Lysine acylation in superoxide dismutase-1 electrostatically inhibits formation of fibrils with prion-like seeding.

5 years ago

Lysine acylation in superoxide dismutase-1 electrostatically inhibits formation of fibrils with prion-like seeding.

Plewman, Croom, Shaw, Ayers, Abdolvahabi, Shi, Rasouli

The acylation of lysine residues in superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD1) has been previously shown to decrease its rate of nucleation and elongation into amyloid-like fibrils linked to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The chemical mechanism underlying this effect is unclear, i.e. hydrophobic/steric effects versus electrostatic effects. Moreover, the degree to which the acylation might alter the prion-like seeding of SOD1 in in vivo has not been addressed. Here, we acylated a fraction of lysine residues in SOD1 with groups of variable hydrophobicity, charge, and conformational entropy. The effect of each acyl group on the rate of SOD1 fibril nucleation and elongation was quantified in vitro with thioflavinT (ThT) fluorescence, and we performed 594 iterate aggregation assays to obtain statistically significant rates. The effect of the lysine acylation on the prion-like seeding of SOD1 was assayed in spinal cord extracts of transgenic mice expressing a G85R SOD1-yellow fluorescent protein construct. Acyl groups with > 2 carboxylic acids diminished self-assembly into ThT-positive fibrils and instead promoted the self-assembly of ThTnegative fibrils and amorphous complexes. The addition of ThT-negative, acylated SOD1 fibrils to organotypic spinal cord failed to produce the SOD1 inclusion pathology that typically results from the addition of ThT-positive SOD1 fibrils. These results suggest that chemically increasing the net negative surface charge of SOD1 via acylation can block the prion-like propagation of oligomeric SOD1 in spinal cord.

Publisher URL: http://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M117.805283

DOI: 10.1074/jbc.M117.805283