scholarly journals Co-aggregation and secondary nucleation in the life cycle of human prolactin/galanin functional amyloids

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Chatterjee ◽  
R.S. Jacob ◽  
S. Ray ◽  
A. Navalkar ◽  
N. Singh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neurological Disorders ◽  
Secretory Granules ◽  
Amyloid Formation ◽  
Female Rat ◽  
Secondary Nucleation ◽  
Functional Amyloid ◽  
Rapid Release ◽  
Efficient Storage ◽  
Human Prolactin ◽  
Functional Amyloids

AbstractSynergistic-aggregation and cross-seeding by two different amyloid proteins/peptides are well evident in various neurological disorders. However, this phenomenon is not well studied in functional amyloid aggregation. Here, we show Prolactin (PRL) is associated with lactation in mammals and neuropeptide galanin (GAL), which are co-stored in the lactotrophs facilitates the synergic aggregation in the absence of secretory granules helper molecules glycosaminoglycans (GAGS). Interestingly, although each partner possesses homotypic seeding ability, a unidirectional cross-seeding of GAL aggregation can be mediated by PRL seeds. The specificity of co-aggregation by PRL and GAL along with unidirectional cross-seeding suggests tight regulation of functional amyloid formation during co-storage of these hormones in secretory granule biogenesis of female rat lactotrophs. Further mixed fibrils release the constituent functional hormone much faster than the corresponding individual amyloid formed in presence of GAGs, suggesting that co-aggregation of functionally distant hormones might have evolved for efficient storage, synergistic and rapid release of both hormones upon stimulation. The co-aggregation and cross seeding by two different hormones of completely different structures and sequences (PRL and GAL) suggest a novel mechanism of heterologous amyloid formation both in disease and functional amyloids.

scholarly journals Modulating functional amyloid formation via alternative splicing of the premelanosomal protein PMEL17

2020 ◽  
Vol 295 (21) ◽  
pp. 7544-7553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dexter N. Dean ◽  
Jennifer C. Lee
Keyword(s):  
Alternative Splicing ◽  
Amyloid Fibrils ◽  
Limited Proteolysis ◽  
Amyloid Formation ◽  
Functional Amyloid ◽  
Melanin Biosynthesis ◽  
Functional Amyloids ◽  
Fibril Morphology ◽  
Amyloid Assembly ◽  
Β Sheet

The premelanosomal protein (PMEL17) forms functional amyloid fibrils involved in melanin biosynthesis. Multiple PMEL17 isoforms are produced, two of which arise from excision of a cryptic intron within the amyloid-forming repeat (RPT) domain, leading to long (lRPT) and short (sRPT) isoforms with 10 and 7 imperfect repeats, respectively. Both lRPT and sRPT isoforms undergo similar pH-dependent mechanisms of amyloid formation and fibril dissolution. Here, using human PMEL17, we tested the hypothesis that the minor, but more aggregation-prone, sRPT facilitates amyloid formation of lRPT. We observed that cross-seeding by sRPT fibrils accelerates the rate of lRPT aggregation, resulting in propagation of an sRPT-like twisted fibril morphology, unlike the rodlike structure that lRPT normally adopts. This templating was specific, as the reversed reaction inhibited sRPT fibril formation. Despite displaying ultrastructural differences, self- and cross-seeded lRPT fibrils had a similar β-sheet structured core, revealed by Raman spectroscopy, limited-proteolysis, and fibril disaggregation experiments, suggesting the fibril twist is modulated by N-terminal residues outside the amyloid core. Interestingly, bioinformatics analysis of PMEL17 homologs from other mammals uncovered that long and short RPT isoforms are conserved among members of this phylogenetic group. Collectively, our results indicate that the short isoform of RPT serves as a “nucleator” of PMEL17 functional amyloid formation, mirroring how bacterial functional amyloids assemble during biofilm formation. Whereas bacteria regulate amyloid assembly by using individual genes within the same operon, we propose that the modulation of functional amyloid formation in higher organisms can be accomplished through alternative splicing.

scholarly journals Cross-talk between individual phenol-soluble modulins in Staphylococcus aureus biofilm enables rapid and efficient amyloid formation

eLife ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masihuz Zaman ◽  
Maria Andreasen
Keyword(s):  
Staphylococcus Aureus ◽  
Self Assembly ◽  
Biofilm Formation ◽  
Opportunistic Pathogen ◽  
Amyloid Formation ◽  
Secondary Nucleation ◽  
Primary Nucleation ◽  
Functional Amyloids ◽  
High Degree

The infective ability of the opportunistic pathogen Staphylococcus aureus, recognized as the most frequent cause of biofilm-associated infections, is associated with biofilm-mediated resistance to host immune response. Phenol-soluble modulins (PSM) comprise the structural scaffold of S. aureus biofilms through self-assembly into functional amyloids, but the role of individual PSMs during biofilm formation remains poorly understood and the molecular pathways of PSM self-assembly are yet to be identified. Here we demonstrate high degree of cooperation between individual PSMs during functional amyloid formation. PSMα3 initiates the aggregation, forming unstable aggregates capable of seeding other PSMs resulting in stable amyloid structures. Using chemical kinetics we dissect the molecular mechanism of aggregation of individual PSMs showing that PSMα1, PSMα3 and PSMβ1 display secondary nucleation whereas PSMβ2 aggregates through primary nucleation and elongation. Our findings suggest that various PSMs have evolved to ensure fast and efficient biofilm formation through cooperation between individual peptides.

scholarly journals Quantitating denaturation by formic acid: Imperfect repeats are essential to the stability of the functional amyloid protein FapC

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Line Friis Bakmann Christensen ◽  
Jan Stanislaw Nowak ◽  
Thorbjørn Vincent Sønderby ◽  
Signe Andrea Frank ◽  
Daniel Erik Otzen
Keyword(s):  
Formic Acid ◽  
Mechanical Stability ◽  
Complete Removal ◽  
Amyloid Formation ◽  
Amyloid Protein ◽  
Biological Functions ◽  
Functional Amyloid ◽  
High Concentrations ◽  
Functional Amyloids ◽  
The Stability

ABSTRACTBacterial functional amyloids are evolutionarily optimized to aggregate to help them fulfil their biological functions, e.g. to provide mechanical stability to biofilm. Amyloid is formed in Pseudomonas sp. by the protein FapC which contains 3 imperfect repeats connected by long linkers. Stepwise removal of these repeats slows down aggregation and increases the propensity of amyloids to fragment during the fibrillation process, but how these mechanistic properties link to fibril stability is unclear. Here we address this question. The extreme robustness of functional amyloid makes them resistant to conventional chemical denaturants, but they dissolve in formic acid (FA) at high concentrations. To quantify this, we first measured the denaturing potency of FA using 3 small acid-resistant proteins (S6, lysozyme and ubiquitin). This revealed a linear relationship between [FA] and the free energy of unfolding with a slope of mFA, as well as a robust correlation between protein residue size and mFA. We then measured the solubilisation of fibrils formed from different FapC variants (with varying number of repeats) as a function of [FA]. The resulting mFA values revealed a decline in the number of residues driving amyloid formation when at least 2 repeats were deleted. The midpoint of denaturation declined monotonically with progressive removal of repeats and correlated with solubility in SDS. Complete removal of all repeats led to fibrils which were solubilized at FA concentrations 2-3 orders of magnitude lower than the repeat-containing variants, showing that at least one imperfect repeat is required for the stability of functional amyloid.

scholarly journals Quantitating denaturation by formic acid: imperfect repeats are essential to the stability of the functional amyloid protein FapC

2020 ◽  
Vol 295 (37) ◽  
pp. 13031-13046
Author(s):  
Line Friis Bakmann Christensen ◽  
Jan Stanislaw Nowak ◽  
Thorbjørn Vincent Sønderby ◽  
Signe Andrea Frank ◽  
Daniel Erik Otzen
Keyword(s):  
Formic Acid ◽  
Complete Removal ◽  
Systematic Investigation ◽  
Amyloid Formation ◽  
Amyloid Protein ◽  
Functional Amyloid ◽  
Protein Size ◽  
High Concentrations ◽  
Functional Amyloids ◽  
The Stability

Bacterial functional amyloids are evolutionarily optimized to aggregate, so much so that the extreme robustness of functional amyloid makes it very difficult to examine their structure-function relationships in a detailed manner. Previous work has shown that functional amyloids are resistant to conventional chemical denaturants, but they dissolve in formic acid (FA) at high concentrations. However, systematic investigation requires a quantitative analysis of FA's ability to denature proteins. Amyloid formed by Pseudomonas sp. protein FapC provides an excellent model to investigate FA denaturation. It contains three imperfect repeats, and stepwise removal of these repeats slows fibrillation and increases fragmentation during aggregation. However, the link to stability is unclear. We first calibrated FA denaturation using three small, globular, and acid-resistant proteins. This revealed a linear relationship between the concentration of FA and the free energy of unfolding with a slope of mFA+pH (the combined contribution of FA and FA-induced lowering of pH), as well as a robust correlation between protein size and mFA+pH. We then measured the solubilization of fibrils formed from different FapC variants with varying numbers of repeats as a function of the concentration of FA. This revealed a decline in the number of residues driving amyloid formation upon deleting at least two repeats. The midpoint of denaturation declined with the removal of repeats. Complete removal of all repeats led to fibrils that were solubilized at FA concentrations 2–3 orders of magnitude lower than the repeat-containing variants, showing that at least one repeat is required for the stability of functional amyloid.

Functional amyloid: widespread in Nature, diverse in purpose

2014 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 207-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chi L.L. Pham ◽  
Ann H. Kwan ◽  
Margaret Sunde
Keyword(s):  
Spider Silk ◽  
Epigenetic Inheritance ◽  
Fibrillar Structure ◽  
Cytoplasmic Polyadenylation ◽  
Functional Amyloid ◽  
Interacting Protein ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Element Binding Protein ◽  
Functional Amyloids ◽  
Micro Organisms

Amyloids are insoluble fibrillar protein deposits with an underlying cross-β structure initially discovered in the context of human diseases. However, it is now clear that the same fibrillar structure is used by many organisms, from bacteria to humans, in order to achieve a diverse range of biological functions. These functions include structure and protection (e.g. curli and chorion proteins, and insect and spider silk proteins), aiding interface transitions and cell–cell recognition (e.g. chaplins, rodlins and hydrophobins), protein control and storage (e.g. Microcin E492, modulins and PMEL), and epigenetic inheritance and memory [e.g. Sup35, Ure2p, HET-s and CPEB (cytoplasmic polyadenylation element-binding protein)]. As more examples of functional amyloid come to light, the list of roles associated with functional amyloids has continued to expand. More recently, amyloids have also been implicated in signal transduction [e.g. RIP1/RIP3 (receptor-interacting protein)] and perhaps in host defence [e.g. aDrs (anionic dermaseptin) peptide]. The present chapter discusses in detail functional amyloids that are used in Nature by micro-organisms, non-mammalian animals and mammals, including the biological roles that they play, their molecular composition and how they assemble, as well as the coping strategies that organisms have evolved to avoid the potential toxicity of functional amyloid.

scholarly journals Chaperones mainly suppress primary nucleation during formation of functional amyloid required for bacterial biofilm formation

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madhu Nagaraj ◽  
Zahra Najarzadeh ◽  
Jonathan Pansieri ◽  
Ludmilla A. Morozova-Roche ◽  
Henrik Biverstål ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neurodegenerative Diseases ◽  
Biofilm Formation ◽  
Bacterial Biofilm ◽  
Functional Amyloid ◽  
E Coli ◽  
Primary Nucleation ◽  
Functional Amyloids

Unlike misfolding in neurodegenerative diseases, aggregation of functional amyloids involved in bacterial biofilm, e.g. CsgA (E. coli) and FapC (Pseudomonas), is carefully regulated. However, it is unclear whether functional aggregation...

scholarly journals Tuning Functional Amyloid Formation Through Disulfide Engineering

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Balistreri ◽  
Ethan Kahana ◽  
Soorya Janakiraman ◽  
Matthew R. Chapman
Keyword(s):  
Amyloid Formation ◽  
Functional Amyloid

scholarly journals Functional Amyloid Formation within Mammalian Tissue

PLoS Biology ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. e6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas M Fowler ◽  
Atanas V Koulov ◽  
Christelle Alory-Jost ◽  
Michael S Marks ◽  
William E Balch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amyloid Formation ◽  
Mammalian Tissue ◽  
Functional Amyloid

scholarly journals Prolactin and Growth Hormone Aggregates in Secretory Granules: The Need to Understand the Structure of the Aggregate

2012 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 254-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priscilla S. Dannies
Keyword(s):  
Growth Hormone ◽  
Secretory Granules ◽  
Macromolecular Crowding ◽  
Acidic Ph ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Amyloid Fibers ◽  
Dense Cores ◽  
Reversible Aggregation ◽  
Human Prolactin ◽  
Self Association

Prolactin and GH form reversible aggregates in the trans-Golgi lumen that become the dense cores of secretory granules. Aggregation is an economical means of sorting, because self-association removes the hormones from other possible pathways. Secretory granules containing different aggregates show different behavior, such as the reduction in stimulated release of granules containing R183H-GH compared with release of those containing wild-type hormone. Aggregates may facilitate localization of membrane proteins necessary for transport and exocytosis of secretory granules, and therefore understanding their properties is important. Three types of self-association have been characterized: dimers of human GH that form with Zn2+, low-affinity self-association of human prolactin caused by acidic pH and Zn2+ with macromolecular crowding, and amyloid fibers of prolactin. The best candidate for the form in most granules may be low-affinity self-association because it occurs rapidly at Zn2+ concentrations that are likely to be in granules and reverses rapidly in neutral pH. Amyloid may form in older granules. Determining differences between aggregates of wild type and those of R183H-GH should help to understand why granules containing the mutant behave differently from those containing wild-type hormone. If reversible aggregation of other hormones, including those that are proteolytically processed, is the crucial act in forming granules, rather than use of a sorting signal, then prohormones should form reversible aggregates in solution in conditions that resemble those of the trans-Golgi lumen, including macromolecular crowding.

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