Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
University of British Columbia, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
PLoS One. 2020 May 29;15(5):e0232266. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0232266. eCollection 2020.
Oligomeric amyloid β (Aβ) is currently considered the most neurotoxic form of the Aβ peptide implicated in Alzheimer's disease (AD). The molecular structures of the oligomers have remained mostly unknown due to their transient nature. As a result, the molecular mechanisms of interactions between conformation-specific antibodies and their Aβ oligomer (AβO) cognates are not well understood. A monoclonal conformation-specific antibody, m5E3, was raised against a structural epitope of Aβ oligomers. m5E3 binds to AβOs with high affinity, but not to Aβ monomers or fibrils. In this study, a computational model of the variable fragment (Fv) of the m5E3 antibody (Fv5E3) is introduced. We further employ docking and molecular dynamics simulations to determine the molecular details of the antibody-oligomer interactions, and to classify the AβOs as Fv5E3-positives and negatives, and to provide a rationale for the low affinity of Fv5E3 for fibrils. This information will help us to perform site-directed mutagenesis on the m5E3 antibody to improve its specificity and affinity toward oligomeric Aβ species. We also provide evidence for the possible capability of the m5E3 antibody to disaggregate AβOs and to fragment protofilaments.
寡聚体淀粉样β(Aβ)目前被认为是与阿尔茨海默病(AD)相关的 Aβ肽中最具神经毒性的形式。由于其瞬态性质,寡聚物的分子结构在很大程度上仍然未知。因此,构象特异性抗体与其 Aβ 寡聚物(AβO)同源物之间相互作用的分子机制尚不清楚。针对 Aβ 寡聚物的结构表位,制备了一种单克隆构象特异性抗体 m5E3。m5E3 与 AβO 具有高亲和力结合,但不与 Aβ 单体或纤维结合。在这项研究中,引入了 m5E3 抗体可变片段(Fv)的计算模型(Fv5E3)。我们进一步采用对接和分子动力学模拟来确定抗体-寡聚物相互作用的分子细节,并将 AβO 分类为 Fv5E3 阳性和阴性,为 Fv5E3 对纤维亲和力低提供了依据。这些信息将有助于我们对 m5E3 抗体进行定点突变,以提高其对寡聚 Aβ 物种的特异性和亲和力。我们还提供了 m5E3 抗体可能具有解聚 AβO 和片段原纤维能力的证据。