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Natural polyphenols are major constituents of plant foods and herbs. Numerous studies have demonstrated that natural polyphenols inhibited amyloid formation and destabilized the preformed amyloid fibrils. However, the molecular mechanism for the antiamyloidogenesis of polyphenols is still unclear and remains to be further explored. In the present study, the preformed lysozyme fibrils were used as an in vitro model to study the disruptive effects of tea catechins on amyloid fibrils. Results showed that tea catechins induced the conversion of lysozyme fibrils to amorphous aggregates and inhibited fibril-induced hemolysis. Hydroquinone also showed disruptive effect on the fibrils, whereas phenol and two typical antioxidants, ascorbic acid and alpha-tocopherol, did not affect the fibrillar structure, suggesting that polyphenolic structure is essential for fibril deposition. Correlation analyses indicate that the fibril-depositing effects were related to both the antioxidative potency and hydrophobicity of tea catechins. These findings provide new evidence for comprehensive understanding of the interaction between natural polyphenols and amyloid fibrils.

Accumulating evidence has strongly suggested that amyloid fibrils of protein or peptide are cytotoxic. Fibrillar species appear to lead to disruption of cell membrane structures and thereby cause cell death. In this study, human erythrocytes were used as an in vitro model to examine the disruptive effect of lysozyme fibrils on the plasma membrane. Both the protofibrils and mature fibrils induced hemolysis and aggregation of erythrocytes. Treating ghost membranes with the fibrils resulted in aggregation of membrane proteins through intermolecular disulfide cross-linking. LC-ESI-MS/MS and Western blotting analysis showed that lysozyme fragments were incorporated into the aggregates of ghost membrane proteins, which suggested that thio-disulfide exchange among lysozyme and membrane proteins was triggered when the fibrils interacted with erythrocyte membranes. Metal-ion chelators, radical scavengers, and antioxidants had no effect on the amyloid-induced disulfide cross-linking. The exposure of interior hydrophobic residues and the increased level of solvent-accessible disulfides in the lysozyme fibrils are thought to be involved in membrane disruption. These results may unveil a novel pathway for the cytotoxicity of amyloid fibrils.

a b s t r a c tNumerous phenolic compounds have been reported to have an inhibitory role on amyloid formation of proteins. The present study, utilizing lysozyme as a model system, examined the anti-amyloidogenic effects of phenol and three diphenol epimers. The results indicated that catechol and hydroquinone dose-dependently inhibited lysozyme fibrillation and covalently bound to the peptide chains to form quinoproteins, showing a similar effect to benzoquinone. In contrast, phenol and resorcinol did not modify the peptide with a quinone moiety, showing no effect on lysozyme fibrillation. We suggest that quinone intermediates are the active form for a phenolic compound to inhibit lysozyme fibrillation. The modification of lysozyme with quinone moieties alters the interacting forces between peptide chains and consequently interrupts the process of lysozyme fibrillation. Structured summary of protein interactions:Lysozyme and Lysozyme bind by fluorescence technology (View interaction). Lysozyme and Lysozyme bind by transmission electron microscopy (View interaction).