| 1. |
- Wang, Chao, et al.
(författare)
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The role of pro-inflammatory S100A9 in Alzheimer's disease amyloid-neuroinflammatory cascade
- 2014
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Ingår i: Acta Neuropathologica. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0001-6322 .- 1432-0533. ; 127:4, s. 507-522
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Pro-inflammatory S100A9 protein is increasingly recognized as an important contributor to inflammation-related neurodegeneration. Here, we provide insights into S100A9 specific mechanisms of action in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Due to its inherent amyloidogenicity S100A9 contributes to amyloid plaque formation together with A beta. In traumatic brain injury (TBI) S100A9 itself rapidly forms amyloid plaques, which were reactive with oligomer-specific antibodies, but not with A beta and amyloid fibrillar antibodies. They may serve as precursor-plaques for AD, implicating TBI as an AD risk factor. S100A9 was observed in some hippocampal and cortical neurons in TBI, AD and non-demented aging. In vitro S100A9 forms neurotoxic linear and annular amyloids resembling A beta protofilaments. S100A9 amyloid cytotoxicity and native S100A9 pro-inflammatory signaling can be mitigated by its co-aggregation with A beta, which results in a variety of micron-scale amyloid complexes. NMR and molecular docking demonstrated transient interactions between native S100A9 and A beta. Thus, abundantly present in AD brain pro-inflammatory S100A9, possessing also intrinsic amyloidogenic properties and ability to modulate A beta aggregation, can serve as a link between the AD amyloid and neuroinflammatory cascades and as a prospective therapeutic target.
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| 2. |
- Xu, Weixin, et al.
(författare)
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Intrinsic Determinants of A beta(12-24) pH-Dependent Self-Assembly Revealed by Combined Computational and Experimental Studies
- 2011
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - San Francisco, CA : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 6:9, s. e24329-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The propensity of amyloid-beta (A beta) peptide to self-assemble into highly ordered amyloid structures lies at the core of their accumulation in the brain during Alzheimer's disease. By using all-atom explicit solvent replica exchange molecular dynamics simulations, we elucidated at the atomic level the intrinsic determinants of the pH-dependent dimerization of the central hydrophobic segment A beta(12-24) and related these with the propensity to form amyloid fibrils measured by experimental tools such as atomic force microscopy and fluorescence. The process of A beta(12-24) dimerization was evaluated in terms of free energy landscape, side-chain two-dimensional contact probability maps, beta-sheet registries, potential mean force as a function of inter-chain distances, secondary structure development and radial solvation distributions. We showed that dimerization is a key event in A beta(12-24) amyloid formation; it is highly prompted in the order of pH 5.0 > 2.9 > > 8.4 and determines further amyloid growth. The dimerization is governed by a dynamic interplay of hydrophobic, electrostatic and solvation interactions permitting some variability of beta-sheets at each pH. These results provide atomistic insight into the complex process of molecular recognition detrimental for amyloid growth and pave the way for better understanding of the molecular basis of amyloid diseases.
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| 3. |
- Xu, Weixin, et al.
(författare)
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pH-Dependent Conformational Ensemble and Polymorphism of Amyloid-beta Core Fragment
- 2013
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Ingår i: Journal of Physical Chemistry B. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1520-6106 .- 1520-5207. ; 117:28, s. 8392-9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Characterization of amyloid oligomeric species is important due to its possible responsibility for the toxicity of amyloid proteins, whereas it is difficult to detect by current spectroscopic techniques. The pH-dependent tetramerization and fibrillation of the central hydrophobic segment of Alzheimer amyloid β-peptide (Aβ(12-24)) were respectively explored by all-atom replica exchange molecular dynamics simulations and by fluorescence and atomic force microscopy measurements. Our combined study shows that more β-sheet structures in the early event of tetramerization is linked directly to the high propensity to form amyloid fibrils in the consequent fibrillation. Both tetramerization and fibrillation are strongly regulated by pH. At pH 5.0, Aβ(12-24) has two opposite terminal charges. The electrostatic attraction between the side-chains of His13/His14 and Glu22/Asp23 thus acts as a "pattern keeper", resulting in high propensity of amyloid formation. These results suggest that pH effects most likely by affecting the ionization properties of the Aβ(12-24) peptide. Specifically, the pH-dependent equilibrium conformational distribution of different aggregate species are well-investigated in detail. Our findings also give hints to other experimental findings that the kinetics and morphologies of Aβ fibril formation are strongly pH-dependent.
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| 4. |
- Zhao, Lina, et al.
(författare)
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Histidine protonation states are key in the LigI catalytic reaction mechanism
- 2022
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Ingår i: Proteins. - : Wiley. - 0887-3585. ; 90:1, s. 123-130
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Lignin is one of the world's most abundant organic polymers, and 2-pyrone-4,6-dicarboxylate lactonase (LigI) catalyzes the hydrolysis of 2-pyrone-4,6-dicarboxylate (PDC) in the degradation of lignin. The pH has profound effects on enzyme catalysis and therefore we studied this in the context of LigI. We found that changes of the pH mostly affects surface residues, while the residues at the active site are more subject to changes of the surrounding microenvironment. In accordance with this, a high pH facilitates the deprotonation of the substrate. Detailed free energy calculations by the empirical valence bond (EVB) approach revealed that the overall hydrolysis reaction is more likely when the three active site histidines (His31, His33 and His180) are protonated at the &ip.eop; site, however, protonation at the δ site may be favored during specific steps of the reaction. Our studies have uncovered the determinant role of the protonation state of the active site residues His31, His33 and His180 in the hydrolysis of PDC.
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| 5. |
- Zhao, Li Na, et al.
(författare)
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S100A9 induces aggregation-prone conformation in Abeta peptides : a combined experimental and simulation study
- 2013
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Ingår i: RSC Advances. - : RSC Publishing. - 2046-2069. ; 3:46, s. 24081-24089
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Inflammation is one of the prominent pathological features in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Recently, there have been various proposed roles of neuroinflammation, such as the driving forces, bystander, byproduct or the neuroprotective response. Notwithstanding these diverse possible mechanisms, experiments have found that S100A9 is one of the pro-inflammatory proteins abundant and over-expressed in the inflammation sites of AD. In this paper, we examine the role of S100A9 in the oligomerization process of A beta peptides by means of replica exchange molecular dynamics simulation and experimental investigations. Our experiments, based on atomic force microscopy and Thioflavin T spectroscopic assays, have clearly indicated that the close interaction between S100A9 and A beta has significantly enhanced the A beta oligomerization. In line with the experimental observation, our simulation studies have revealed that the pro-inflammatory S100A9 protein interacts with the A beta peptides directly, mainly through hydrophobic interactions with the A beta central hydrophobic core region. In addition, the formation of hydrogen bonds between the residues of the S100A9 homodimer and the two ends of the A beta peptides is found to cause a straightening of the A beta(12-24) peptides. A more straight A beta(12-24) peptide with a higher beta-content then may function as a template to induce the folding of new incoming A beta peptides, which leads to the formation of aggregation-prone oligomers.
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