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Observation of the Early Structural Changes Leading to the Formation of Protein Superstructures.


Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Foderà, Vito 
Vetri, Valeria 
Wind, Thea S 
Noppe, Wim 
Cornett, Claus 

Abstract

Formation of superstructures in protein aggregation processes has been indicated as a general pathway for several proteins, possibly playing a role in human pathologies. There is a severe lack of knowledge on the origin of such species in terms of both mechanisms of formation and structural features. We use equine lysozyme as a model protein, and by combining spectroscopic techniques and microscopy with X-ray fiber diffraction and ab initio modeling of Small Angle X-ray Scattering data, we isolate the partially unfolded state from which one of these superstructures (i.e., particulate) originates. We reveal the low-resolution structure of the unfolded state and its mechanism of formation, highlighting the physicochemical features and the possible pathway of formation of the particulate structure. Our findings provide a novel detailed knowledge of such a general and alternative aggregation pathway for proteins, this being crucial for a basic and broader understanding of the aggregation phenomena.

Description

Keywords

conformational changes, hydrophobicity, particulate, protein superstructures, unfolded state

Journal Title

J Phys Chem Lett

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1948-7185
1948-7185

Volume Title

5

Publisher

American Chemical Society (ACS)
Sponsorship
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/H006028/1)