| 1. |
- Lindgren, Joel, et al.
(författare)
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N-terminal engineering of amyloid-β-binding Affibody molecules yields improved chemical synthesis and higher binding affinity
- 2010
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Ingår i: Protein Science. - : Wiley. - 0961-8368 .- 1469-896X. ; 19:12, s. 2319-2329
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aggregation of amyloid-beta (A beta) peptides is believed to be a major factor in the onset and progression of Alzheimer's disease Molecules binding with high affinity and selectivity to A beta-peptides are important tools for investigating the aggregation process An A beta-binding Affibody molecule, Z(A beta 3), has earlier been selected by phage display and shown to bind A beta(1-40) with nanomolar affinity and to inhibit A beta-peptide aggregation In this study, we create truncated functional versions of the Z(A beta 3) Affibody molecule better suited for chemical synthesis production Engineered Affibody molecules of different length were produced by solid phase peptide synthesis and allowed to form covalently linked homodimers by S-S-bridges The N-terminally truncated Affibody molecules Z(A beta 3)(12-58), Z(A beta 3)(15-58), and Z(A beta 3)(18-58) were produced in considerably higher synthetic yield than the corresponding full-length molecule Z(A beta 3)(1-58) Circular dichroism spectroscopy and surface plasmon resonance-based biosensor analysis showed that the shortest Affibody molecule, Z(A beta 3)(18-58), exhibited complete loss of binding to the A beta(1-40)-peptide, while the Z(A beta 3)(12-58) and Z(A beta 3)(15-58) Affibody molecules both displayed approximately one order of magnitude higher binding affinity to the A beta(1-40)-peptide compared to the full-length Affibody molecule Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy showed that the structure of A beta(1-40) in complex with the truncated Affibody dimers is very similar to the previously published solution structure of the A beta(1-40)-peptide in complex with the full-length Z(A beta 3) Affibody molecule This indicates that the N-terminally truncated Affibody molecules Z(A beta 3)(12-58) and Z(A beta 3)(15-58) are highly promising for further engineering and future use as binding agents to monomeric A beta(1-40)
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| 2. |
- Luo, Jinghui, et al.
(författare)
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Alzheimer Peptides Aggregate into Transient Nanoglobules That Nucleate Fibrils
- 2014
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Ingår i: Biochemistry. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0006-2960 .- 1520-4995. ; 53:40, s. 6302-6308
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Protein/peptide oligomerization, cross-beta strand fibrillation, and amyloid deposition play a critical role in many diseases, but despite extensive biophysical characterization, the structural and dynamic details of oligomerization and fibrillation of amyloidic peptides/proteins remain to be fully clarified. Here, we simultaneously monitored the atomic, molecular, and mesoscopic states of aggregating Alzheimer's amyloid beta (A beta) peptides over time, using a slow aggregation protocol and a fast aggregation protocol, and determined the cytotoxicity of the intermediate states. We show that in the early stage of fast fibrillation (the lag phase) the A beta peptides coalesced into apparently unstructured globules (15-200 nm in diameter), which slowly grew larger. Then a sharp transition occurred, characterized by the first appearance of single fibrillar structures of approximately >= 100 nm. These fibrils emerged from the globules. Simultaneously, an increase was observed for the cross-beta strand conformation that is characteristic of the fibrils that constitute mature amyloid. The number and size of single fibrils rapidly increased. Eventually, the fibrils coalesced into mature amyloid. Samples from the early lag phase of slow fibrillation conditions were especially toxic to cells, and this toxicity sharply decreased when fibrils formed and matured into amyloid. Our results suggest that the formation of fibrils may protect cells by reducing the toxic structures that appear in the early lag phase of fibrillation.
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| 3. |
- Luo, Jinghui, et al.
(författare)
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The A beta peptide forms non-amyloid fibrils in the presence of carbon nanotubes
- 2014
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Ingår i: Nanoscale. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 2040-3364 .- 2040-3372. ; 6:12, s. 6720-6726
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Carbon nanotubes have specific properties that make them potentially useful in biomedicine and biotechnology. However, carbon nanotubes may themselves be toxic, making it imperative to understand how carbon nanotubes interact with biomolecules such as proteins. Here, we used NMR, CD, and ThT/fluorescence spectroscopy together with AFM imaging to study pH-dependent molecular interactions between single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) and the amyloid-beta (A beta) peptide. The aggregation of the A beta peptide, first into oligomers and later into amyloid fibrils, is considered to be the toxic mechanism behind Alzheimer's disease. We found that SWNTs direct the A beta peptides to form a new class of beta-sheet-rich yet non-amyloid fibrils.
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| 4. |
- Sholts, Sabrina B., et al.
(författare)
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Ancient water bottle use and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exposure among California Indians : a prehistoric health risk assessment
- 2017
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Ingår i: Environmental Health. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1476-069X. ; 16
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are the main toxic compounds in natural bitumen, a fossil material used by modern and ancient societies around the world. The adverse health effects of PAHs on modern humans are well established, but their health impacts on past populations are unclear. It has previously been suggested that a prehistoric health decline among the native people living on the California Channel Islands may have been related to PAH exposure. Here, we assess the potential health risks of PAH exposure from the use and manufacture of bitumen-coated water bottles by ancient California Indian societies. Methods: We replicated prehistoric bitumen-coated water bottles with traditional materials and techniques of California Indians, based on ethnographic and archaeological evidence. In order to estimate PAH exposure related to water bottle manufacture and use, we conducted controlled experiments to measure PAH contamination 1) in air during the manufacturing process and 2) in water and olive oil stored in a completed bottle for varying periods of time. Samples were analyzed with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) for concentrations of the 16 PAHs identified by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as priority pollutants. Results: Eight PAHs were detected in concentrations of 1-10 mu g/m(3) in air during bottle production and 50-900 ng/L in water after 2 months of storage, ranging from two-ring (naphthalene and methylnaphthalene) to four-ring (fluoranthene) molecules. All 16 PAHs analyzed were detected in olive oil after 2 days (2 to 35 mu g/kg), 2 weeks (3 to 66 mu g/kg), and 2 months (5 to 140 mu g/kg) of storage. Conclusions: For ancient California Indians, water stored in bitumen-coated water bottles was not a significant source of PAH exposure, but production of such bottles could have resulted in harmful airborne PAH exposure.
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