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Structure-based inhibitors of amyloid beta core suggest a common interface with tau

Journal Article · · eLife
DOI:https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.46924· OSTI ID:1628905
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [2]
  1. Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States). DOE Inst. Howard Hughes Medical Inst. Molecular Biology Inst. Dept. of Biological Chemistry; DOE/OSTI
  2. Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States). DOE Inst. Howard Hughes Medical Inst. Molecular Biology Inst. Dept. of Biological Chemistry
  3. Univ. of California, Irvine, CA (United States). Dept. of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry
  4. Univ. of California, Irvine, CA (United States). Dept. of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry; King Abdulaziz Univ., Jeddah (Saudi Arabia). King Fahd Medical Research Center. Faculty of Science and Experimental Biochemistry Unit. Biochemistry Dept.
  5. Howard Hughes Medical Inst., Ashburn, VA (United States). Janelia Research Campus

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology is characterized by plaques of amyloid beta (Aβ) and neurofibrillary tangles of tau. Aβ aggregation is thought to occur at early stages of the disease, and ultimately gives way to the formation of tau tangles which track with cognitive decline in humans. Here, we report the crystal structure of an Aβ core segment determined by MicroED and in it, note characteristics of both fibrillar and oligomeric structure. Using this structure, we designed peptide-based inhibitors that reduce Aβ aggregation and toxicity of already-aggregated species. Unexpectedly, we also found that these inhibitors reduce the efficiency of Aβ-mediated tau aggregation, and moreover reduce aggregation and self-seeding of tau fibrils. The ability of these inhibitors to interfere with both Aβ and tau seeds suggests these fibrils share a common epitope, and supports the hypothesis that cross-seeding is one mechanism by which amyloid is linked to tau aggregation and could promote cognitive decline.

Research Organization:
Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER). Biological Systems Science Division
Grant/Contract Number:
FG02-00ER41132
OSTI ID:
1628905
Journal Information:
eLife, Journal Name: eLife Vol. 8; ISSN 2050-084X
Publisher:
eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd.Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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