Engineered droplet-forming peptide as photocontrollable phase modulator for fused in sarcoma protein.

The assembly and disassembly of biomolecular condensates are crucial for the subcellular compartmentalization of biomolecules in the control of cellular reactions. Recently, a correlation has been discovered between the phase transition of condensates and their maturation (aggregation) process in diseases. Therefore, modulating the phase of condensates to unravel the roles of condensation has become a matter of interest. Here, we create a peptide-based phase modulator, JSF1, which forms droplets in the dark and transforms into amyloid-like fibrils upon photoinitiation, as evidenced by their distinctive nanomechanical and dynamic properties. JSF1 is found to effectively enhance the condensation of purified fused in sarcoma (FUS) protein and, upon light exposure, induce its fibrilization. We also use JSF1 to modulate the biophysical states of FUS condensates in live cells and elucidate the relationship between FUS phase transition and FUS proteinopathy, thereby shedding light on the effect of protein phase transition on cellular function and malfunction.

Degradation of neurodegenerative disease-associated TDP-43 aggregates and oligomers via a proteolysis-targeting chimera.

BACKGROUND: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) associated with TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) aggregation has been considered as a lethal and progressive motor neuron disease. Recent studies have shown that both C-terminal TDP-43 (C-TDP-43) aggregates and oligomers were neurotoxic and pathologic agents in ALS and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). However, misfolding protein has long been considered as an undruggable target by applying conventional inhibitors, agonists, or antagonists. To provide this unmet medical need, we aim to degrade these misfolding proteins by designing a series of proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs) against C-TDP-43. METHODS: By applying filter trap assay, western blotting, and microscopy imaging, the degradation efficiency of C-TDP-43 aggregates was studied in Neuro-2a cells overexpressing eGFP-C-TDP-43 or mCherry-C-TDP-43. The cell viability was characterized by alarmarBlue assay. The beneficial and disaggregating effects of TDP-43 PROTAC were examined with the YFP-C-TDP-43 transgenic C. elegans by motility assay and confocal microscopy. The impact of TDP-43 PROTAC on C-TDP-43 oligomeric intermediates was monitored by fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy and size exclusion chromatography in the Neuro-2a cells co-expressing eGFP-C-TDP-43 and mCherry-C-TDP-43. RESULTS: Four PROTACs with different linker lengths were synthesized and characterized. Among these chimeras, PROTAC 2 decreased C-TDP-43 aggregates and relieved C-TDP-43-induced cytotoxicity in Neuro-2a cells without affecting endogenous TDP-43. We showed that PROTAC 2 bound to C-TDP-43 aggregates and E3 ligase to initiate ubiquitination and proteolytic degradation. By applying advanced microscopy, it was further shown that PROTAC 2 decreased the compactness and population of C-TDP-43 oligomers. In addition to cellular model, PROTAC 2 also improved the motility of transgenic C. elegans by reducing the C-TDP-43 aggregates in the nervous system. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated the dual-targeting capacity of the newly-designed PROTAC 2 against both C-TDP-43 aggregates and oligomers to reduce their neurotoxicity, which shed light on the potential drug development for ALS as well as other neurodegenerative diseases.

The Different Faces of the TDP-43 Low-Complexity Domain: The Formation of Liquid Droplets and Amyloid Fibrils.

Transactive response DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) is a nucleic acid-binding protein that is involved in transcription and translation regulation, non-coding RNA processing, and stress granule assembly. Aside from its multiple functions, it is also known as the signature protein in the hallmark inclusions of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) patients. TDP-43 is built of four domains, but its low-complexity domain (LCD) has become an intense research focus that brings to light its possible role in TDP-43 functions and involvement in the pathogenesis of these neurodegenerative diseases. Recent endeavors have further uncovered the distinct biophysical properties of TDP-43 under various circumstances. In this review, we summarize the multiple structural and biochemical properties of LCD in either promoting the liquid droplets or inducing fibrillar aggregates. We also revisit the roles of the LCD in paraspeckles, stress granules, and cytoplasmic inclusions to date.

Nanoscopic investigation of C9orf72 poly-GA oligomers on nuclear membrane disruption by a photoinducible platform.

Glycine-alanine dipeptide repeats (GA DPRs) translated from the mutated C9orf72 gene have recently been correlated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). While GA DPRs aggregates have been suggested as amyloid, the biophysical features and cytotoxicity of GA DPRs oligomers has not been explored due to its unstable nature. In this study, we develop a photoinducible platform based on methoxynitrobenzene chemistry to enrich GA DPRs that allows monitoring the oligomerization process of GA DPRs in cells. By applying advanced microscopies, we examined the GA DPRs oligomerization process nanoscopically in a time-dependent manner. We provided direct evidences to demonstrate GA DPRs oligomers rather than nanofibrils disrupt nuclear membrane. Moreover, we found GA DPRs hamper nucleocytoplasmic transport in cells and cause cytosolic retention of TAR DNA-binding protein 43 in cortical neurons. Our results highlight the toxicity of GA DPRs oligomers, which is a key step toward elucidating the pathological roles of C9orf72 DPRs.

Nanoscopic Insights of Amphiphilic Peptide against the Oligomer Assembly Process to Treat Huntington's Disease.

Finding an effective therapeutic regimen is an urgent demand for various neurodegenerative disorders including Huntington's disease (HD). For the difficulties in observing the dynamic aggregation and oligomerization process of mutant Huntingtin (mHtt) in vivo, the evaluation of potential drugs at the molecular protein level is usually restricted. By combing lifetime-based fluorescence microscopies and biophysical tools, it is showcased that a designed amphiphilic peptide, which targets the mHtt at an early stage, can perturb the oligomer assembly process nanoscopically, suppress the amyloid property of mHtt, conformationally transform the oligomers and/or aggregates of mHtt, and ameliorate mHtt-induced neurological damage and aggregation in cell and HD mouse models. It is also found that this amphiphilic peptide is able to transport to the brain and rescue the memory deficit through intranasal administration, indicating its targeting specificity in vivo. In summary, a biophotonic platform is provided to investigate the oligomerization/aggregation process in detail that offers insight into the design and effect of a targeted therapeutic agent for Huntington's disease.

Biocompatible Inhibitor Based on Chitosan and Amphiphilic Peptide against Mutant Huntingtin Toxicity.

Huntington's disease (HD) is classified as a protein-misfolding disease correlated with the mutant Huntingtin (mHtt) protein with abnormally expanded polyglutamine (polyQ) domains. Because no effective drugs have yet been reported, attempts to develop better therapy to delay the age of onset are in urgent demand. In this study, an amphiphilic peptide consisting of negatively charged hexaglutamic acid and a stretch of decaglutamine (E6 Q10 ) was chemically synthesized as an inhibitor against polyQ and mHtt toxicity. It is found that E6 Q10 selfassembles into spherical vesicles, as shown by means of TEM, cryoelectron microscopy, and dynamic light scattering. Assembled E6 Q10 prevented the polyQ-rich peptide (KKWQ20 AKK) from forming amyloid fibrils. To enable the cell-penetration ability of E6 Q10 , the E6 Q10 ⋅chitosan complex was generated. It is demonstrated that the complex penetrates cells, interferes with the mHtt oligomerization and aggregation process, and prevents mHtt cytotoxicity. By combining positively charged chitosan and amphiphilic peptides with a negatively charge moiety, a new strategy is provided to develop biocompatible and biodegradable inhibitors against mHtt toxicity.

Photocontrollable Probe Spatiotemporally Induces Neurotoxic Fibrillar Aggregates and Impairs Nucleocytoplasmic Trafficking.

The abnormal assembly of misfolded proteins into neurotoxic aggregates is the hallmark associated with neurodegenerative diseases. Herein, we establish a photocontrollable platform to trigger amyloidogenesis to recapitulate the pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) by applying a chemically engineered probe as a "switch" in live cells. This probe is composed of an amyloidogenic peptide from TDP-43, a photolabile linker, a polycationic sequence both to mask amyloidogenicity and for cell penetration, and a fluorophore for visualization. The photocontrollable probe can self-assemble into a spherical vesicle but rapidly develops massive nanofibrils with amyloid properties upon photoactivation. The photoinduced in vitro fibrillization process is characterized by biophysical techniques. In cellular experiments, this cell-penetrable vesicle was retained in the cytoplasm, seeded the mislocalized endogenous TDP-43 into aggregates upon irradiation, and consequently initiated apoptosis. In addition, this photocontrollable vesicle interfered with nucleocytoplasmic protein transport and triggered cortical neuron degeneration. Our developed strategy provides in vitro and in vivo spatiotemporal control of neurotoxic fibrillar aggregate formation, which can be readily applied in the studies of protein misfolding, aggregation-induced protein mislocalization, and amyloid-induced pathogenesis in different diseases.

Trigger Factor-Induced Nascent Chain Dynamics Changes Suggest Two Different Chaperone-Nascent Chain Interactions during Translation.

Protein biogenesis is poorly understood due to the ribosome that perturbs measurement attempted on the ribosome-bound nascent chain (RNC). Investigating nascent chain dynamics may provide invaluable insight into the co-translational processes such as structure formation or interaction with a chaperone [e.g., the bacterial trigger factor (TF)]. In this study, we aim to establish a platform for studying nascent chain dynamics by exploring the local environment near the fluorescent dye on site-specifically labeled RNCs with time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy. To prepare a quantitative model of fluorescence depolarization, we utilized intrinsically disordered protein bound to ribosome, which helped us couple the sub-nanosecond depolarization with the motion of the nascent chain backbone. This was consistent with zinc-finger-domain-containing RNCs, where the extent of sub-nanosecond motion decreased upon the addition of zinc when the fluorophore was in close proximity of the domain. After the characterization of disordered nascent chain dynamics, we investigated the synthesis of a model cytosolic protein, Entner-Doudoroff aldolase, labeled at different sites during various stages of translation. Depending on the stage of translation, the addition of the TF to the nascent chain led to two different responses in the nascent chain dynamics serendipitously, suggesting steric hindrance between the nascent chain and the chaperone as a mechanism for TF dissociation from the ribosome during translation. Overall, our study demonstrates the possible use of site-specific labeling and time-resolved anisotropy to gain insight on chaperone binding event at various stages of translation and hints on TF co-translational mechanism.

Study of Binding Interaction between Pif80 Protein Fragment and Aragonite.

Pif is a crucial protein for the formation of the nacreous layer in Pinctada fucata. Three non-acidic peptide fragments of the aragonite-binding domain (Pif80) are selected, which contain multiple copies of the repeat sequence DDRK, to study the interaction between non-acidic peptides and aragonite. The polypeptides DDRKDDRKGGK (Pif80-11) and DDRKDDRKGGKDDRKDDRKGGK (Pif80-22) have similar binding affinity to aragonite. Solid-state NMR data indicate that the backbones of Pif80-11 and Pif80-22 peptides bound on aragonite adopt a random-coil conformation. Pif80-11 is a lot more effective than Pif80-22 in promoting the nucleation of aragonite on the substrate of ß-chitin. Our results suggest that the structural arrangement at a protein-mineral interface depends on the surface structure of the mineral substrate and the protein sequence. The side chains of the basic residues, which function as anchors to the aragonite surface, have uniform structures. The role of basic residues as anchors in protein-mineral interaction may play an important role in biomineralization.

Mechanisms of Membrane Pore Formation by Amyloidogenic Peptides in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

Using unbiased atomic-detailed molecular dynamics simulations, the C-terminal fragments of TDP-43 are observed to aggregate and form disordered-toroidal pores in a lipid bilayer. Cytotoxicity of TDP-43 may be inferred from the observation that the membrane pores catalyze lipid flip-flop between bilayer leaflets and conduct water at high rates.

Nonorthogonal tRNA(cys)(Amber) for protein and nascent chain labeling.

In vitro-transcribed suppressor tRNAs are commonly used in site-specific fluorescence labeling for protein and ribosome-bound nascent chains (RNCs) studies. Here, we describe the production of nonorthogonal Bacillus subtilis tRNA(cys)(Amber) from Escherichia coli, a process that is superior to in vitro transcription in terms of yield, ease of manipulation, and tRNA stability. As cysteinyl-tRNA synthetase was previously shown to aminoacylate tRNA(cys)(Amber) with lower efficiency, multiple tRNA synthetase mutants were designed to optimize aminoacylation. Aminoacylated tRNA was conjugated to a fluorophore to produce BODIPY FL-cysteinyl-tRNA(cys)(Amber), which was used to generate ribosome-bound nascent chains of different lengths with the fluorophore incorporated at various predetermined sites. This tRNA tool may be beneficial in the site-specific labeling of full-length proteins as well as RNCs for biophysical and biological research.

Characterization and real-time imaging of the FTLD-related protein aggregation induced by amyloidogenic peptides.

We identify a new amyloidogenic peptide from the glutamine/asparagine-rich region of the FTLD-related protein (TDP-43), which can seed both the full-length and N-terminus-truncated TDP-43. Through the microinjection and real-time fluorescence imaging, we also found that this novel peptide could trigger cell apoptosis and initiate TDP-43 aggregation in the cytosol.

The influence of pathological mutations and proline substitutions in TDP-43 glycine-rich peptides on its amyloid properties and cellular toxicity.

TAR DNA-binding protein (TDP-43) was identified as the major ubiquitinated component deposited in the inclusion bodies in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration with ubiquitin-positive inclusions (FTLD-U) in 2006. Later on, numerous ALS-related mutations were found in either the glycine or glutamine/asparagine-rich region on the TDP-43 C-terminus, which hinted on the importance of mutations on the disease pathogenesis. However, how the structural conversion was influenced by the mutations and the biological significance of these peptides remains unclear. In this work, various peptides bearing pathogenic or de novo designed mutations were synthesized and displayed their ability to form twisted amyloid fibers, cause liposome leakage, and mediate cellular toxicity as confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), circular dichroism (CD), Thioflavin T (ThT) assay, Raman spectroscopy, calcein leakage assay, and cell viability assay. We have also shown that replacing glycines with prolines, known to obstruct ß-sheet formation, at the different positions in these peptides may influence the amyloidogenesis process and neurotoxicity. In these cases, GGG308PPP mutant was not able to form beta-amyloid, cause liposome leakage, nor jeopardized cell survival, which hinted on the importance of the glycines (308-310) during amyloidogenesis.

Delineating the membrane-disrupting and seeding properties of the TDP-43 amyloidogenic core.

The amyloidogenic core in the TAR DNA-binding protein (TDP-43) C-terminal fragment has been characterized with its chemical, biochemical, and structural properties delineated. Various properties of the core sequence, including membrane impairment ability and the seeding effect, have also been studied.

Strong anion-exchange fast performance liquid chromatography as a versatile tool for preparation and purification of RNA produced by in vitro transcription.

Here we demonstrate the use of strong anion-exchange fast performance liquid chromatography (FPLC) as a simple, fast, and robust method for RNA production by in vitro transcription. With this technique, we have purified different transcription templates from unreacted reagents in large quantities. The same buffer system could be used to readily remove nuclease contamination from the overexpressed pyrophosphatase, the important reagent for in vitro transcription. In addition, the method can be used to monitor in vitro transcription reactions to enable facile optimization of reaction conditions, and we have compared the separation performance between strong and weak anion-exchange FPLC for various transcribed RNAs, including the Diels-Alder ribozyme, the hammerhead ribozyme tRNA, and 4.5S RNA. The functionality of the purified tRNA(Cys) has been confirmed by the aminoacylation assay. Only the purification by strong anion-exchange FPLC has led to the enrichment of the functional tRNA from run-off transcripts as revealed by both enzymatic and electrophoretic analysis.

Inhibition of TDP-43 aggregation by nucleic acid binding.

The aggregation of TAR DNA-binding protein (TDP-43) has been shown as a hallmark of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) since 2006. While evidence has suggested that mutation or truncation in TDP-43 influences its aggregation process, nevertheless, the correlation between the TDP-43 aggregation propensity and its binding substrates has not been fully established in TDP-43 proteinopathy. To address this question, we have established a platform based on the in vitro protein expression system to evaluate the solubility change of TDP-43 in response to factors such as nucleotide binding and temperature. Our results suggest that the solubility of TDP-43 is largely influenced by its cognate single-strand DNA (ssDNA) or RNA (ssRNA) rather than hnRNP, which is known to associate with TDP-43 C-terminus. The direct interaction between the refolded TDP-43, purified from E.coli, and ssDNA were further characterized by Circular Dichroism (CD) as well as turbidity and filter binding assay. In addition, ssDNA or ssRNA failed to prevent the aggregation of the F147L/F149L double mutant or truncated TDP-43 (TDP208-414). Consistently, these two mutants form aggregates, in contrast with the wild-type TDP-43, when expressed in Neuro2a cells. Our results demonstrate an intimate relationship between the solubility of TDP-43 and its DNA or RNA binding affinity, which may shed light on the role of TDP-43 in ALS and FTLD.

The N-terminus of TDP-43 promotes its oligomerization and enhances DNA binding affinity.

TDP-43 is a DNA/RNA-binding protein associated with different neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD-U). Here, the structural and physical properties of the N-terminus on TDP-43 have been carefully characterized through a combination of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), circular dichroism (CD) and fluorescence anisotropy studies. We demonstrate for the first time the importance of the N-terminus in promoting TDP-43 oligomerization and enhancing its DNA-binding affinity. An unidentified structural domain in the N-terminus is also disclosed. Our findings provide insights into the N-terminal domain function of TDP-43.

The interplay of turn formation and hydrophobic interactions on the early kinetic events in protein folding.

While both turn formation and hydrophobic interactions play dominant roles in the initiation of protein folding, their individual contributions to the folding kinetics and to the structural stability of the protein still remain poorly understood. Here, we applied a photolabile linker to "cage" some important structural motifs, including both α-helices and ß-sheets, into their non-native states. These "caged" structural motifs are then relaxed by laser-flash photolysis and their refolding events followed by photoacoustic calorimetry (PAC) and photothermal beam deflection (PBD). These experiments, combined with our previous results, revealed that spontaneous α-helix formation can occur extremely rapidly (10(8)-10(9) s(-1)) if the process is driven solely by turn formation followed by helix propagation. However, if sequestering of the side chains of hydrophobic amino acid residues participates in the refolding process, which may provide additional driving force beyond that afforded by turn formation alone, the refolding rate will be retarded, often by many orders of magnitude. This is usually the case in the formation of three-stranded ß-sheets (10(7)-10(8) s(-1)) and ß-hairpins (10(5)-10(6) s(-1)). Thus, we propose that proteins take advantage of the hierarchy of timescales associated with either turn formation, hydrophobic interactions, or global collapse of tertiary structure to accomplish the folding process in an orderly fashion, as these events are sufficiently separated in time and do not interfere with one another.

Photochemical activities of N-nitroso carboxamides and sulfoximides and their application to DNA cleavage.

N-Nitroso compounds containing benzene, fluorene or fluorenone rings were synthesized. Photolysis of these compounds with 312-nm UV light provided the NO(*) species, the presence of which was corroborated by use of an EPR method and of 2-phenyl-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazolin-1-oxyl 3-oxide (PTIO) as a trapping agent. During irradiation of N-methyl-N-nitroso-9-fluorenone carboxamide (14 c) in the absence of PTIO, it underwent decomposition followed by recombination to give the heterocyclic nitric oxide radical 15. Incorporation of intercalating moieties endowed the N-nitroso compounds with DNA-cleaving ability through single-strand scission upon UV irradiation in a phosphate buffer (pH 5.0-8.0) under aerobic conditions.