The internal structure of amyloid-β (Aβ) oligomers was investigated with isotope-edited Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Homo-oligomers of Aβ(40) and Aβ(42) were prepared from unlabeled and C-13, N-15-labeled monomeric Aβ and from mixtures of these. For the unlabeled peptides, two main bands were observed in (H2O)-H-2 at 1685 and 1622 cm(-1) for Aβ(40) and at 1685 and 1626 cm(-1) for Aβ(42). These band positions indicate that the number of strands per sheet is at least four. The obtained experimental amide I spectra were simulated using a number of structural models (antiparallel β-sheets, β-barrels and a dodecamer structure). According to experiments and calculations, the main C-13-band shifts down at increasing molar ratio of labeled peptides. This shift occurs when vibrational coupling becomes possible between C-13-amide groups in close-by strands. It is small, when intervening C-12-strands increase the distance between C-13-strands; it is large, when many neighboring strands are labeled. The shift depends on the internal structure of the peptides within the oligomers, i.e. on the building block that each peptide molecule contributes to the β-sheets of the oligomers. The shift is largest, when individual peptides contribute just a single strand surrounded by strands from other peptide molecules. It is smaller when each molecule forms two or three adjacent strands. As indicated by a comparison between experiment and computation, the number of adjacent β-strands per peptide molecule is two for Aβ(40) oligomers and two or more for Aβ(42) oligomers. Our results are well explained by regular, antiparallel β-sheets or β-barrels.

Interaction with model phospholipid membranes of lupin seed gamma-conglutin, a glycaemia-lowering protein from Lupinus albus seeds, has been studied by means of Fourier-Transform infrared spectroscopy at p(2)H 7.0 and at p(2)H 4.5. The protein maintains the same secondary structure both at p(2)H 7.0 and at p(2)H 4.5, but at p(2)H 7.0 a higher H-1/H-2 exchange was observed, indicating a greater solvent accessibility. The difference in T-m and T-D1/2 of the protein at the abovementioned p(2)H's has been calculated around 20 degrees C. Infrared measurements have been then performed in the presence of DMPG and DOPA at p(2)H 4.5. DMPG showed a little destabilizing effect while DOPA exerted a great stabilizing effect, increasing the T-m of gamma-conglutin at p(2)H 4.5 of more than 20 degrees C. Since gamma-conglutin at p(2)H 4.5 is in the monomeric form, the interaction with DOPA likely promotes the oligomerization even at p(2)H 4.5. Interaction between DMPG or DOPA and gamma-conglutin has been confirmed by turbidity experiments with DMPC:DMPG or DOPC:DOPA SUVs. Turbidity data also showed high-affinity binding of gamma-conglutin to anionic SUVs made up with DOPA. The molecular features outlined in this study are relevant to address the applicative exploitation and to delineate a deeper comprehension of the natural functional role of gamma-conglutin.

Two main amyloid-beta peptides of different length (A beta(40) and A beta(42)) are involved in Alzheimer's disease. Their relative abundance is decisive for the severity of the disease and mixed oligomers may contribute to the toxic species. However, little is know about the extent of mixing. To study whether A beta(40) and A beta(42) co-aggregate, we used Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy in combination with C-13-labeling and spectrum calculation and focused on the amide I vibration, which is sensitive to backbone structure. Mixtures of monomeric labeled A beta(40) and unlabeled A beta(42) (and vice versa) were co-incubated for similar to 20 min and their infrared spectrum recorded. The position of the main C-13-amide I' band shifted to higher wavenumbers with increasing admixture of C-12-peptide due to the presence of C-12-amides in the vicinity of C-13-amides. The results indicate that A beta(40) and A beta(42) form mixed oligomers with a largely random distribution of A beta(40) and A beta(42) strands in their beta-sheets. The structures of the mixed oligomers are intermediate between those of the pure oligomers. There is no indication that one of the peptides forces the backbone structure of its oligomers on the other peptide when they are mixed as monomers. We also demonstrate that isotope-edited infrared spectroscopy can distinguish aggregation modulators that integrate into the backbone structure of their interaction partner from those that do not. As an example for the latter case, the pro-inflammatory calcium binding protein S100A9 is shown not to incorporate into the b-sheets of A beta(42).

Different spectroscopic approaches are often used to probe specific aspects of amyloid fibril formation but are usually performed separately and under different conditions. This makes it problematic to relate different aspects of the aggregation process when these are monitored by different methods. We report on a multispectral approach for simultaneous acquisition of infrared, fluorescence and light scattering spectra of proteins undergoing aggregation. We have applied our approach to study beta-lactoglobulin, a milk protein known to form amyloid fibrils under well-established conditions. Our real-time multispectral measurements show that unfolding of this protein is followed by formation of early aggregates consisting of intermolecular beta-sheets with a typical infrared absorption at similar to 1619 cm(-1) in (H2O)-H-2. These aggregates, which lead to an increase in the light scattering signal, do not bind the amyloid-specific fluorophore ThT and therefore consist of oligomers or protofibrils. Fibril growth is then observed as a sigmoidal increase in ThT fluorescence. After similar to 25 h, a plateau is observed in the intensities of ThT emission and of the band at 1619 cm(-1), indicating that no new fibrils are forming. However, a second phase in the light scattering signal taking place after similar to 25 h suggests that the fibrils are assembling into larger structures, known as mature fibrils. This is associated with an upshift of the main beta-sheet band in the infrared spectrum. TEM analyses confirmed the existence of thick fibrils comprising 3-5 filaments.

Bovine alpha(1)-acid glycoprotein (bAGP), a thermostable counterpart of its human homologue, is a positive acute phase protein involved in binding and transportation of a large number of bin-active molecules and drugs across the body. We have investigated the effect of low pH and reducing conditions on the structure of the protein and found that it aggregates at high temperatures. The aggregates show a fibrillar structure when observed with electron microscopy. Aggregation assays using the amyloid-specific dye Thioflavin T show the presence of a lag phase which was neither abolished nor shortened when seeds were added. A priori reduction of the two disulfide bridges of bAGP, on the other hand, abolished the lag phase and reveals a connection between the kinetics of reduction and aggregation. We provide a kinetic interpretation and the corresponding rate laws allowing to model the process of fibril formation by bAGP under reducing conditions. Our interpretation allows to assess the role of disulfide bridges on the fibrillation kinetics of bAGP and can provide a more accurate interpretation of the fibrillation kinetics of other amyloidogenic proteins containing disulfide bridges.

Infrared spectroscopy is a powerful tool in protein science due to its sensitivity to changes in secondary structure or conformation. In order to take advantage of the full power of infrared spectroscopy in structural studies of proteins, complex band contours, such as the amide I band, have to be decomposed into their main component bands, a process referred to as curve fitting. In this paper, we report on an improved curve fitting approach in which absorption spectra and second derivative spectra are fitted simultaneously. Our approach, which we name co-fitting, leads to a more reliable modelling of the experimental data because it uses more spectral information than the standard approach of fitting only the absorption spectrum. It also avoids that the fitting routine becomes trapped in local minima. We have tested the proposed approach using infrared absorption spectra of three mixed α/β proteins with different degrees of spectral overlap in the amide I region: ribonuclease A, pyruvate kinase, and aconitase.

Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy is a powerful and versatile tool to investigate the structure and dynamics of proteins in solution. The intrinsically low extinction coefficient of the amide I mode, the main structure-related oscillator, together with the high infrared absorptivity of aqueous media, requires that proteins are studied at high concentrations (>10 mg L(-1)). This may represent a challenge in the study of aggregation-prone proteins and peptides, and questions the significance of structural data obtained for proteins physiologically existing at much lower concentrations. Here we describe the development of a simple experimental approach that increases the detection limit of protein structure analysis by infrared spectroscopy. Our approach relies on custom-made filters to isolate the amide I region (1700-1600 cm(-1)) from irrelevant spectral regions. The sensitivity of the instrument is then increased by background attenuation, an approach consisting in the use of a neutral density filter, such as a non-scattering metal grid, to attentuate the intensity of the background spectrum. When the filters and grid are combined, a 2.4-fold improvement in the noise level can be obtained. We have successfully tested this approach using a highly diluted solution of pyruvate kinase in deuterated medium (0.2% w/v), and found that it provides spectra of a quality comparable to those recorded with a 10-fold higher protein concentration.

Caged compounds capable of inducing large pH-jumps upon UV illumination have represented a breakthrough in time-resolved infrared spectroscopy of acidification-triggered phenomena, but their use is hampered by the inability to control the initial pH as well as to measure the final pH in mu L volumes. We have developed an experimental approach that accurately measures the initial and final pH values in pH-jump experiments. Our approach exploits the concomitant presence of two or more inorganic ions, such as carbonate and bicarbonate, that are added to the sample at a known concentration. The difference spectrum obtained in the infrared measurement is fitted to isolate the bands arising from the appearance or disappearance of either protonation state, and is then compared to a synthetic library of difference spectra generated using both qualitative (band position and width, extinction coefficient, pK) and quantitative (concentration, pathlength) parameters of the reporter ions. We have tested this approach in UV-photolysis experiments of 1-(2-nitrophenyl)ethyl sulfate in the presence of different concentrations of Na2CO3 and successfully used the infrared absorption of the carbonate and the bicarbonate ions to determine the initial and final pH values before and after the pH-jump, respectively.