitter 76Br by using NBI. Furthermore, it is shown that cellular uptake of 125I can be modified by stimulating EGFR (HER-1) with EGF. When labelled with the alpha emitter 211At, trastuzumab could specifically kill cells in vitro. This cell killing effect could be prevented by saturating the receptors of the target cells with non-radiolabelled trastuzumab. Pertuzumab was radiolabelled with the low energy beta emitter 177Lu without losing affinity or immunocompetence. [177Lu]pertuzumab was specific to HER-2 in vitro and in vivo. This targeting conjugate was shown to increase median time to tumour progression in mice bearing xenografts of the radioresistant SKOV-3 cell line. In conclusion, antibodies against HER-2, especially pertuzumab radiolabelled with 177Lu, show promise as TRT agents.
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