Cotton wool plaques (CWPs) have been described as features of the neuropathologic phenotype of dominantly inherited Alzheimer disease (DIAD) caused by some missense and deletion mutations in the presenilin 1 (PSEN1) gene. CWPs are round, eosinophilic amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques that lack an amyloid core and are recognizable, but not fluorescent, in Thioflavin S (ThS) preparations. Amino-terminally truncated and post-translationally modified Aβ peptide species are the main component of CWPs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdult individuals with Down syndrome (DS) develop Alzheimer disease (AD). Whether there is a difference between AD in DS and AD regarding the structure of amyloid-β (Aβ) and tau filaments is unknown. Here we report the structure of Aβ and tau filaments from two DS brains.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The Microtubule-Associated Protein Tau (MAPT) is one of the proteins that are central to neurodegenerative diseases. The nature of intracellular tau aggregates is determined by the cell types whether neuronal or glial, the participating tau isoforms, and the structure of the amyloid filament. The transmembrane protein 106B (TMEM106B) has recently emerged as another significant player in neurodegeneration and aging.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPrion protein (PrP) aggregation and formation of PrP amyloid (APrP) are central events in the pathogenesis of prion diseases. In the dominantly inherited prion protein amyloidosis known as Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker (GSS) disease, plaques made of PrP amyloid are present throughout the brain. The c.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEven with implementation of current influenza vaccines, influenza still claims up to 500,000 lives worldwide annually, indicating a need for a better vaccine strategy. We have developed a technology to generate unique S-HA1 pseudovirus nanoparticles (PVNPs) that display the receptor-binding HA1 domains of influenza viruses. Each self-assembled S-HA1 PVNP consists of a = 1 icosahedral S nanoparticle that resembles the inner shell of norovirus capsid and 60 surface-displayed HA1 antigens that are excellent vaccine targets.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn human neurodegenerative diseases associated with the intracellular aggregation of Tau protein, the ordered cores of Tau filaments adopt distinct folds. Here, we analyze Tau filaments isolated from the brain of individuals affected by Prion-Protein cerebral amyloid angiopathy (PrP-CAA) with a nonsense mutation in the PRNP gene that leads to early termination of translation of PrP (Q160Ter or Q160X), and Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker (GSS) disease, with a missense mutation in the PRNP gene that leads to an amino acid substitution at residue 198 (F198S) of PrP. The clinical and neuropathologic phenotypes associated with these two mutations in PRNP are different; however, the neuropathologic analyses of these two genetic variants have consistently shown the presence of numerous neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) made of filamentous Tau aggregates in neurons.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRecent progress in the development of affinity grids for cryoelectron microscopy (cryo-EM) typically employs genetic engineering of the protein sample such as histidine or Spy tagging, immobilized antibody capture, or nonselective immobilization via electrostatic interactions or Schiff base formation. We report a powerful and flexible method for the affinity capture of target proteins for cryo-EM analysis that utilizes small-molecule ligands as bait for concentrating human target proteins directly onto the grid surface for single-particle reconstruction. This approach is demonstrated for human p97, captured using two different small-molecule high-affinity ligands of this AAA+ ATPase.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe title hemihydrate, CHN·0.5HO, was isolated from the condensation reaction of quinoline-2-carbaldehyde with 4-amino-4-1,2,4-triazole. The Schiff base mol-ecule adopts an configuration about the C=N bond and is approximately planar, with a dihedral angle between the quinoline ring system and the 1,2,4-triazole ring of 12.
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