SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with a surprising number of morbidities. Uncanny similarities with amyloid-disease associated blood coagulation and fibrinolytic disturbances together with ...neurologic and cardiac problems led us to investigate the amyloidogenicity of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (S-protein). Amyloid fibril assays of peptide library mixtures and theoretical predictions identified seven amyloidogenic sequences within the S-protein. All seven peptides in isolation formed aggregates during incubation at 37 °C. Three 20-amino acid long synthetic spike peptides (sequence 192–211, 601–620, 1166–1185) fulfilled three amyloid fibril criteria: nucleation dependent polymerization kinetics by ThT, Congo red positivity, and ultrastructural fibrillar morphology. Full-length folded S-protein did not form amyloid fibrils, but amyloid-like fibrils with evident branching were formed during 24 h of S-protein coincubation with the protease neutrophil elastase (NE) in vitro. NE efficiently cleaved S-protein, rendering exposure of amyloidogenic segments and accumulation of the amyloidogenic peptide 194–203, part of the most amyloidogenic synthetic spike peptide. NE is overexpressed at inflamed sites of viral infection. Our data propose a molecular mechanism for potential amyloidogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 S-protein in humans facilitated by endoproteolysis. The prospective of S-protein amyloidogenesis in COVID-19 disease associated pathogenesis can be important in understanding the disease and long COVID-19.
Emerging data reveal that amyloid fibrils possess intrinsic photonic activity, showing luminescence over a wide range of the electromagnetic spectrum from the ultraviolet to the near-infrared.
It is assumed that protein fibrils manifested in amyloidosis result from an aggregation reaction involving small misfolded protein sequences being in an 'oligomeric' or 'prefibrillar' state. This ...review covers recent optical spectroscopic studies of amyloid protein misfolding, oligomerization and amyloid fibril growth. Although amyloid fibrils have been studied using established protein-characterization techniques throughout the years, their oligomeric precursor states require sensitive detection in real-time. Here, fluorescent staining is commonly performed using thioflavin T and other small fluorescent molecules such as 4-(dicyanovinyl)- julolidine and 1-amino-8-naphtalene sulphonate that have high affinity to hydrophobic patches. Thus, populated oligomeric intermediates and related 'prefibrillar structures' have been reported for several human amyloidogenic systems, including amyloid-beta protein, prion protein, transthyretin, α-synuclein, apolipoprotein C-II and insulin. To obtain information on the progression of the intermediate states, these were monitored in terms of fluorescence parameters, such as anisotropy, and quantum efficiency changes upon protein binding. Recently, new antibody stains have allowed precise monitoring of the oligomer size and distributions using multicolor labelling and single molecule detection. Moreover, a pentameric thiophene derivative (p-FTAA) was reported to indicate early precursors during A-beta₁₋₄₀ fibrillation, and was also demonstrated in real-time visualization of cerebral protein aggregates in transgenic AD mouse models by multiphoton microscopy. Conclusively, molecular probes and optical spectroscopy are now entering a phase enabling the in vivo interrogation of the role of oligomers in amyloidosis. Such techniques used in parallel with in vitro experiments, of increasing detail, will probably couple structure to pathogenesis in the near future.
A fluorescent bis-styryl-benzothiadiazole (BTD) with carboxylic acid functional groups (X-34/Congo red analogue) showed lower binding affinity toward Aβ1-42 and Aβ1-40 fibrils than its neutral ...analogue. Hence, variable patterns of neutral OH-substituted bis-styryl-BTDs were generated. All bis-styryl-BTDs showed higher binding affinity to Aβ1-42 fibrils than to Aβ1-40 fibrils. The para-OH on the phenyl rings was beneficial for binding affinity while a meta-OH decreased the affinity. Differential staining of transgenic mouse Aβ amyloid plaque cores compared to peripheral coronas using neutral compared to anionic bis-styryl ligands indicate differential recognition of amyloid polymorphs. Hyperspectral imaging of transgenic mouse Aβ plaque stained with uncharged para-hydroxyl substituted bis-styryl-BTD implicated differences in binding site polarity of polymorphic amyloid plaque. Most properties of the corresponding bis-styryl-BTD were retained with a rigid alkyne linker rendering a probe insensitive to cis–trans isomerization. These new BTD-based ligands are promising probes for spectral imaging of different Aβ fibril polymorphs.
The crosstalk between viral infections, amyloid formation and neurodegeneration has been discussed with varying intensity since the last century. Several viral proteins are known to be amyloidogenic. ...Post-acute sequalae (PAS) of viral infections is known for several viruses. SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 implicate connections between amyloid formation and severe outcomes in the acute infection, PAS and neurodegenerative diseases. Is the amyloid connection causation or just correlation? In this review we highlight several aspects where amyloids and viruses meet. The evolutionary driving forces that dictate protein amyloid formation propensity are different for viruses compared to prokaryotes and eukaryotes, while posttranslational endoproteolysis appears to be a common mechanism leading up to amyloid formation for both viral and human proteins. Not only do human and viral proteins form amyloid irrespective of each other but there are also several examples of co-operativity between amyloids, viruses and the inter-, and intra-host spread of the respective entity. Abnormal blood clotting in severe and long COVID and as a side effect in some vaccine recipients has been connected to amyloid formation of both the human fibrin and the viral Spike-protein. We conclude that there are many intersects between viruses and amyloids and, consequently, amyloid and virus research need to join forces here. We emphasize the need to accelerate development and implementation in clinical practice of antiviral drugs to preclude PAS and downstream neurological damage. There is also an ample need for retake on suitable antigen targets for the further development of next generation of vaccines against the current and coming pandemics.
The fluorescence of Nile red (9-diethylamino-5H-benzophenoxazine-5-one) is quenched in aqueous solutions but shows augmented fluorescence in hydrophobic environments. Nile red fluorescence was blue ...shifted and strongly augmented in the presence of various amyloid fibrils assayed under acidic as well as neutral pH conditions. Fibrils grown from lysozyme and insulin (at pH 1.6 and 65 °C), transthyretin (TTR) fibrils grown from the acid unfolded monomer (pH 2.0, 21 °C) or from the dissociated tetramer starting from native protein under less acidic conditions (pH 4.4, 37 °C) were detected. Nile red was also successfully employed in detecting Aβ1-42 and human prion protein (PrP90-231) amyloid fibrils grown at neutral pH. Nile red was amyloid fibril specific and did not fluoresce appreciably in the presence of the monomeric precursor proteins. Stoke's shifts of the wavelength maximum of Nile red bound to various fibrils were different (ranging from 615 nm to 638 nm) indicating sensitivity to the tertiary structure in its respective binding sites of different amyloid proteins. A polarity assay using ethanol-water mixtures and pure octanol ranging from dielectric constants between 10 and 70 showed a linear correlation of Nile red Stoke's shift and allowed assignment of amyloid fibril binding site polarity. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer between Thioflavin T (ThT) and Nile red was proven to be efficient and co-staining was employed to discriminate between conformational isoforms of Aβ1-42 amyloid fibrils grown under agitated and quiescent conditions. This paper demonstrates the complementary use of this fluorometric method for conformational typing of amyloid structures.
This article discusses Jewish integration and assimilation in the light of a study of Jewish converts in Stockholm from 1775, when Jews were allowed to settle in Sweden, to 1870, when they were ...politically emancipated. In this period, religion was linked to legal, national and social status. Baptism was not only a religious act, but had legal and social consequences. Quantitative analysis shows conversion patterns in birth cohorts and baptismal ages, and fluctuation over time. For the latter part of the period, patterns of inter-confessional marriages and the religious affiliation of children are investigated using the records of the Stockholm Jewish congregation and local parish records of the Lutheran Church. The study also highlights how individual and social circumstances encouraged baptism. The fates of individual converts are examined through diaries, biographies and magazines. In the late 18th- and early 19th century, relatively few Jews converted. Those who did were regarded with suspicion by the Jewish congregation. The Jewish population was segregated from the Christian community to a high degree. From 1810, Jewish families experienced socio-economic advancement and financially successful families developed contacts with the local bourgeoisie. Yet there remained a strong hostility toward Jews, especially among the lower bourgeoisie. The number of baptisms now increased dramatically. Around 20 per cent of the Jews born in 1790-1819 were baptized, but many converts remained in Jewish networks. The largest number of conversions took place during the 1830s, after which numbers dropped. The decrease is explained by the fact that the bourgeoisie became increasingly sympathetic to Jews. Both the bourgeoisie and the Jews supported the demands for political and economic liberalization and no longer perceived baptism as relevant to national affiliation. At the same time, Jews gained more and more rights, which removed nonreligious reasons to convert. In 1838, Jews were granted Swedish citizenship and such restrictions on civic rights that remained were gradually removed. When inter-confessional marriage was made lawful in 1863, the number of conversions dropped to only a few per year. At the same time, the proportion of mixed marriages increased dramatically. The assimilation process continued because the children of these marriages were usually raised in the Christian faith.
Amyloid plaque formation constitutes one of the main pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and is suggested to be a critical factor driving disease pathogenesis. Interestingly, in ...patients that display amyloid pathology but remain cognitively normal, Aβ deposits are predominantly of diffuse morphology suggesting that cored plaque formation is primarily associated with cognitive deterioration and AD pathogenesis. Little is known about the molecular mechanism responsible for conversion of monomeric Aβ into neurotoxic aggregates and the predominantly cored deposits observed in AD. The structural diversity among Aβ plaques, including cored/compact- and diffuse, may be linked to their distinct Aβ profile and other chemical species including neuronal lipids. We developed a novel, chemical imaging paradigm combining matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization imaging mass spectrometry (MALDI IMS) and fluorescent amyloid staining. This multimodal imaging approach was used to probe the lipid chemistry associated with structural plaque heterogeneity in transgenic AD mice (tgAPPSwe) and was correlated to Aβ profiles determined by subsequent laser microdissection and immunoprecipitation-mass spectrometry. Multivariate image analysis revealed an inverse localization of ceramides and their matching metabolites to diffuse and cored structures within single plaques, respectively. Moreover, phosphatidylinositols implicated in AD pathogenesis, were found to localize to the diffuse Aβ structures and correlate with Aβ1–42. Further, lysophospholipids implicated in neuroinflammation were increased in all Aβ deposits. The results support previous clinical findings on the importance of lipid disturbances in AD pathophysiology and associated sphingolipid processing. These data highlight the potential of multimodal imaging as a powerful technology to probe neuropathological mechanisms.
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