| 1. |
- Berntsson, Elina, et al.
(författare)
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Characterization of Uranyl (UO22+) Ion Binding to Amyloid Beta (Aβ) Peptides : Effects on Aβ Structure and Aggregation
- 2023
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Ingår i: ACS Chemical Neuroscience. - 1948-7193. ; 14:15, s. 2618-2633
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Uranium (U) is naturally present in ambient air, water, and soil, and depleted uranium (DU) is released into the environment via industrial and military activities. While the radiological damage from U is rather well understood, less is known about the chemical damage mechanisms, which dominate in DU. Heavy metal exposure is associated with numerous health conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most prevalent age-related cause of dementia. The pathological hallmark of AD is the deposition of amyloid plaques, consisting mainly of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides aggregated into amyloid fibrils in the brain. However, the toxic species in AD are likely oligomeric Aβ aggregates. Exposure to heavy metals such as Cd, Hg, Mn, and Pb is known to increase Aβ production, and these metals bind to Aβ peptides and modulate their aggregation. The possible effects of U in AD pathology have been sparsely studied. Here, we use biophysical techniques to study in vitro interactions between Aβ peptides and uranyl ions, UO22+, of DU. We show for the first time that uranyl ions bind to Aβ peptides with affinities in the micromolar range, induce structural changes in Aβ monomers and oligomers, and inhibit Aβ fibrillization. This suggests a possible link between AD and U exposure, which could be further explored by cell, animal, and epidemiological studies. General toxic mechanisms of uranyl ions could be modulation of protein folding, misfolding, and aggregation.
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| 2. |
- Gielnik, Maciej, et al.
(författare)
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Prion Protein Octarepeat Domain Forms Transient β-Sheet Structures upon Residue-Specific Binding to Cu(II) and Zn(II) Ions
- 2023
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Ingår i: Biochemistry. - 0006-2960 .- 1520-4995. ; 62:11, s. 1689-1705
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Misfolding of the cellular prion protein (PrPC) is associated with the development of fatal neurodegenerative diseases called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). Metal ions appear to play a crucial role in PrPC misfolding. PrPC is a combined Cu(II) and Zn(II) metal-binding protein, where the main metal-binding site is located in the octarepeat (OR) region. Thus, the biological function of PrPC may involve the transport of divalent metal ions across membranes or buffering concentrations of divalent metal ions in the synaptic cleft. Recent studies have shown that an excess of Cu(II) ions can result in PrPC instability, oligomerization, and/or neuroinflammation. Here, we have used biophysical methods to characterize Cu(II) and Zn(II) binding to the isolated OR region of PrPC. Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy data suggest that the OR domain binds up to four Cu(II) ions or two Zn(II) ions. Binding of the first metal ion results in a structural transition from the polyproline II helix to the β-turn structure, while the binding of additional metal ions induces the formation of β-sheet structures. Fluorescence spectroscopy data indicate that the OR region can bind both Cu(II) and Zn(II) ions at neutral pH, but under acidic conditions, it binds only Cu(II) ions. Molecular dynamics simulations suggest that binding of either metal ion to the OR region results in the formation of β-hairpin structures. As the formation of β-sheet structures can be a first step toward amyloid formation, we propose that high concentrations of either Cu(II) or Zn(II) ions may have a pro-amyloid effect in TSE diseases.
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| 3. |
- Gielnik, Maciej, et al.
(författare)
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The engineered peptide construct NCAM1-Aβ inhibits fibrillization of the human prion protein (PrP)
- 2022
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Ingår i: Acta Biochimica Polonica. - : Polskie Towarzystwo Biochemiczne (Polish Biochemical Society). - 0001-527X .- 1734-154X. ; 69:1, s. 257-261
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In prion diseases, the prion protein (PrP) becomes misfolded and forms fibrillar aggregates that are responsible for prion infectivity and pathology. So far, no drug or treatment procedures have been approved for prion disease treatment. We have previously shown that engineered cell-penetrating peptide constructs can reduce the amount of prion aggregates in infected cells. However, the molecular mechanism underlying this effect is unknown. Here, we use atomic force microscopy (AFM) imaging to show that the amyloid aggregation and fibrillization of the human PrP protein can be inhibited by equimolar amounts of the 25 residues long engineered peptide construct NCAM1-Aβ.
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| 4. |
- Gielnik, Maciej, et al.
(författare)
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Zn(II) binding causes interdomain changes in the structure and flexibility of the human prion protein
- 2021
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Ingår i: Scientific Reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2045-2322. ; 11:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The cellular prion protein (PrP(C)) is a mainly alpha-helical 208-residue protein located in the pre- and postsynaptic membranes. For unknown reasons, PrP(C) can undergo a structural transition into a toxic, beta-sheet rich scrapie isoform (PrPSc) that is responsible for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). Metal ions seem to play an important role in the structural conversion. PrP(C) binds Zn(II) ions and may be involved in metal ion transport and zinc homeostasis. Here, we use multiple biophysical techniques including optical and NMR spectroscopy, molecular dynamics simulations, and small angle X-ray scattering to characterize interactions between human PrP(C) and Zn(II) ions. Binding of a single Zn(II) ion to the PrP(C) N-terminal domain via four His residues from the octarepeat region induces a structural transition in the C-terminal alpha-helices 2 and 3, promotes interaction between the N-terminal and C-terminal domains, reduces the folded protein size, and modifies the internal structural dynamics. As our results suggest that PrP(C) can bind Zn(II) under physiological conditions, these effects could be important for the physiological function of PrP(C).
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| 5. |
- Chrabaszczewska, Magdalena, et al.
(författare)
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Structural characterization of covalently stabilized human cystatin c oligomers
- 2020
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Ingår i: International Journal of Molecular Sciences. - : MDPI AG. - 1661-6596 .- 1422-0067. ; 21:16
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Human cystatin C (HCC), a cysteine-protease inhibitor, exists as a folded monomer under physiological conditions but has the ability to self-assemble via domain swapping into multimeric states, including oligomers with a doughnut-like structure. The structure of the monomeric HCC has been solved by X-ray crystallography, and a covalently linked version of HCC (stab-1 HCC) is able to form stable oligomeric species containing 10–12 monomeric subunits. We have performed molecular modeling, and in conjunction with experimental parameters obtained from atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) measurements, we observe that the structures are essentially flat, with a height of about 2 nm, and the distance between the outer edge of the ring and the edge of the central cavity is ~5.1 nm. These dimensions correspond to the height and diameter of one stab-1 HCC subunit and we present a dodecamer model for stabilized cystatin C oligomers using molecular dynamics simulations and experimentally measured parameters. Given that oligomeric species in protein aggregation reactions are often transient and very highly heterogeneous, the structural information presented here on these isolated stab-1 HCC oligomers may be useful to further explore the physiological relevance of different structural species of cystatin C in relation to protein misfolding disease.
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| 6. |
- Dobies, Maria, et al.
(författare)
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The Dispersion of Water Proton Spin-Lattice Relaxation Rates in Aqueous Human Protein HC (alpha(1)-Microglobulin) Solutions
- 2009
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Ingår i: Protein & Peptide Letters. - 0929-8665. ; 16:12, s. 1496-1503
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The H-1 NMR Fast Field Cycling relaxometry was applied to study the molecular dynamics of the human protein HC (alpha(1)-microglobulin), its hydration and aggregation in solution state. The H-1 NMRD data have revealed the complex nature of the water/protein HC system resulting from the co-existence of monomer and dimer forms of the protein in solution as well as the presence of oligosaccharides linked to the polypeptide chain. A comparison of the average correlation time values obtained from the model-free fits with the values predicted on the basis of hydrodynamic tau(r) theory, suggests that the dynamics in solution state is governed mainly by the dimer form of the protein HC (the dominant contribution to the water proton-spin lattice relaxation comes from exchanging protons from the surface of the dimer). The existence of small number of oligomeric forms of the protein HC in solutions is postulated because of the two-step shape of water proton spin-lattice relaxation rate dispersion profiles.
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| 7. |
- Donis, Daphne, et al.
(författare)
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Stratification strength and light climate explain variation in chlorophyll a at the continental scale in a European multilake survey in a heatwave summer
- 2021
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Ingår i: Limnology and Oceanography. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0024-3590 .- 1939-5590. ; 66:12, s. 4314-4333
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To determine the drivers of phytoplankton biomass, we collected standardized morphometric, physical, and biological data in 230 lakes across the Mediterranean, Continental, and Boreal climatic zones of the European continent. Multilinear regression models tested on this snapshot of mostly eutrophic lakes (median total phosphorus [TP] = 0.06 and total nitrogen [TN] = 0.7 mg L-1), and its subsets (2 depth types and 3 climatic zones), show that light climate and stratification strength were the most significant explanatory variables for chlorophyll a (Chl a) variance. TN was a significant predictor for phytoplankton biomass for shallow and continental lakes, while TP never appeared as an explanatory variable, suggesting that under high TP, light, which partially controls stratification strength, becomes limiting for phytoplankton development. Mediterranean lakes were the warmest yet most weakly stratified and had significantly less Chl a than Boreal lakes, where the temperature anomaly from the long-term average, during a summer heatwave was the highest (+4 degrees C) and showed a significant, exponential relationship with stratification strength. This European survey represents a summer snapshot of phytoplankton biomass and its drivers, and lends support that light and stratification metrics, which are both affected by climate change, are better predictors for phytoplankton biomass in nutrient-rich lakes than nutrient concentrations and surface temperature.
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| 8. |
- Grzonka, Zbigniew, et al.
(författare)
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Structural studies of cysteine proteases and their inhibitors
- 2001
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Ingår i: Acta Biochimica Polonica. - 0001-527X. ; 48:1, s. 1-20
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cysteine proteases (CPs) are responsible for many biochemical processes occurring in living organisms and they have been implicated in the development and progression of several diseases that involve abnormal protein turnover. The activity of CPs is regulated among others by their specific inhibitors: cystatins. The main aim of this review is to discuss the structure-activity relationships of cysteine proteases and cystatins, as well as of some synthetic inhibitors of cysteine proteases structurally based on the binding fragments of cystatins.
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| 9. |
- Janowski, Robert, et al.
(författare)
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Human cystatin C, an amyloidogenic protein, dimerizes through three-dimensional domain swapping
- 2001
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Ingår i: Nature Structural Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1072-8368. ; 8:4, s. 316-320
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The crystal structure of human cystatin C, a protein with amyloidogenic properties and a potent inhibitor of cysteine proteases, reveals how the protein refolds to produce very tight two-fold symmetric dimers while retaining the secondary structure of the monomeric form. The dimerization occurs through three-dimensional domain swapping, a mechanism for forming oligomeric proteins. The reconstituted monomer-like domains are similar to chicken cystatin except for one inhibitory loop that unfolds to form the open interface of the dimer. The structure explains the tendency of human cystatin C to dimerize and suggests a mechanism for its aggregation in the brain arteries of elderly people with amyloid angiopathy. A more severe conformational disease is associated with the L68Q mutant of human cystatin C, which causes massive amyloidosis, cerebral hemorrhage and death in young adults. The structure of the three-dimensional domain-swapped dimers shows how the L68Q mutation destabilizes the monomers and makes the partially unfolded intermediate less unstable. Higher aggregates may arise through the three-dimensional domain-swapping mechanism occurring in an open-ended fashion in which partially unfolded molecules are linked into infinite chains.
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| 10. |
- Mantzouki, Evanthia, et al.
(författare)
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Temperature Effects Explain Continental Scale Distribution of Cyanobacterial Toxins
- 2018
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Ingår i: Toxins. - : MDPI. - 2072-6651. ; 10:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Insight into how environmental change determines the production and distribution of cyanobacterial toxins is necessary for risk assessment. Management guidelines currently focus on hepatotoxins (microcystins). Increasing attention is given to other classes, such as neurotoxins (e.g., anatoxin-a) and cytotoxins (e.g., cylindrospermopsin) due to their potency. Most studies examine the relationship between individual toxin variants and environmental factors, such as nutrients, temperature and light. In summer 2015, we collected samples across Europe to investigate the effect of nutrient and temperature gradients on the variability of toxin production at a continental scale. Direct and indirect effects of temperature were the main drivers of the spatial distribution in the toxins produced by the cyanobacterial community, the toxin concentrations and toxin quota. Generalized linear models showed that a Toxin Diversity Index (TDI) increased with latitude, while it decreased with water stability. Increases in TDI were explained through a significant increase in toxin variants such as MC-YR, anatoxin and cylindrospermopsin, accompanied by a decreasing presence of MC-LR. While global warming continues, the direct and indirect effects of increased lake temperatures will drive changes in the distribution of cyanobacterial toxins in Europe, potentially promoting selection of a few highly toxic species or strains.
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