Anzai Itsuki, Tokuda Eiichi, Mukaiyama Atsushi, Akiyama Shuji, Endo Fumito, Yamanaka Koji, Misawa Hidemi, Furukawa Yoshiaki
Department of Chemistry, Keio University, Yokohama, 223-8522, Japan.
Research Center of Integrative Molecular Systems (CIMoS), Institute for Molecular Science, NINS, Okazaki, 444-8585, Japan.
Protein Sci. 2017 Mar;26(3):484-496. doi: 10.1002/pro.3094. Epub 2017 Feb 12.
Misfolding of mutant Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase (SOD1) is a pathological hallmark in a familial form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Pathogenic mutations have been proposed to monomerize SOD1 normally adopting a homodimeric configuration and then trigger abnormal oligomerization of SOD1 proteins. Despite this, a misfolded conformation of SOD1 leading to the oligomerization at physiological conditions still remains ambiguous. Here, we show that, around the body temperature (∼37°C), mutant SOD1 maintains a dimeric configuration but lacks most of its secondary structures. Also, such an abnormal SOD1 dimer with significant structural disorder was prone to irreversibly forming the oligomers crosslinked via disulfide bonds. The disulfide-crosslinked oligomers of SOD1 were detected in the spinal cords of the diseased mice expressing mutant SOD1. We hence propose an alternative pathway of mutant SOD1 misfolding that is responsible for oligomerization in the pathologies of the disease.
突变型铜锌超氧化物歧化酶(SOD1)的错误折叠是家族性肌萎缩侧索硬化症的一个病理标志。已提出致病性突变会使通常呈同型二聚体构型的SOD1单体化,然后引发SOD1蛋白的异常寡聚化。尽管如此,在生理条件下导致寡聚化的SOD1错误折叠构象仍不明确。在此,我们表明,在体温(约37°C)左右,突变型SOD1保持二聚体构型,但缺乏其大部分二级结构。此外,这种具有显著结构紊乱的异常SOD1二聚体易于不可逆地形成通过二硫键交联的寡聚体。在表达突变型SOD1的患病小鼠脊髓中检测到了SOD1的二硫键交联寡聚体。因此,我们提出了一种突变型SOD1错误折叠的替代途径,该途径在疾病病理过程中导致寡聚化。