The rockefeller university

During amyloid fibril formation, amyloidogenic polypeptides misfold and self assemble into soluble pre-fibrillar aggregates, i.e., protofibrils, which elongate and mature into insoluble fibrillar aggregates. An emerging class of chaperones, chaperone-like amyloid binding proteins (CLABPs), has been shown to interfere with aggregation of particular misfolded amyloid peptides or proteins. We have discovered that the calcium-binding protein nuclebindin-1 (NUCB1) is a novel CLABP. We show that NUCB1 inhibits aggregation of islet-amyloid polypeptide associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus, alpha-synuclein associated with Parkinson's disease, transthyretin V30M mutant associated with familial amyloid polyneuropathy, and A beta 42 associated with Alzheimer's disease by stabilizing their respective protofibril intermediates. Kinetic studies employing the modeling software AmyloFit show that NUCB1 affects both primary nucleation and secondary nucleation. We hypothesize that NUCB1 binds to the common cross-beta-sheet structure of protofibril aggregates to "cap" and stabilize soluble macromolecular complexes. Transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy were employed to characterize the size, shape and volume distribution of multiple sources of NUCB1-capped protofibrils. Interestingly, NUCB1 prevents A beta 42 protofibril toxicity in a cellular assay. NUCB1-stabilized amyloid protofibrils could be used as immunogens to prepare conformation-specific antibodies and as novel tools to develop screens for anti-protofibril diagnostics and therapeutics.

The development of therapeutic and diagnostic antibodies is a rapidly growing field of research, being the fastest expanding group of products on the pharmaceutical market, and appropriate quality controls are crucial for their application. We have identified and characterized the serine protease termed BspK (Bdellovibrio serine protease K) from Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus and here show its activity on antibodies. Mutation of the serine residue at position 230 rendered the protease inactive. Further investigations of BspK enzymatic characteristics revealed autoproteolytic activity, resulting in numerous cleavage products. Two of the autoproteolytic cleavage sites in the BspK fusion protein were investigated in more detail and corresponded to cleavage after K-28 and K-210 in the N-and C-terminal parts of BspK, respectively. Further, BspK displayed stable enzymatic activity on IgG within the pH range of 6.0 to 9.5 and was inhibited in the presence of ZnCl2. BspK demonstrated preferential hydrolysis of human IgG1 compared to other immunoglobulins and isotypes, with hydrolysis of the heavy chain at position K-226 generating two separate Fab fragments and an intact IgG Fc domain. Finally, we show that BspK preferentially cleaves its substrates C-terminally to lysines similar to the protease LysC. However, BspK displays a unique cleavage profile compared to several currently used proteases on the market. IMPORTANCE The rapid development of novel therapeutic antibodies is partly hindered by difficulties in assessing their quality and safety. The lack of tools and methods facilitating such quality controls obstructs and delays the process of product approval, eventually affecting the patients in need of treatment. These difficulties in product evaluations indicate a need for new and comprehensive tools for such analysis. Additionally, recent concerns raised regarding the limitations of established products on the market (e. g., trypsin) further highlight a general need for a larger array of proteases with novel cleavage profiles to meet current and future needs, within both the life science industry and the academic research community.

Centromeres are highly specialized chromatin domains that enable chromosome segregation and orchestrate faithful cell division. Human centromeres are composed of tandem arrays of a-satellite DNA, which spans up to several megabases. Little is known about the mechanisms that maintain integrity of the long arrays of a-satellite DNA repeats. Here, we monitored centromeric repeat stability in human cells using chromosome-orientation fluorescent in situ hybridization (CO-FISH). This assay detected aberrant centromeric CO-FISH patterns consistent with sister chromatid exchange at the frequency of 5% in primary tissue culture cells, whereas higher levels were seen in several cancer cell lines and during replicative senescence. To understand the mechanism(s) that maintains centromere integrity, we examined the contribution of the centromere-specific histone variant CENP-A and members of the constitutive centromere-associated network (CCAN), CENP-C, CENP-T, and CENP-W. Depletion of CENP-A and CCAN proteins led to an increase in centromere aberrations, whereas enhancing chromosome missegregation by alternative methods did not, suggesting that CENP-A and CCAN proteins help maintain centromere integrity independently of their role in chromosome segregation. Furthermore, superresolution imaging of centromeric CO-FISH using structured illumination microscopy implied that CENP-A protects a-satellite repeats from extensive rearrangements. Our study points toward the presence of a centromere-specificmechanism that actively maintains a-satellite repeat integrity during human cell proliferation.

Neurotoxic amyloid-beta peptides (A beta) are major drivers of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and are formed by sequential cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) by beta-secretase (BACE) and gamma-secretase. Our previous study showed that the anticancer drug Gleevec lowers A beta levels through indirect inhibition of gamma-secretase activity. Here we report that Gleevec also achieves its A beta-lowering effects through an additional cellular mechanism. It renders APP less susceptible to proteolysis by BACE without inhibiting BACE enzymatic activity or the processing of other BACE substrates. This effect closely mimics the phenotype of APP A673T, a recently discovered mutation that protects carriers against AD and age- related cognitive decline. In addition, Gleevec induces formation of a specific set of APP C-terminal fragments, also observed in cells expressing the APP protective mutation and in cells exposed to a conventional BACE inhibitor. These Gleevec phenotypes require an intracellular acidic pH and are independent of tyrosine kinase inhibition, given that a related compound lacking tyrosine kinase inhibitory activity, DV2-103, exerts similar effects on APP metabolism. In addition, DV2-103 accumulates at high concentrations in the rodent brain, where it rapidly lowers A beta levels. This study suggests that long-term treatment with drugs that indirectly modulate BACE processing of APP but spare other BACE substrates and achieve therapeutic concentrations in the brain might be effective in preventing or delaying the onset of AD and could be safer than nonselective BACE inhibitor drugs.

The molecular basis of the incomplete penetrance of monogenic disorders is unclear. We describe here eight related individuals with autosomal recessive TIRAP deficiency. Life-threatening staphylococcal disease occurred during childhood in the proband, but not in the other seven homozygotes. Responses to all Toll-like receptor 1/2 (TLR1/2), TLR2/6, and TLR4 agonists were impaired in the fibroblasts and leukocytes of all TIRAP-deficient individuals. However, the whole-blood response to the TLR2/6 agonist staphylococcal lipoteichoic acid (LTA) was abolished only in the index case individual, the only family member lacking LTA-specific antibodies (Abs). This defective response was reversed in the patient, but not in interleukin-1 receptor-associated kinase 4 (IRAK-4)deficient individuals, by anti-LTA monoclonal anti-body (mAb). Anti-LTA mAb also rescued the macrophage response in mice lacking TIRAP, but not TLR2 or MyD88. Thus, acquired anti-LTA Abs rescue TLR2-dependent immunity to staphylococcal LTA in individuals with inherited TIRAP deficiency, accounting for incomplete penetrance. Combined TIRAP and anti-LTA Ab deficiencies underlie staphylococcal disease in this patient.

Type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance are associated with reduced glucose utilization in the muscle and poor exercise performance. Here we find that depletion of the epigenome modifier histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3) specifically in skeletal muscle causes severe systemic insulin resistance in mice but markedly enhances endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue, despite reducing muscle force. This seemingly paradoxical phenotype is due to lower glucose utilization and greater lipid oxidation in HDAC3-depleted muscles, a fuel switch caused by the activation of anaplerotic reactions driven by AMP deaminase 3 (Ampd3) and catabolism of branched-chain amino acids. These findings highlight the pivotal role of amino acid catabolism in muscle fatigue and type 2 diabetes pathogenesis. Further, as genome occupancy of HDAC3 in skeletal muscle is controlled by the circadian clock, these results delineate an epigenomic regulatory mechanism through which the circadian clock governs skeletal muscle bioenergetics. These findings suggest that physical exercise at certain times of the day or pharmacological targeting of HDAC3 could potentially be harnessed to alter systemic fuel metabolism and exercise performance.

Monoclonal antibody 10-1074 targets the V3 glycan supersite on the HIV-1 envelope (Env) protein. It is among the most potent anti-HIV-1 neutralizing antibodies isolated so far. Here we report on its safety and activity in 33 individuals who received a single intravenous infusion of the antibody. 10-1074 was well tolerated and had a half-life of 24.0 d in participants without HIV-1 infection and 12.8 d in individuals with HIV-1 infection. Thirteen individuals with viremia received the highest dose of 30 mg/kg 10-1074. Eleven of these participants were 10-1074-sensitive and showed a rapid decline in viremia by a mean of 1.52 logic copies/ml. Virologic analysis revealed the emergence of multiple independent 10-1074-resistant viruses in the first weeks after infusion. Emerging escape variants were generally resistant to the related V3-specific antibody PGT121, but remained sensitive to antibodies targeting nonoverlapping epitopes, such as the anti-CD4-binding-site antibodies 3BNC117 and VRC01. The results demonstrate the safety and activity of 10-1074 in humans and support the idea that antibodies targeting the V3 glycan supersite might be useful for the treatment and prevention of HIV-1 infection.

Considerable progress has been made in converting human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) into functional neurons. However, the protracted timing of human neuron specification and functional maturation remains a key challenge that hampers the routine application of hPSC-derived lineages in disease modeling and regenerative medicine. Using a combinatorial small molecule screen, we previously identified conditions to rapidly differentiate hPSCs into peripheral sensory neurons. Here we generalize the approach to central nervous system (CNS) fates by developing a small-molecule approach for accelerated induction of early-born cortical neurons. Combinatorial application of six pathway inhibitors induces post-mitotic cortical neurons with functional electrophysiological properties by day 16 of differentiation, in the absence of glial cell co-culture. The resulting neurons, transplanted at 8 d of differentiation into the postnatal mouse cortex, are functional and establish long-distance projections, as shown using iDISCO whole-brain imaging. Accelerated differentiation into cortical neuron fates should facilitate hPSC-based strategies for disease modeling and cell therapy in CNS disorders.

Monoclonal antibody 10-1074 targets the V3 glycan supersite on the HIV-1 envelope (Env) protein. It is among the most potent anti-HIV-1 neutralizing antibodies isolated so far. Here we report on its safety and activity in 33 individuals who received a single intravenous infusion of the antibody. 10-1074 was well tolerated and had a half-life of 24.0 d in participants without HIV-1 infection and 12.8 d in individuals with HIV-1 infection. Thirteen individuals with viremia received the highest dose of 30 mg/kg 10-1074. Eleven of these participants were 10-1074-sensitive and showed a rapid decline in viremia by a mean of 1.52 logic copies/ml. Virologic analysis revealed the emergence of multiple independent 10-1074-resistant viruses in the first weeks after infusion. Emerging escape variants were generally resistant to the related V3-specific antibody PGT121, but remained sensitive to antibodies targeting nonoverlapping epitopes, such as the anti-CD4-binding-site antibodies 3BNC117 and VRC01. The results demonstrate the safety and activity of 10-1074 in humans and support the idea that antibodies targeting the V3 glycan supersite might be useful for the treatment and prevention of HIV-1 infection.

Prozymes are catalytically inactive enzyme paralogs that dramatically stimulate the function of weakly active enzymes through complex formation. The two prozymes described to date reside in the polyamine biosynthesis pathway of the human parasite Trypanosoma brucei, an early branching eukaryote that lacks transcriptional regulation and regulates its proteome through posttranscriptional and posttranslational means. Arginine methylation is a common posttranslational modification in eukaryotes catalyzed by protein arginine methyltransferases (PRMTs) that are typically thought to function as homodimers. Wedemonstrate that a major T. brucei PRMT, TbPRMT1, functions as a heterotetrameric enzyme-prozyme pair. The inactive PRMT paralog, TbPRMT1(PRO), is essential for catalytic activity of the TbPRMT1(ENZ) subunit. Mutational analysis definitively demonstrates that TbPRMT1(ENZ) is the cofactor-binding subunit and carries all catalytic activity of the complex. Our results are the first demonstration of an obligate heteromeric PRMT, and they suggest that enzyme-prozyme organization is expanded in trypanosomes as a posttranslational means of enzyme regulation.