Phosphorylation and O-GlcNAcylation of the PHF-1 Epitope of Tau Protein Induce Local Conformational Changes of the C-Terminus and Modulate Tau Self-Assembly Into Fibrillar Aggregates.

Phosphorylation of the neuronal microtubule-associated Tau protein plays a critical role in the aggregation process leading to the formation of insoluble intraneuronal fibrils within Alzheimer's disease (AD) brains. In recent years, other posttranslational modifications (PTMs) have been highlighted in the regulation of Tau (dys)functions. Among these PTMs, the O-ß-linked N-acetylglucosaminylation (O-GlcNAcylation) modulates Tau phosphorylation and aggregation. We here focus on the role of the PHF-1 phospho-epitope of Tau C-terminal domain that is hyperphosphorylated in AD (at pS396/pS404) and encompasses S400 as the major O-GlcNAc site of Tau while two additional O-GlcNAc sites were found in the extreme C-terminus at S412 and S413. Using high resolution NMR spectroscopy, we showed that the O-GlcNAc glycosylation reduces phosphorylation of PHF-1 epitope by GSK3ß alone or after priming by CDK2/cyclin A. Furthermore, investigations of the impact of PTMs on local conformation performed in small peptides highlight the role of S404 phosphorylation in inducing helical propensity in the region downstream pS404 that is exacerbated by other phosphorylations of PHF-1 epitope at S396 and S400, or O-GlcNAcylation of S400. Finally, the role of phosphorylation and O-GlcNAcylation of PHF-1 epitope was probed in in-vitro fibrillization assays in which O-GlcNAcylation slows down the rate of fibrillar assembly while GSK3ß phosphorylation stimulates aggregation counteracting the effect of glycosylation.

Traceless parallel peptide purification by a first-in-class reductively cleavable linker system featuring a safety-release.

Hundreds of peptides can be synthesized by automated parallel synthesizers in a single run. In contrast, the most widely used peptide purification method - high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) - only allows one-by-one processing of each sample. The chromatographic purification of many peptides, therefore, remains a time-consuming and costly effort. Catch-and-release methods can be processed in parallel and potentially provide a remedy. However, no such system has yet provided a true alternative to HPLC. Herein we present the development of a side-reaction free, reductively cleavable linker. The linker is added to the target peptide as the last building block during peptide synthesis. After acidic cleavage from synthetic resin, the linker-tagged full-length peptide is caught onto an aldehyde-modified solid support by rapid oxime ligation, allowing removal of all impurities lacking the linker by washing. Reducing the aryl azide to an aniline sensitizes the linker for cleavage. However, scission does not occur at non-acidic pH enabling wash out of reducing agent. Final acidic treatment safely liberates the peptide by an acid-catalysed 1,6-elimination. We showcase this first-in-class reductively cleavable linker system in the parallel purification of a personalized neoantigen cocktail, containing 20 peptides for cancer immunotherapy within six hours.

Tag-Free Semi-Synthesis of the Tau Protein.

Expressed protein ligation (EPL) is a valuable tool to study site-specific functionalities on proteins such as posttranslational modifications. The purification of such ligation products from EPL mixtures can be cumbersome due to a small size difference between the expressed protein portion and the desired ligated protein. Therefore, affinity tags are often required, which remain on the protein after purification. Herein, we present an efficient protocol to install a photocleavable biotin building block on synthetic C-terminal tau[390-441] and describe its use for purification of full-length semi-synthetic tau[1-441].

Semi-synthesis of a tag-free O-GlcNAcylated tau protein by sequential chemoselective ligation.

In this paper, the first semi-synthesis of the Alzheimer-relevant tau protein carrying an O-GlcNAcylation is demonstrated by using sequential chemoselective ligation. The 52-amino acid C-terminus of tau was obtained by native chemical ligation between two synthetic peptide fragments, one carrying the O-GlcNAc moiety on Ser400, which has recently been demonstrated to inhibit tau phosphorylation and to hinder tau oligomerization, and the other equipped with a photocleavable biotin handle. After desulfurization to deliver a native alanine at the ligation junction, the N-terminal cysteine was unmasked, and the peptide was further used for expressed protein ligation to generate the full-length tau protein, which was purified by a photocleavable biotin tag. We thus provide a synthetic route to obtain a homogenous tag-free O-GlcNAcylated tau protein that can further help to elucidate the significance of posttranslational modification on the tau protein and pave the way for evaluating possible drug targets in Alzheimer's disease. Copyright © 2016 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Native chemical ligation between asparagine and valine: application and limitations for the synthesis of tri-phosphorylated C-terminal tau.

We present the successful native chemical ligation (NCL) at an Asn-Val site employing ß-mercaptovaline and subsequent desulfurization in the synthesis of native phosphorylated C-terminal tau, relevant for Alzheimer's disease related research. Despite recent progress in the field of NCL we illustrate limitations of this ligation site that stem from thioester hydrolysis and predominantly aspartimide formation. We systematically investigated the influence of pH, temperature, peptide concentration and thiol additives on the outcome of this ligation and identified conditions under which the ligation can be driven toward complete conversion, which required the deployment of a high surplus of thioester. Application of the optimized conditions allowed us to gain access to challenging tri-phosphorylated C-terminal tau peptide in practical yields.

Side-chain cysteine-functionalized poly(2-oxazoline)s for multiple peptide conjugation by native chemical ligation.

We prepared statistical copolymers composed of 2-methyl-2-oxazoline (MeOx) in combination with 2-butenyl-2-oxazoline (BuOx) or 2-decenyl-2-oxazoline (DecOx) as a basis for polymer analogous introduction of 1,2-aminothiol moieties at the side chain. MeOx provides hydrophilicity as well as cyto- and hemocompatibility, whereas the alkene groups of BuOx and DecOx serve for functionalization with a thiofunctional thiazolidine by UV-mediated thiol-ene reaction. After deprotection the cysteine content in functionalized poly(2-oxazoline) (POx) is quantified by NMR and a modified trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid assay. The luminescent cell viability assay shows no negative influence of cysteine-functionalized POx (cys-POx) concerning cell viability and cell number. cys-POx was used for multiple chemically orthogonal couplings with thioester-terminated peptides through native chemical ligation (NCL), which was performed and confirmed by NMR and MALDI-ToF measurements.

Coiled-coils in phage display screening: insight into exceptional selectivity provided by molecular dynamics.

Involved in numerous key biological functions, protein helix-helix interactions follow a well-defined intermolecular recognition pattern. The characteristic structure of the α-helical coiled-coil allows for the specific randomization of clearly defined interaction partners within heteromeric systems. In this work, a rationally designed heterodimeric coiled-coil was used to investigate potential factors influencing the sequence selectivity in interhelical interactions.

Cysteine-functional polymers via thiol-ene conjugation.

A thiofunctional thiazolidine is introduced as a new low-molar-mass building block for the introduction of cysteine residues via a thiol-ene reaction. Allyl-functional polyglycidol (PG) is used as a model polymer to demonstrate polymer-analogue functionalization through reaction with the unsaturated side-chains. A modified trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid (TNBSA) assay is used for the redox-insensitive quantification and a precise final cysteine content can be predetermined at the polymerization stage. Native chemical ligation at cysteine-functional PG is performed as a model reaction for a chemoselective peptide modification of this polymer. The three-step synthesis of the thiofunctional thiazolidine reactant, together with the standard thiol-ene coupling and the robust quantification assay, broadens the toolbox for thiol-ene chemistry and offers a generic and straightforward approach to cysteine-functional materials.

Traceless purification and desulfurization of tau protein ligation products.

We present a novel strategy for the traceless purification and synthetic modification of peptides and proteins obtained by native chemical ligation. The strategy involves immobilization of a photocleavable semisynthetic biotin-protein conjugate on streptavidin-coated agarose beads, which eliminates the need for tedious rebuffering steps and allows the rapid removal of excess peptides and additives. On-bead desulfurization is followed by delivery of the final tag-free protein product. The strategy is demonstrated in the isolation of a tag-free Alzheimer's disease related human tau protein from a complex EPL mixture as well as a triphosphorylated peptide derived from the C-terminus of tau.

Chemical aminoacylation of tRNAs with fluorinated amino acids for in vitro protein mutagenesis.

This article describes the chemical aminoacylation of the yeast phenylalanine suppressor tRNA with a series of amino acids bearing fluorinated side chains via the hybrid dinucleotide pdCpA and ligation to the corresponding truncated tRNA species. Aminoacyl-tRNAs can be used to synthesize biologically relevant proteins which contain fluorinated amino acids at specific sites by means of a cell-free translation system. Such engineered proteins are expected to contribute to our understanding of discrete fluorines' interaction with canonical amino acids in a native protein environment and to enable the design of fluorinated proteins with arbitrary desired properties.