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Photo of Anders Irbäck

Anders Irbäck

Professor

Photo of Anders Irbäck

Comparing the folding free-energy landscapes of Abeta42 variants with different aggregation properties.

Author

  • Simon Mitternacht
  • Iskra Staneva
  • Torleif Härd
  • Anders Irbäck

Summary, in English

The properties of the amyloid-beta peptide that lead to aggregation associated with Alzheimer's disease are not fully understood. This study aims at identifying conformational differences among four variants of full-length Abeta42 that are known to display very different aggregation properties. By extensive all-atom Monte Carlo simulations, we find that a variety of beta-sheet structures with distinct turns are readily accessible for full-length Abeta42. In the simulations, wild type (WT) Abeta42 preferentially populates two major classes of conformations, either extended with high beta-sheet content or more compact with lower beta-sheet content. The three mutations studied alter the balance between these classes. Strong mutational effects are observed in a region centered at residues 23-26, where WT Abeta42 tends to form a turn. The aggregation-accelerating E22G mutation associated with early onset of Alzheimer's disease makes this turn region conformationally more diverse, whereas the aggregation-decelerating F20E mutation has the reverse effect, and the E22G/I31E mutation reduces the turn population. Comparing results for the four Abeta42 variants, we identify specific conformational properties of residues 23-26 that might play a key role in aggregation. Proteins 2010. (c) 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Department/s

  • Computational Biology and Biological Physics - Has been reorganised
  • MultiPark: Multidisciplinary research on neurodegenerative diseases

Publishing year

2010

Language

English

Pages

2600-2608

Publication/Series

Proteins

Volume

78

Issue

12

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Wiley-Liss Inc.

Topic

  • Biophysics

Keywords

  • mutations
  • amyloid-beta
  • all atom
  • implicit solvent
  • Monte Carlo
  • J-coupling constants
  • chemical shifts

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0887-3585