Central nervous system injuries are accompanied by scar formation. It has been difficult to delineate the precise role of the scar, as it is made by several different cell types, which may limit the damage but also inhibit axonal regrowth. We show that scarring by neural stem cell-derived astrocytes is required to restrict secondary enlargement of the lesion and further axonal loss after spinal cord injury. Moreover, neural stem cell progeny exerts a neurotrophic effect required for survival of neurons adjacent to the lesion. One distinct component of the glial scar, deriving from resident neural stem cells, is required for maintaining the integrity of the injured spinal cord.

NMR spectroscopy combined with paramagnetic relaxation agents was used to study the positioning of the 40-residue Alzheimer Amyloid beta-peptide Abeta(1-40) in SDS micelles. 5-Doxyl stearic acid incorporated into the micelle or Mn(2+) ions in the aqueous solvent were used to determine the position of the peptide relative to the micelle geometry. In SDS solvent, the two alpha-helices induced in Abeta(1-40), comprising residues 15-24, and 29-35, respectively, are surrounded by flexible unstructured regions. NMR signals from these unstructured regions are strongly attenuated in the presence of Mn(2+) showing that these regions are positioned mostly outside the micelle. The central helix (residues 15-24) is significantly affected by 5-doxyl stearic acid however somewhat less for residues 16, 20, 22 and 23. This alpha-helix therefore resides in the SDS headgroup region with the face with residues 16, 20, 22 and 23 directed away from the hydrophobic interior of the micelle. The C-terminal helix is protected both from 5-doxyl stearic acid and Mn(2+), and should be buried in the hydrophobic interior of the micelle. The SDS micelles were characterized by diffusion and (15)N-relaxation measurements. Comparison of experimentally determined translational diffusion coefficients for SDS and Abeta(1-40) show that the size of SDS micelle is not significantly changed by interaction with Abeta(1-40).

The temperature‐induced structural transitions of the full length Alzheimer amyloid β‐peptide [Aβ(1–40) peptide] and fragments of it were studied using CD and 1H NMR spectroscopy. The full length peptide undergoes an overall transition from a state with a prominent population of left‐handed 31 (polyproline II; PII)‐helix at 0 °C to a random coil state at 60 °C, with an average ΔH of 6.8 ± 1.4 kJ·mol−1 per residue, obtained by fitting a Zimm–Bragg model to the CD data. The transition is noncooperative for the shortest N‐terminal fragment Aβ(1–9) and weakly cooperative for Aβ(1–40) and the longer fragments. By analysing the temperature‐dependent 3JHNHα couplings and hydrodynamic radii obtained by NMR for Aβ(1–9) and Aβ(12–28), we found that the structure transition includes more than two states. The N‐terminal hydrophilic Aβ(1–9) populates PII‐like conformations at 0 °C, then when the temperature increases, conformations with dihedral angles moving towards β‐strand at 20 °C, and approaches random coil at 60 °C. The residues in the central hydrophobic (18–28) segment show varying behaviour, but there is a significant contribution of β‐strand‐like conformations at all temperatures below 20 °C. The C‐terminal (29–40) segment was not studied by NMR, but from CD difference spectra we concluded that it is mainly in a random coil conformation at all studied temperatures. These results on structural preferences and transitions of the segments in the monomeric form of Aβ may be related to the processes leading to the aggregation and formation of fibrils in the Alzheimer plaques.

The Alzheimer peptide fragment Aβ(12-28) was studied at millimolar concentration by parallel experiments with high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and circular dichroism (CD) in solution at a pH close to the isoelectric point of the peptide. A preparation procedure using low temperature and low ionic strength buffer gave a sample with stable and reproducible properties. Reversible changes in secondary structure and state of aggregation were studied by variation of temperature. High-temperature promotes aggregation and β-sheet induction, whereas low-temperature shifts the equilibrium toward low molecular weight fractions and less β-sheet like structure. NMR diffusion experiments show that the dominating, most low molecular weight fraction is monomeric. With increasing temperature, residues F 20 A 21 E 22 , overlapping with the so-called central hydrophobic segment of the Aβ peptide, exhibit the most pronounced R-proton NMR secondary chemical shift changes from random coil toward more β-sheet like structure. High ionic strength also promotes aggregation and β-sheet induction. The combined spectroscopic results, including also molecular weight estimations by cutoff filters, are summarized in a scheme in which monomeric mostly random coil and heterogeneous aggregated partly β-sheet forms of the peptide are in a temperature-dependent equilibrium, a situation which corresponds to an early stage of the fibrillogenesis.

PFG-NMR methods were used to measure the translational diffusion coefficients for the Ab peptide involved in Alzheimer's disease and also for a series of fragments of this peptide. The peptides ranged from a pentamer to the full length Ab(1-40). They were studied at 25• C and physiological pH in aqueous solution. The measured diffusion coefficients, including those of known monomeric peptides, were fitted without systematic deviations to a scaling law function of the molecular mass. We concluded that under these conditions Ab(1-40) is in monomeric form. From the diffusion coefficient data, hydrodynamic radii r H were evaluated for the peptides. When combining our results on non-or weakly structured peptides with previously reported results on denatured proteins, we found that the hydrodynamic radii for the combined dataset could be well described by the same scaling law relating them to the molecular weight. The same law would even encompass data on single amino acids and di-and tripeptides measured by classical methods. From the above-mentioned experimental data, scaling law parameters were determined. The relation between the measured hydrodynamic radius .r H / and the molecular weight of the polypeptide chain .M r / for amino acids, peptides and denatured proteins is r H = 0.27M 0.50 rÅ . There is a remarkably good fit to this function for the measured hydrodynamic radii in a large range, almost three orders of magnitude, of molecular weights. The numerical value of the exponent, 0.5, is an indication that these polymers behave as Gaussian chains.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most aggressive form of brain cancer with marginal life expectancy. Based on the assumption that GBM cells gain functions not necessarily involved in the cancerous process, patient-derived glioblastoma cells (GCs) were screened to identify cellular processes amenable for development of targeted treatments. The quinine-derivative NSC13316 reliably and selectively compromised viability. Synthetic chemical expansion reveals delicate structure-activity relationship and analogs with increased potency, termed Vacquinols. Vacquinols stimulate death by membrane ruffling, cell rounding, massive macropinocytic vacuole accumulation, ATP depletion, and cytoplasmic membrane rupture of GCs. The MAP kinase MKK4, identified by a shRNA screen, represents a critical signaling node. Vacquinol-1 displays excellent in vivo pharmacokinetics and brain exposure, attenuates disease progression, and prolongs survival in a GBM animal model. These results identify a vulnerability to massive vacuolization that can be targeted by small molecules and point to the possible exploitation of this process in the design of anticancer therapies.

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