| 1. |
- Andersson, E., et al.
(författare)
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Isolation of human cationic antimicrobial protein-18 from seminal plasma and its association with prostasomes.
- 2002
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Ingår i: Human Reproduction. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0268-1161 .- 1460-2350. ; 17:10, s. 34-2529
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Cathelicidins are a group of antibiotic peptides with broad antimicrobial activity. They are considered to be an essential part of the innate immune system. The only known human cathelicidin is the human cationic antimicrobial protein (hCAP-18), from which the antimicrobial peptide LL-37 is released. METHODS AND RESULTS: In the present study, we purified hCAP-18 from seminal plasma and confirmed its identity by N-terminal amino acid sequencing. Gel filtration of seminal plasma showed the presence of hCAP-18 in both a low and a high molecular weight peak. Fractions corresponding to the high molecular form of hCAP-18 also contained dipeptidyl peptidase IV (CD26), a prostasome marker. This finding suggested that hCAP-18 found in fractions corresponding to high molecular weight molecules, is prostasome-associated. Flow cytometry confirmed the association of hCAP-18 with prostasomes and indicated that the molecule is surface bound. Western blot showed the presence of intact hCAP-18 in sperm, prostasomes and ultracentrifuged seminal plasma. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that hCAP-18 may have an important role in antimicrobial defence during human reproduction. The binding of hCAP-18 to prostasomes indicates that protasomes can serve as a reservoir of this precursor of the antibiotic peptide LL-37.
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| 2. |
- Arosio, Paolo, et al.
(författare)
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Quantification of the Concentration of A beta 42 Propagons during the Lag Phase by an Amyloid Chain Reaction Assay
- 2014
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Ingår i: Journal of the American Chemical Society. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1520-5126 .- 0002-7863. ; 136:1, s. 219-225
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aggregation of the amyloid beta peptide, A beta 42, implicated in Alzheimer's disease, is characterized by a lag phase followed by a rapid growth phase. Conventional methods to study this reaction are not sensitive to events taking place early in the lag phase promoting the assumption that only monomeric or oligomeric species are present at early stages and that the lag time is defined by the primary nucleation rate only. Here we exploit the high sensitivity of chemical chain reactions to the reagent composition to develop an assay which improves by 2 orders of magnitude the detection limit of conventional bulk techniques and allows the concentration of fibrillar A beta 42 propagons to be detected and quantified even during the lag time. The method relies on the chain reaction multiplication of a small number of initial fibrils by secondary nucleation on the fibril surface in the presence of monomeric peptides, allowing the quantification of the number of initial propagons by comparing the multiplication reaction kinetics with controlled seeding data. The quantitative results of the chain reaction assay are confirmed by qualitative transmission electron microscopy analysis. The results demonstrate the nonlinearity of the aggregation process which involves both primary and secondary nucleation events even at the early stages of the reaction during the lag-phase.
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| 3. |
- Bauer, Mikael, et al.
(författare)
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Zn2+ binding to human calbindin D(28k) and the role of histidine residues.
- 2008
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Ingår i: Protein Science. - : Wiley. - 1469-896X .- 0961-8368. ; 17:4, s. 760-767
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We have studied the binding of Zn2+ to the hexa EF-hand protein, calbindin D(28k)-a strong Ca2+-binder involved in apoptosis regulation-which is highly expressed in brain tissue. By use of radioblots, isothermal titration calorimetry, and competition with a fluorescent Zn2+ chelator, we find that calbindin D(28k) binds Zn2+ to three rather strong sites with dissociation constants in the low micromolar range. Furthermore, we conclude based on spectroscopic investigations that the Zn2+-bound state is structurally distinct from the Ca2+-bound state and that the two forms are incompatible, yielding negative allosteric interaction between the zinc- and calcium-binding events. ANS titrations reveal a change in hydrophobicity upon binding Zn2+. The binding of Zn2+ is compatible with the ability of calbindin to activate myo-inositol monophosphatase, one of the known targets of calbindin. Through site-directed mutagenesis, we address the role of cysteine and histidine residues in the binding of Zn2+. Mutation of all five cysteines into serines has no effect on Zn2+-binding affinity or stoichiometry. However, mutating histidine 80 into a glutamine reduces the binding affinity of the strongest Zn2+ site, indicating that this residue is involved in coordinating the Zn2+ ion in this site. Mutating histidines 5, 22, or 114 has significantly smaller effects on Zn2+-binding affinity.
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| 4. |
- Behnen, Petra, et al.
(författare)
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Calcium-Dependent Interaction of Calmodulin with Human 80S Ribosomes and Polyribosomes.
- 2012
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Ingår i: Biochemistry. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0006-2960 .- 1520-4995. ; 51:34, s. 6718-6727
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Ribosomes are the protein factories of every living cell. The process of protein translation is highly complex and tightly regulated by a large number of diverse RNAs and proteins. Earlier studies indicate that Ca(2+) plays a role in protein translation. Calmodulin (CaM), a ubiquitous Ca(2+)-binding protein, regulates a large number of proteins participating in many signaling pathways. Several 40S and 60S ribosomal proteins have been identified to interact with CaM, and here, we report that CaM binds with high affinity to 80S ribosomes and polyribosomes in a Ca(2+)-dependent manner. No binding is observed in buffer with 6 mM Mg(2+) and 1 mM EGTA that chelates Ca(2+), suggesting high specificity of the CaM-ribosome interaction dependent on the Ca(2+) induced conformational change of CaM. The interactions between CaM and ribosomes are inhibited by synthetic peptides comprising putative CaM-binding sites in ribosomal proteins S2 and L14. Using a cell-free in vitro translation system, we further found that these synthetic peptides are potent inhibitors of protein synthesis. Our results identify an involvement of CaM in the translational activity of ribosomes.
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| 5. |
- Cedervall, Tommy, et al.
(författare)
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Food chain transport of nanoparticles affects behaviour and fat metabolism in fish.
- 2012
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Ingår i: PLoS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 7:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Nano-sized (10(-9)-10(-7) m) particles offer many technical and biomedical advances over the bulk material. The use of nanoparticles in cosmetics, detergents, food and other commercial products is rapidly increasing despite little knowledge of their effect on organism metabolism. We show here that commercially manufactured polystyrene nanoparticles, transported through an aquatic food chain from algae, through zooplankton to fish, affect lipid metabolism and behaviour of the top consumer. At least three independent metabolic parameters differed between control and test fish: the weight loss, the triglycerides∶cholesterol ratio in blood serum, and the distribution of cholesterol between muscle and liver. Moreover, we demonstrate that nanoparticles bind to apolipoprotein A-I in fish serum in-vitro, thereby restraining them from properly utilising their fat reserves if absorbed through ingestion. In addition to the metabolic effects, we show that consumption of nanoparticle-containing zooplankton affects the feeding behaviour of the fish. The time it took the fish to consume 95% of the food presented to them was more than doubled for nanoparticle-exposed compared to control fish. Since many nano-sized products will, through the sewage system, end up in freshwater and marine habitats, our study provides a potential bioassay for testing new nano-sized material before manufacturing. In conclusion, our study shows that from knowledge of the molecular composition of the protein corona around nanoparticles it is possible to make a testable molecular hypothesis and bioassay of the potential biological risks of a defined nanoparticle at the organism and ecosystem level.
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| 6. |
- Cohen, Samuel I A, et al.
(författare)
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A molecular chaperone breaks the catalytic cycle that generates toxic Aβ oligomers.
- 2015
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Ingår i: Nature Structural & Molecular Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1545-9985 .- 1545-9993. ; 22:3, s. 207-213
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Alzheimer's disease is an increasingly prevalent neurodegenerative disorder whose pathogenesis has been associated with aggregation of the amyloid-β peptide (Aβ42). Recent studies have revealed that once Aβ42 fibrils are generated, their surfaces effectively catalyze the formation of neurotoxic oligomers. Here we show that a molecular chaperone, a human Brichos domain, can specifically inhibit this catalytic cycle and limit human Aβ42 toxicity. We demonstrate in vitro that Brichos achieves this inhibition by binding to the surfaces of fibrils, thereby redirecting the aggregation reaction to a pathway that involves minimal formation of toxic oligomeric intermediates. We verify that this mechanism occurs in living mouse brain tissue by cytotoxicity and electrophysiology experiments. These results reveal that molecular chaperones can help maintain protein homeostasis by selectively suppressing critical microscopic steps within the complex reaction pathways responsible for the toxic effects of protein misfolding and aggregation.
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| 7. |
- Covin, Michael T., et al.
(författare)
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High Resolution Structural Characterization of A beta(42) Amyloid Fibrils by Magic Angle Spinning NMR
- 2015
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Ingår i: Journal of the American Chemical Society. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1520-5126 .- 0002-7863. ; 137:23, s. 7509-7518
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The presence of amyloid plaques composed of amyloid beta (A beta) fibrils is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The A beta peptide is present as several length variants with two common alloforms consisting of 40 and 42 amino acids, denoted A beta(1-40) and A beta(1-42), respectively. While there have been numerous reports that structurally characterize fibrils of A beta(1-40), very little is known about the structure of amyloid fibrils of A beta(1-42), which are considered the more toxic alloform involved in AD. We have prepared isotopically C-13/N-13 labeled A beta(M01-42) fibrils in vitro from recombinant protein and examined their C-13-C-13 and C-13-N-15 magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR spectra. In contrast to several other studies of A beta fibrils, we observe spectra with excellent resolution and a single set of chemical shifts, suggesting the presence of a single fibril morphology. We report the initial structural characterization of A beta(M01-42) fibrils utilizing C-13 and N-15 shift assignments of 38 of the 43 residues, including the backbone and side chains, obtained through a series of cross-polarization based 2D and 3D C-13-C-13, C-13-N-15 MAS NMR experiments for rigid residues along with J-based 2D TOBSY experiments for dynamic residues. We find that the first similar to 5 residues are dynamic and most efficiently detected in a J-based TOBSY spectrum. In contrast, residues 16-42 are easily observed in cross-polarization experiments and most likely form the amyloid core. Calculation of psi and phi dihedral angles from the chemical shift assignments indicate that beta-strands are present in the fibril's secondary structure.
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| 8. |
- Cukalevski, Risto, et al.
(författare)
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Role of Aromatic Side Chains in Amyloid β-Protein Aggregation.
- 2012
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Ingår i: ACS Chemical Neuroscience. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1948-7193. ; 3:12, s. 1008-1016
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aggregation of the amyloid β-protein (Aβ) is believed to be involved in Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis. Here we have investigated the importance of the aromatic rings at positions 19 and 20 for the aggregation rate and mechanism by substituting phenylalanine with leucine. Aggregation kinetics were monitored as a function of time and peptide concentration by thioflavin T (ThT) fluorescence, the aggregation equilibrium by sedimentation assay, structural changes using circular dichroism spectroscopy and the presence of fibrillar material was detected with cryo-transmission electron microscopy. All peptides convert from monomer to amyloid fibrils in a concentration-dependent manner. Substituting F19 with leucine results in a peptide that aggregates significantly slower than the wild type, while substitution of F20 produces a peptide that aggregates faster. The effects of the two substitutions are additive, since simultaneous substitution of F19 and F20 produces a peptide with aggregation kinetics intermediate between F19L and F20L. Our results suggest that the aromatic side-chain of F19 favors nucleation of the aggregation process and may be an important target for therapeutic intervention.
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| 9. |
- Cukalevski, Risto, et al.
(författare)
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The A beta 40 and A beta 42 peptides self-assemble into separate homomolecular fibrils in binary mixtures but cross-react during primary nucleation
- 2015
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Ingår i: Chemical Science. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 2041-6539 .- 2041-6520. ; 6:7, s. 4215-4233
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The assembly of proteins into amyloid fibrils, a phenomenon central to several currently incurable human diseases, is a process of high specificity that commonly tolerates only a low level of sequence mismatch in the component polypeptides. However, in many cases aggregation-prone polypeptides exist as mixtures with variations in sequence length or post-translational modifications; in particular amyloid beta (A beta) peptides of variable length coexist in the central nervous system and possess a propensity to aggregate in Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. Here we have probed the co-aggregation and cross-seeding behavior of the two principal forms of A beta, A beta 40 and A beta 42 that differ by two hydrophobic residues at the C-terminus. We find, using isotope-labeling, mass spectrometry and electron microscopy that they separate preferentially into homomolecular pure A beta 42 and A beta 40 structures during fibril formation from mixed solutions of both peptides. Although mixed fibrils are not formed, the kinetics of amyloid formation of one peptide is affected by the presence of the other form. In particular monomeric A beta 42 accelerates strongly the aggregation of A beta 40 in a concentration-dependent manner. Whereas the aggregation of each peptide is catalyzed by low concentrations of preformed fibrils of the same peptide, we observe a comparably insignificant effect when A beta 42 fibrils are added to A beta 40 monomer or vice versa. Therefore we conclude that fibril-catalysed nucleus formation and elongation are highly sequence specific events but A beta 40 and A beta 42 interact during primary nucleation. These results provide a molecular level description of homomolecular and heteromolecular aggregation steps in mixtures of polypeptide sequence variants.
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| 10. |
- Edström, Anneli M L, et al.
(författare)
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The major bactericidal activity of human seminal plasma is zinc-dependent and derived from fragmentation of the semenogelins.
- 2008
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Ingår i: Journal of immunology. - 1550-6606. ; 181:5, s. 3413-3421
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- One of the major roles of seminal plasma is to provide antimicrobial protection for the spermatozoa in the female reproductive tract. We found that the bactericidal activity of seminal plasma was highest after resolution of the seminal clot and that this antibacterial activity subsequently became greatly diminished. The antibacterial activity was derived from peptides generated by fragmentation of the semenogelins while the semenogelin holoproteins displayed no antibacterial activity. After ejaculation the semenogelin-derived peptides were fragmented to smaller and smaller fragments over time and thereby lost antibacterial activity. This paralleled the loss of antibacterial activity of whole seminal plasma both in vitro and after sexual intercourse. Moreover, the antibacterial activity of the semenogelin-derived peptides generated in seminal plasma was strictly zinc-dependent both at neutral and low pH. These data provide novel roles for the resolution of seminal clots and for the high zinc concentration in human seminal plasma.
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