REAL

Phosphorylation as Conformational Switch from the Native to Amyloid State: Trp-Cage as a Protein Aggregation Model

Kardos, József and Kiss, Bence and Micsonai, András and Rovó, Petra and Karancsiné Menyhárd, Dóra and Kovács, János and Váradi, Győrgyi and Tóth K., Gábor and Perczel, András (2015) Phosphorylation as Conformational Switch from the Native to Amyloid State: Trp-Cage as a Protein Aggregation Model. JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY B - CONDENSED MATTER MATERIALS SURFACES INTERFACES AND BIOPHYSICAL, 119 (7). pp. 2946-2955. ISSN 1520-6106

[img]
Preview
Text
Kardos et al_JPhysChemB manuscript_revsemifinal.pdf

Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

The 20 residue long Trp-cage miniprotein is an excellent model for both computational and experimental studies of protein folding and stability. Recently, great attention emerged to study disease-related protein misfolding, aggregation, and amyloid formation, with the aim of revealing their structural and thermodynamic background. Trp-cage is sensitive to both environmental and structure-modifying effects. It aggregates with ease upon structure destabilization, and thus it is suitable for modeling aggregation and amyloid formation. Here, we characterize the amyloid formation of several sequence modified and side- chain phosphorylated Trp-cage variants. We applied NMR, circular dichroism (CD) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopies, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in conjunction with thioflavin-T (ThT) fluorescence measurements to reveal the structural consequences of side-chain phosphorylation. We demonstrate that the native fold is destabilized upon serine phosphorylation, and the resultant highly dynamic structures form amyloid-like ordered aggregates with high intermolecular β-structure content. The only exception is the D9S(P) variant, which follows an alternative aggregation process by forming thin fibrils, presenting a CD spectrum of PPII helix, and showing low ThT binding capability. We propose a complex aggregation model for these Trp-cage miniproteins. This model assumes an additional aggregated state, a collagen triple helical form that can precede amyloid formation. The phosphorylation of a single serine residue serves as a conformational switch, triggering aggregation, otherwise mediated by kinases in cell. We show that Trp-cage miniprotein is indeed a realistic model of larger globular systems of composite folding and aggregation landscapes and helps us to understand the fundamentals of deleterious protein aggregation and amyloid formation.

Item Type: Article
Subjects: Q Science / természettudomány > QD Chemistry / kémia > QD02 Physical chemistry / fizikai kémia
Q Science / természettudomány > QD Chemistry / kémia > QD04 Organic chemistry / szerves kémia
Depositing User: Dóra K. Menyhárd
Date Deposited: 14 Feb 2016 21:11
Last Modified: 04 Apr 2023 11:22
URI: http://real.mtak.hu/id/eprint/33383

Actions (login required)

Edit Item Edit Item