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Strukturelle und funktionelle Charakterisierung von ß-Amyloid Aggregations-Intermediaten

Subject Area Structural Biology
Term from 2010 to 2015
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 168762053
 
Final Report Year 2016

Final Report Abstract

The project was aiming at an integrated analysis of aggregates formed by the Alzheimer's disease β-amyloid (Aβ) peptide induced by small molecules, involving a detailed biophysical characterization and a MAS solid-state NMR study. Aβ oligomers which are transiently populated in the due course of aggregation. They are believed to be the most toxic species on the amyloid pathway. Incubation of small molecules can trap off-pathway oligomers and can make these aggregates accessible for a NMR structural characterization. We found that Aβ oligomeric structures induced by small molecules are structurally homogeneous and amenable for a structural characterization using MAS solid-state NMR. After addition of the polyphenol epigallocatechin-gallate (EGCG), Aβ adopts β-sheet structure involving the residues Gly29-Val36. A more detailed structural characterization of EGCG induced Aβ oligomeric aggregates is currently in progress in our laboratory. We furthermore found that drugs, such as the Orcein derivate O4 that stabilize the fibrillar state of Aβ, depopulate the oligomeric state and rescue amyloid toxicity. O4 binds to Aβ along the fibril axis and prevent dissociation of monomers. Formation of β-sheet structures correlates with toxicity and with uptake of Aβ into neurons. In contrast, mature fibrils are unable to enter the cell.

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