TY - JOUR
T1 - Analysis of conformational stability of abnormal prion protein aggregates across the spectrum of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease prions
AU - Cescatti, Maura
AU - Saverioni, Daniela
AU - Capellari, Sabina
AU - Tagliavini, Fabrizio
AU - Kitamoto, Tetsuyuki
AU - Ironside, James
AU - Giese, Armin
AU - Parchi, Piero
N1 - Ricercatore distaccato presso IRCCS a seguito Convenzione esclusiva con Università di Bologna (Capellari Sabina, Parchi Piero)
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - The wide phenotypic variability of prion diseases is thought to depend on the interaction of a host genotype with prion strains that have self-perpetuating biological properties enciphered in distinct conformations of the misfolded prion protein PrPSc. This concept is largely based on indirect approaches studying the effect of proteases or denaturing agents on the physicochemical properties of PrPScaggregates. Furthermore, most data come from studies on rodent-adapted prion strains, making current understanding of the molecular basis of strains and phenotypic variability in naturally occurring diseases, especially in humans, more limited. To fill this gap, we studied the effects of guanidine hydrochloride (GdnHCl) and heating on PrPScaggregates extracted from 60 sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and 6 variant CJD brains. While denaturation curves obtained after exposure of PrPScto increasing GdnHCl concentrations showed similar profiles among the 7 CJD types analyzed, PrPScexposure to increasing temperature revealed significantly different and type-specific responses. In particular, MM1 and VV2, the most prevalent and fast-replicating CJD types, showed stable and highly resistant PrPScaggregates, whereas VV1, a rare and slowly propagating type, revealed unstable aggregates that easily dissolved at low temperature. Taken together, our results indicate that the molecular interactions mediating the aggregation state of PrPSc, possibly enciphering strain diversity, are differently targeted by GdnHCl, temperature, and proteases. Furthermore, the detected positive correlation between the thermostability of PrPScaggregates and disease transmission efficiency makes inconsistent the proposed hypothesis that a decrease in conformational stability of prions results in an increase in their replication efficiency.
AB - The wide phenotypic variability of prion diseases is thought to depend on the interaction of a host genotype with prion strains that have self-perpetuating biological properties enciphered in distinct conformations of the misfolded prion protein PrPSc. This concept is largely based on indirect approaches studying the effect of proteases or denaturing agents on the physicochemical properties of PrPScaggregates. Furthermore, most data come from studies on rodent-adapted prion strains, making current understanding of the molecular basis of strains and phenotypic variability in naturally occurring diseases, especially in humans, more limited. To fill this gap, we studied the effects of guanidine hydrochloride (GdnHCl) and heating on PrPScaggregates extracted from 60 sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and 6 variant CJD brains. While denaturation curves obtained after exposure of PrPScto increasing GdnHCl concentrations showed similar profiles among the 7 CJD types analyzed, PrPScexposure to increasing temperature revealed significantly different and type-specific responses. In particular, MM1 and VV2, the most prevalent and fast-replicating CJD types, showed stable and highly resistant PrPScaggregates, whereas VV1, a rare and slowly propagating type, revealed unstable aggregates that easily dissolved at low temperature. Taken together, our results indicate that the molecular interactions mediating the aggregation state of PrPSc, possibly enciphering strain diversity, are differently targeted by GdnHCl, temperature, and proteases. Furthermore, the detected positive correlation between the thermostability of PrPScaggregates and disease transmission efficiency makes inconsistent the proposed hypothesis that a decrease in conformational stability of prions results in an increase in their replication efficiency.
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U2 - 10.1128/JVI.00144-16
DO - 10.1128/JVI.00144-16
M3 - Article
C2 - PMID: 27122583
AN - SCOPUS:84988231397
VL - 90
SP - 6244
EP - 6254
JO - Journal of Virology
JF - Journal of Virology
SN - 0022-538X
IS - 14
ER -