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Amyloid protofilament formation of hen egg lysozyme in highly concentrated ethanol solution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2000

SHUICHIRO GODA
Affiliation:
Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
KAZUFUMI TAKANO
Affiliation:
Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
YURIKO YAMAGATA
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Osaka University, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
RYOU NAGATA
Affiliation:
Faculty of Engineering, Yokohama National University, Tokiwadai, Hodogaya, Yokohama 240-8501, Japan
HIDEO AKUTSU
Affiliation:
Faculty of Engineering, Yokohama National University, Tokiwadai, Hodogaya, Yokohama 240-8501, Japan
SAORI MAKI
Affiliation:
Protonic NanoMachine Project, ERATO, JST, Hikaridai, Seika, Kyoto 619-0237, Japan
KEIICHI NAMBA
Affiliation:
Protonic NanoMachine Project, ERATO, JST, Hikaridai, Seika, Kyoto 619-0237, Japan International Institute for Advanced Research, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., Hikaridai, Seika, Kyoto 619-0237, Japan
KATSUHIDE YUTANI
Affiliation:
Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University, Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
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Abstract

Mutant human lysozymes (Ile56Thr & Asp67His) have been reported to form amyloid deposits in the viscera. From the standpoint of understanding the mechanism of amyloid formation, we searched for conditions of amyloid formation in vitro using hen egg lysozyme, which has been extensively studied from a physicochemical standpoint. It was found that the circular dichroism spectra in the far-ultraviolet region of the hen egg lysozyme changed to those characteristic of a β-structure from the native α-helix rich spectrum in 90% ethanol solution. When the concentration of protein was increased to 10 mg/mL, the protein solution formed a gel in the presence of 90% ethanol, and precipitated on further addition of 10 mM NaCl. The precipitates were examined by electron microscopy, their ability to bind Congo red, and X-ray diffraction to determine whether amyloid fibrils were formed in the precipitates. Electron micrographs displayed unbranched protofilament with a diameter of ∼70 Å. The peak point of the difference spectrum for the Congo red binding assay was 541 nm, which is characteristic of amyloid fibrils. The X-ray diffraction pattern showed a sharp and intense diffraction ring at 4.7 Å, a reflection that arises from the interstrand spacing in β-sheets. These results indicate that the precipitates of hen egg lysozyme are amyloid protofilament, and that the amyloid protofilament formation of hen egg lysozyme closely follows upon the destruction of the helical and tertiary structures.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2000 The Protein Society

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