Degradation of amyloid β-peptides catalyzed by nattokinase in vivo and in vitro

Amyloid-β 1-42(Aβ42)plays a pivotal role in Alzheimer disease(AD)pathogenesis. Peripheral clearance of Aβ42 largely affects its level in the brain and affects AD progression. Although nattokinase(NK)degrades Aβ40, the details of NK's capture of various Aβ species and reduction of plasma Aβ42/Aβ40 are uncharacterized. In this study, the Aβ42/Aβ40-degrading ability of NK was investigated using five Aβs and AD model mice. The C-terminal region of Aβ42/Aβ40(Gly29 to Val40)was primarily required for NK capture, and the integrated conformation in Aβ42/Aβ40 aggregates was a more efficient target for NK catalysis. Further, suspended Aβ42/Aβ40 oligomers were more easily captured by NK than suspended Aβ42/Aβ40 fibrils, while deposited Aβ42/Aβ40 fibrils recruited more NK than deposited Aβ42/Aβ40 oligomers. Although most NK was likely lost during NK uptake and/or entry into the blood, a small fraction of NK showed good plasma Aβ42/Aβ40-degrading efficacy after entering the blood due to NK's stability in the plasma of AD mice for at least 9 days. It was concluded that oral administration of NK is a feasible approach for peripheral Aβ42/Aβ40 clearance. This implies that NK might serve as an anti-Aβ42 agent for the treatment of Aβ42/Aβ40-related diseases such as AD.

Host defense peptide-mimickingβ-peptide polymer displaying strong antibacterial activity against cariogenic Streptococcus mutans

Cariogenic Streptococcus mutans(S.mutans)is a leading cause of bacterial-induced oral diseases.Current strategies to kill bacteria based on Host defense peptide(HDP)mimicking polymers hold promise to treat oral bacterial infection.Here,we explore the impact of hydrophobic subunit and chain length variation on the antibacterial and antibiofilm activity ofβ-peptide polymers.The physicochemical and biological prop-erties,such as the toxicity,the antibacterial activity,and the effect on bacterial transcription ofβ-peptide polymers,were systematically investigated with numerous techniques.The results exhibited that the op-timalβ-peptide polymer has low toxicity towards human periodontal ligament fibroblasts,andβ-peptide polymers(especially P3)have more excellent antibacterial activity against S.mutans than metronidazole.In addition,β-peptide polymers inhibited the reversible and irreversible bacterial adhesion during the formation of biofilms.The polymer can promote biofilm dispersion by decreasing the hydrophobicity of bacterial cells after adhering to cell surfaces.Analysis of the transcriptome for S.mutans treated withβ-peptide polymers demonstrated thatβ-peptide polymers could reduce the cariogenicity of S.mutans by impacting the transcription of the energy and acid metabolism-related genes.β-peptide polymers are promising antimicrobial agents in clinical dentistry due to their high antibacterial efficiency and low tox-icity.

Molecular modeling on Zn(Ⅱ) binding modes of Alzheimer's amyloid β-peptide in insoluble aggregates and soluble complexes

Aggregation of the amyloid b-peptide (A b) into insoluble fibrils is a key pathologi-cal event in Alzheimers disease. Zn(II) ion induces significant Ab aggregation at nearly physio-logical concentrations in vitro. In order to explore the induce mechanism, the possible binding modes of Zn(II) in Ab peptide are studied by molecular modeling method. First, the Ab species containing 1,2,4 and 12 peptides are established respectively. And next a Zn(II) ion is manually hold the different sits of the Ab species based on the experimental data and subsequently the coordinate atom and number are assigned. Finally, the optimum binding site is found by the system energy minimization. Modeling results show that in soluble Zn(II) complex, Nt of imidazole ring of His14, O of carbonyl of main-chain, and two O of water occupy the four ligand positions of the tetrahedral complex; in the aggregation of Ab, the His13(Nt)-Zn(II)-His14(Nt) bridges are formed by Zn(II) cross-linking action. Therefore, the possible Zn(II) binding mode obtained by the studies will be helpful to reveal the form mechanism of pathogenic aggregates in brain.

Copper(Ⅱ) ions-immobilized virus-like hollow covalent organic frameworks for highly efficient capture and sensitive analysis of amyloid beta-peptide 1–42 by MALDI-MS

Amyloid beta-peptide 1-42(Aβ1-42)is one of the biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease,and its selective capture and quantitative detection are important for diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's disease.Herein,copper(Ⅱ)ions-immobilized virus-like hollow covalent organic frameworks(V-HCOFs@Cu^(2+))were synthesized by a facile approach.The as-prepared V-HCOFs@Cu^(2+)showed unique morphology,ultra-high specific surface(2552 m^(2)/g),uniform mesoporous structure(3.2 nm),superior chemical stability and abundant binding sites.Based on these excellent properties,the V-HCOFs@Cu^(2+)could be adopted as an ideal enrichment probe for highly efficient capture of Aβ1-42,exhibiting high adsorption capacity(320 mg/g),and fast adsorption equilibration time(3 min).In addition,an attractive approach of the V-HCOFs@Cu^(2+)-based matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry(MALDI-MS)was developed for the rapid screening and quantitative analysis of Aβ1-42 in human serum by using C-peptide as an internal standard,which exhibited low limit of detection(LOD,0.2 fmol/μL),and satisfactory recovery.This work provides an alternative solution for enrichment of biomarkers and also offers the potential applications of COFs in clinical analysis.

Spectroscopic Investigations of <i>β</i>-Amyloid Interactions with Propofol and L-Arginine

Beta amyloid (Aβ) aggregation has been characterized to be responsible for several amyloid diseases. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, fluorescence, and atomic force microscopy (AFM) are used to investigate induced changes in the secondary structure of Aβ upon thermal denaturation and interaction with propofol and L-arginine. Spectral analysis has revealed an effective static quenching for the intrinsic fluorescence of Aβ by propofol and l-arginine with binding constants of 2.81 × 102 M-1 for Aβ-propofol and 0.37 × 102 M-1 for Aβ-L-arginine. Fourier self-deconvolution (FSD) technique has been used to evaluate the relative intensity changes in the spectra of the component bands in the amide I and amide II regions at different ligand’s concentration in the protein complex. The analysis showed a decrease in the intensities of the parallel beta bands of propofol and L-arginine interactions with Aβ, accompanied with an increase in the antiparallel bands for the Aβ-propofol interaction and a decrease for the Aβ-l-arginine interaction. The relative increase in peaks’ intensities at 1694 cm-1 and 1531 cm-1 for the propofol interaction is linked to the formation of oligomers in the protein.