skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Structure of Crenezumab Complex with Aβ Shows Loss of β-Hairpin

Journal Article · · Scientific Reports
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/srep39374· OSTI ID:1624879

Accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides and amyloid plaque deposition in brain is postulated as a cause of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The precise pathological species of Aβ remains elusive although evidence suggests soluble oligomers may be primarily responsible for neurotoxicity. Crenezumab is a humanized anti-Aβ monoclonal IgG4 that binds multiple forms of Aβ, with higher affinity for aggregated forms, and that blocks Aβ aggregation, and promotes disaggregation. To understand the structural basis for this binding profile and activity, we determined the crystal structure of crenezumab in complex with Aβ. The structure reveals a sequential epitope and conformational requirements for epitope recognition, which include a subtle but critical element that is likely the basis for crenezumab’s versatile binding profile. We find interactions consistent with high affinity for multiple forms of Aβ, particularly oligomers. Of note, crenezumab also sequesters the hydrophobic core of Aβ and breaks an essential salt-bridge characteristic of the β-hairpin conformation, eliminating features characteristic of the basic organization in Aβ oligomers and fibrils, and explains crenezumab’s inhibition of aggregation and promotion of disaggregation. These insights highlight crenezumab’s unique mechanism of action, particularly regarding Aβ oligomers, and provide a strong rationale for the evaluation of crenezumab as a potential AD therapy.

Research Organization:
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States). Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-76SF00515
OSTI ID:
1624879
Journal Information:
Scientific Reports, Vol. 6, Issue 1; ISSN 2045-2322
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 66 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (51)

Shape Complementarity at Protein/Protein Interfaces journal December 1993
Identification of Physiological and Toxic Conformations in Aβ42 Aggregates journal January 2009
Isolation of Low-Molecular-Weight Proteins from Amyloid Plaque Fibers in Alzheimer's Disease journal June 1986
Structure of aggregates revealed journal September 2016
X-ray diffraction from intraneuronal paired helical filaments and extraneuronal amyloid fibers in Alzheimer disease indicates cross-beta conformation. journal January 1986
Bapineuzumab captures the N-terminus of the Alzheimer's disease amyloid-beta peptide in a helical conformation journal February 2013
Refinement of Macromolecular Structures by the Maximum-Likelihood Method journal May 1997
Atomic-resolution dynamics on the surface of amyloid-β protofibrils probed by solution NMR journal October 2011
PHENIX: a comprehensive Python-based system for macromolecular structure solution. text January 2010
The Essential Role of Soluble Aβ Oligomers in Alzheimer’s Disease journal April 2015
Aβ40-Lactam(D23/K28) Models a Conformation Highly Favorable for Nucleation of Amyloid journal April 2005
Molecular structural basis for polymorphism in Alzheimer's  -amyloid fibrils journal November 2008
Passive anti-amyloid immunotherapy in Alzheimer's disease: What are the most promising targets? journal January 2013
3D structure of Alzheimer's amyloid- (1-42) fibrils journal November 2005
Structural Basis of C-terminal β-Amyloid Peptide Binding by the Antibody Ponezumab for the Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease journal August 2012
Atomic Resolution Structure of Monomorphic Aβ 42 Amyloid Fibrils journal July 2016
The α-to-β Conformational Transition of Alzheimer's Aβ-(1-42) Peptide in Aqueous Media is Reversible: A Step by Step Conformational Analysis Suggests the Location of β Conformation Seeding journal January 2006
A structural model for Alzheimer's  -amyloid fibrils based on experimental constraints from solid state NMR journal December 2002
Molecular basis for mid-region amyloid-β capture by leading Alzheimer's disease immunotherapies journal April 2015
X-Ray Diffraction Studies on Amyloid Filaments journal November 1968
Modulation of β-amyloid by a single dose of GSK933776 in patients with mild Alzheimer's disease: a phase I study text January 2014
Monoclonal Antibody Against the Turn of the 42-Residue Amyloid β-Protein at Positions 22 and 23 journal September 2010
Monoclonal antibody against the turn of the 42-residue amyloid β-protein at positions 22 and 23 journal January 2011
PARP1 exhibits enhanced association and catalytic efficiency with γH2A.X-nucleosome journal December 2019
A Therapeutic Antibody Targeting BACE1 Inhibits Amyloid-  Production in Vivo journal May 2011
Conformation-specific antibodies to target amyloid β oligomers and their application to immunotherapy for Alzheimer’s disease journal August 2014
Microglial p38α MAPK is critical for LPS-induced neuron degeneration, through a mechanism involving TNFα journal January 2011
Cavin1 intrinsically disordered domains are essential for fuzzy electrostatic interactions and caveola formation journal February 2021
The A4 Study: Stopping AD Before Symptoms Begin? journal March 2014
Features and development of Coot journal March 2010
The toxic Aβ oligomer and Alzheimer's disease: an emperor in need of clothes journal January 2012
PHENIX: a comprehensive Python-based system for macromolecular structure solution journal January 2010
O4-11-06: a Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Phase 2 Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Crenezumab in Patients with mild to Moderate Alzheimer'S Disease journal July 2014
Aβ(1–42) fibril structure illuminates self-recognition and replication of amyloid in Alzheimer's disease journal May 2015
Modulation of β-amyloid by a single dose of GSK933776 in patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease: a phase I study journal January 2014
Deglycosylated Anti-Amyloid-beta Antibodies Eliminate Cognitive Deficits and Reduce Parenchymal Amyloid with Minimal Vascular Consequences in Aged Amyloid Precursor Protein Transgenic Mice journal May 2006
Amyloid-β–Anti-Amyloid-β Complex Structure Reveals an Extended Conformation in the Immunodominant B-Cell Epitope journal March 2008
[20] Processing of X-ray diffraction data collected in oscillation mode book January 1997
Phaser crystallographic software journal July 2007
Naturally secreted oligomers of amyloid β protein potently inhibit hippocampal long-term potentiation in vivo journal April 2002
Soluble protein oligomers in neurodegeneration: lessons from the Alzheimer's amyloid β-peptide journal February 2007
Atomic-resolution structure of a disease-relevant Aβ(1–42) amyloid fibril journal July 2016
Pure absorption gradient enhanced heteronuclear single quantum correlation spectroscopy with improved sensitivity journal December 1992
Neuroinflammation in Alzheimer's disease journal April 2015
PTEN regulates RPA1 and protects DNA replication forks journal September 2015
Unraveling the secrets of Alzheimer's β-amyloid fibrils journal January 2003
Implications for Alzheimer’s disease of an atomic resolution structure of amyloid-β(1–42) fibrils journal August 2016
Antiparallel Triple-strand Architecture for Prefibrillar Aβ42 Oligomers journal August 2014
An Effector-Reduced Anti- -Amyloid (A ) Antibody with Unique A  Binding Properties Promotes Neuroprotection and Glial Engulfment of A  journal July 2012
Gantenerumab: A Novel Human Anti-Aβ Antibody Demonstrates Sustained Cerebral Amyloid-β Binding and Elicits Cell-Mediated Removal of Human Amyloid-β journal January 2012
New roles for Fc receptors in neurodegeneration-the impact on Immunotherapy for Alzheimer's Disease journal August 2014

Cited By (18)

Elucidating Critical Proteinopathic Mechanisms and Potential Drug Targets in Neurodegeneration journal October 2019
Structural and kinetic basis for the selectivity of aducanumab for aggregated forms of amyloid-β journal April 2018
Emergence of Alternative Structures in Amyloid Beta 1-42 Monomeric Landscape by N-terminal Hexapeptide Amyloid Inhibitors journal August 2017
Amyloid positron emission tomography and cerebrospinal fluid results from a crenezumab anti-amyloid-beta antibody double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized phase II study in mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease (BLAZE) journal September 2018
Amyloid-β immunotherapy for alzheimer disease: Is it now a long shot?: Aβ Immunotherapy Gamble journal January 2019
Epitope Mapping by NMR of a Novel Anti-Aβ Antibody (STAB-MAb) journal August 2019
BACE1 inhibitors: Current status and future directions in treating Alzheimer's disease journal May 2019
Passive Aβ Immunotherapy: Current Achievements and Future Perspectives journal May 2018
The Alzheimer's Prevention Initiative Autosomal‐Dominant Alzheimer's Disease Trial: A study of crenezumab versus placebo in preclinical PSEN1 E280A mutation carriers to evaluate efficacy and safety in the treatment of autosomal‐dominant Alzheimer's disease, including a placebo‐treated noncarrier cohort journal January 2018
Current progress, challenges and future prospects of diagnostic and therapeutic interventions in Alzheimer's disease journal January 2018
Drug Development for Alzheimer’s Disease: Microglia Induced Neuroinflammation as a Target? journal January 2019
Target engagement in an alzheimer trial: Crenezumab lowers amyloid β oligomers in cerebrospinal fluid journal June 2019
Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamic effect of crenezumab on plasma and cerebrospinal fluid beta-amyloid in patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease journal January 2020
Alzheimer’s disease hypothesis and related therapies journal January 2018
Cerebral amyloid angiopathy and Alzheimer disease — one peptide, two pathways journal December 2019
A critical appraisal of amyloid-β-targeting therapies for Alzheimer disease journal January 2019
Characterization of the selective in vitro and in vivo binding properties of crenezumab to oligomeric Aβ journal December 2019
New treatment modalities in Alzheimer's disease journal July 2019

Figures / Tables (5)


Similar Records

From Aβ Filament to Fibril: Molecular Mechanism of Surface-Activated Secondary Nucleation from All-Atom MD Simulations
Journal Article · Wed Jan 18 00:00:00 EST 2017 · Journal of Physical Chemistry. B, Condensed Matter, Materials, Surfaces, Interfaces and Biophysical Chemistry · OSTI ID:1624879

Atomic-resolution structure of a disease-relevant Aβ(1–42) amyloid fibril
Journal Article · Thu Jul 28 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · OSTI ID:1624879

Elongation affinity, activation barrier, and stability of Aβ42 oligomers/fibrils in physiological saline
Journal Article · Sat May 27 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications · OSTI ID:1624879