The accumulation of amyloidogenic proteins is a pathological hallmark of neurodegenerative disorders. The aberrant accumulation of the microtubule associating protein tau (MAPT, tau) into toxic oligomers and amyloid deposits is a primary pathology in tauopathies, the most common of which is Alzheimer's disease (AD). Intrinsically disordered proteins, like tau, are enriched with proline residues that regulate both secondary structure and aggregation propensity. The orientation of proline residues is regulated by cis/trans peptidyl-prolyl isomerases (PPIases). Here we show that cyclophilin 40 (CyP40), a PPIase, dissolves tau amyloids in vitro. Additionally, CyP40 ameliorated silver-positive and oligomeric tau species in a mouse model of tau accumulation, preserving neuronal health and cognition. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) revealed that CyP40 interacts with tau at sites rich in proline residues. CyP40 was also able to interact with and disaggregate other aggregating proteins that contain prolines. Moreover, CyP40 lacking PPIase activity prevented its capacity for disaggregation in vitro. Finally, we describe a unique structural property of CyP40 that may permit disaggregation to occur in an energy-independent manner. This study identifies a novel human protein disaggregase and, for the first time, demonstrates its capacity to dissolve intracellular amyloids. Author summaryInside the cell, proteins need to be folded to be functional and active. Molecular chaperones are key enzymes that assist in folding proteins by stabilizing nascent polypeptide chains and by facilitating interactions that help stabilize a final structure. These PLOS Biology | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio
In Parkinson's disease with dementia, up to 50% of patients develop a high number of tau‐containing neurofibrillary tangles. Tau‐based pathologies may thus act synergistically with the α‐synuclein pathology to confer a worse prognosis. A better understanding of the relationship between the two distinct pathologies is therefore required. Liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) of proteins has recently been shown to be important for protein aggregation involved in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, whereas tau phase separation has been linked to Alzheimer's disease. We therefore investigated the interaction of α‐synuclein with tau and its consequences on tau LLPS. We find α‐synuclein to have a low propensity for both, self‐coacervation and RNA‐mediated LLPS at pH 7.4. However, full‐length but not carboxy‐terminally truncated α‐synuclein efficiently partitions into tau/RNA droplets. We further demonstrate that Cdk2‐phosphorylation promotes the concentration of tau into RNA‐induced droplets, but at the same time decreases the amount of α‐synuclein inside the droplets. NMR spectroscopy reveals that the interaction of the carboxy‐terminal domain of α‐synuclein with the proline‐rich region P2 of tau is required for the recruitment of α‐synuclein into tau droplets. The combined data suggest that the concentration of α‐synuclein into tau‐associated condensates can contribute to synergistic aSyn/tau pathologies.
Human liver fatty acid binding protein (hL-FABP) has been reported to act as an intracellular shuttle of lipid molecules, thus playing a central role in systemic metabolic homeostasis. The involvement of hL-FABP in the transport of bile salts has been postulated but scarcely investigated. Here we describe a thorough NMR investigation of glycocholate (GCA) binding to hL-FABP. The protein molecule bound a single molecule of GCA, in contrast to the 1:2 stoichiometry observed with fatty acids. GCA was found to occupy the large internal cavity of hL-FABP, without requiring major conformational rearrangement of the protein backbone; rather, this led to increased stability, similar to that estimated for the hL-FABP:oleate complex. Fast-timescale dynamics appeared not to be significantly perturbed in the presence of ligands. Slow motions (unlike for other proteins of the family) were retained or enhanced upon binding, consistent with a requirement for structural plasticity for promiscuous recognition.
Falling outside of Lipinski’s rule of five, macrocyclic drugs have accessed unique binding sites of their target receptors unreachable by traditional small molecules. Cyclosporin(e) A (CycA), an extensively studied macrocyclic natural product, is an immunosuppressant with undesirable side effects such as electrolytic imbalances. In this work, a comprehensive view on the conformational landscape of CycA, its interactions with Ca2+, and host–guest interactions with cyclophilin A (CypA) is reported through exhaustive analyses that combine ion-mobility spectrometry–mass spectrometry (IMS–MS), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, distance-geometry modeling, and NMR-driven molecular dynamics. Our IMS–MS data show that CycA can adopt extremely compact conformations with significantly smaller collisional cross sections than the closed conformation observed in CDCl3. To adopt these conformations, the macrocyclic ring has to twist and bend via cis–trans isomerization of backbone amides, and thus, we termed this family of structures the “bent” conformation. Furthermore, NMR measurements indicate that the closed conformation exists at 19% in CD3OD/H2O and 55% in CD3CN. However, upon interacting with Ca2+, in addition to the bent and previously reported closed conformations of free CycA, the CycA:Ca2+ complex is open and has all-trans peptide bonds. Previous NMR studies using calcium perchlorate reported only the closed conformation of CycA (which contains one cis peptide bond). Here, calcium chloride, a more biologically relevant salt, was used, and interestingly, it helps converting the cis -MeLeu9–MeLeu10 peptide bond into a trans bond. Last, we were able to capture the native binding of CycA and CypA to give forth evidence that IMS–MS is able to probe the solution-phase structures of the complexes and that the Ca2+:CycA complex may play an essential role in the binding of CycA to CypA.
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