The interaction of αB-crystallin with mature α-synuclein amyloid fibrils inhibits their elongation

Christopher A. Waudby, Tuomas P.J. Knowles, Glyn L. Devlin, Jeremy N. Skepper, Heath Ecroyd, John A. Carver, Mark E. Welland, John Christodoulou, Christopher M. Dobson, Sarah Meehan*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

135 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

αB-Crystallin is a small heat-shock protein (sHsp) that is colocalized with α-synuclein (αSyn) in Lewy bodies-the pathological hallmarks of Parkinson's disease-and is an inhibitor of aSyn amyloid fibril formation in an ATP-independent manner in vitro. We have investigated the mechanism underlying the inhibitory action of sHsps, and here we establish, by means of a variety of biophysical techniques including immunogold labeling and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, that αB-crystallin interacts with αSyn, binding along the length of mature amyloid fibrils. By measurement of seeded fibril elongation kinetics, both in solution and on a surface using a quartz crystal microbalance, this binding is shown to strongly inhibit further growth of the fibrils. The binding is also demonstrated to shift the monomer-fibril equilibrium in favor of dissociation. We believe that this mechanism, by which a sHsp interacts with mature amyloid fibrils, could represent an additional and potentially generic means by which at least some chaperones protect against amyloid aggregation and limit the onset of misfolding diseases.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)843-851
Number of pages9
JournalBiophysical Journal
Volume98
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 3 Mar 2010
Externally publishedYes

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