Skip to main content
SLU publication database (SLUpub)

Abstract

Amyloidogenesis is associated with more than 30 diseases, but the molecular mechanisms involved in cell toxicity and fibril formation remain largely unknown. The inherent tendency of amyloid-forming proteins to aggregate renders expression, purification, and experimental studies challenging. NT* is a solubility tag derived from a spider silk protein that was recently introduced for the production of several aggregation-prone peptides and proteins at high yields. Herein, we investigate whether fusion to NT* can prevent amyloid fibril formation and enable controlled aggregation for experimental studies. As an example of an amyloidogenic protein, we chose the de novo-designed polypeptide 17. The fusion protein NT*-17 was recombinantly expressed in Escherichia coli to produce high amounts of soluble and mostly monomeric protein. Structural analysis showed that 17 is kept in a largely unstructured conformation in fusion with NT*. After proteolytic release, 17 adopts a -sheet conformation in a pH- and salt-dependent manner and assembles into amyloid-like fibrils. The ability of NT* to prevent premature aggregation and to enable structural studies of prefibrillar states may facilitate investigation of proteins involved in amyloid diseases.

Keywords

amyloid disease; fibril formation; model protein; protein assembly; protein domain

Published in

FEBS Journal
2018, volume: 285, number: 10, pages: 1873-1885
Publisher: WILEY

SLU Authors

UKÄ Subject classification

Biochemistry
Molecular Biology

Publication identifier

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/febs.14451

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/95808