The triphenylmethane dye brilliant blue G is only moderately effective at inhibiting amyloid formation by human amylin or at disaggregating amylin amyloid fibrils, but interferes with amyloid assays; Implications for inhibitor design.

The development of inhibitors of islet amyloid formation is important as pancreatic amyloid deposition contributes to type-2 diabetes and islet transplant failure. The Alzheimer's Aβ peptide and human amylin (h-amylin), the polypeptide responsible for amyloid formation in type-2 diabetes, share common physio-chemical features and some inhibitors of Aβ also inhibit amyloid formation by h-amylin and vice versa. Thus, a popular and potentially useful strategy to find lead compounds for anti-amylin amyloid agents is to examine compounds that have effects on Aβ amyloid formation. The triphenylmethane dye, brilliant blue G (BBG, Sodium;3-[[4-[(E)-[4-(4-ethoxyanilino)phenyl]-[4-[ethyl-[(3-sulfonatophenyl)methyl]azaniumylidene]-2-methylcyclohexa-2,5-dien-1-ylidene]methyl]-N-ethyl-3-methylanilino]methyl]benzenesulfonate) has been shown to modulate Aβ amyloid formation and inhibit Aβ induced toxicity. However, the effects of BBG on h-amylin have not been examined, although other triphenylmethane derivatives inhibit h-amylin amyloid formation. The compound has only a modest impact on h-amylin amyloid formation unless it is added in significant excess. BBG also remodels preformed h-amylin amyloid fibrils if added in excess, however BBG has no significant effect on h-amylin induced toxicity towards cultured β-cells or cultured CHO-T cells except at high concentrations. BBG is shown to interfere with standard thioflavin-T assays of h-amylin amyloid formation and disaggregation, highlighting the difficulty of interpreting such experiments in the absence of other measurements. BBG also interferes with ANS based assays of h-amylin amyloid formation. The work highlights the differences between inhibition of Aβ and h-amylin amyloid formation, illustrates the limitation of using Aβ inhibitors as leads for h-amylin amyloid inhibitors, and reinforces the difficulties in interpreting dye binding assays of amyloid formation

Protein CoAlation: a redox-regulated protein modification by coenzyme A in mammalian cells.

Coenzyme A (CoA) is an obligatory cofactor in all branches of life. CoA and its derivatives are involved in major metabolic pathways, allosteric interactions and the regulation of gene expression. Abnormal biosynthesis and homeostasis of CoA and its derivatives have been associated with various human pathologies, including cancer, diabetes and neurodegeneration. Using an anti-CoA monoclonal antibody and mass spectrometry, we identified a wide range of cellular proteins which are modified by covalent attachment of CoA to cysteine thiols (CoAlation). We show that protein CoAlation is a reversible post-translational modification that is induced in mammalian cells and tissues by oxidising agents and metabolic stress. Many key cellular enzymes were found to be CoAlated in vitro and in vivo in ways that modified their activities. Our study reveals that protein CoAlation is a widespread post-translational modification which may play an important role in redox regulation under physiological and pathophysiological conditions

Digoxin reveals a functional connection between HIV-1 integration preference and T-cell activation

HIV-1 integrates more frequently into transcribed genes, however the biological significance of HIV-1 integration targeting has remained elusive. Using a selective high-throughput chemical screen, we discovered that the cardiac glycoside digoxin inhibits wild-type HIV-1 infection more potently than HIV-1 bearing a single point mutation (N74D) in the capsid protein. We confirmed that digoxin repressed viral gene expression by targeting the cellular Na+/K+ ATPase, but this did not explain its selectivity. Parallel RNAseq and integration mapping in infected cells demonstrated that digoxin inhibited expression of genes involved in T-cell activation and cell metabolism. Analysis of >400,000 unique integration sites showed that WT virus integrated more frequently than N74D mutant within or near genes susceptible to repression by digoxin and involved in T-cell activation and cell metabolism. Two main gene networks down-regulated by the drug were CD40L and CD38. Blocking CD40L by neutralizing antibodies selectively inhibited WT virus infection, phenocopying digoxin. Thus the selectivity of digoxin depends on a combination of integration targeting and repression of specific gene networks. The drug unmasked a functional connection between HIV-1 integration and T-cell activation. Our results suggest that HIV-1 evolved integration site selection to couple its early gene expression with the status of target CD4+ T-cells, which may affect latency and viral reactivation

Analysis of Prairie Vole Amylin Reveals the Importance of the N‑Terminus and Residue 22 in Amyloidogenicity and Cytotoxicity

Amyloid formation by amylin contributes to β-cell dysfunction in type 2 diabetes. The features that control the amyloidogenicity and toxicity of amylin are not understood. Not all species form islet amyloid, and its presence or absence correlates with the in vitro behavior of the polypeptide. Rats do not develop type 2 diabetes or islet amyloid, and rat amylin is non-amyloidogenic, except at very high concentrations. This has led to the notion that rodent amylins are non-amyloidogenic. Prairie vole amylin has an unusual sequence compared to those of human and rat amylin, including nonconservative Lys-1 to Glu and Asn-22 to Gly substitutions. The first reduces the net charge on the peptide, while the second disrupts a potential network of side chain hydrogen bonds in the amyloid fiber, a so-called Asn ladder. The prairie vole polypeptide forms amyloid more slowly than human amylin and is considerably less cytotoxic. An Asn-22 to Gly substitution in human amylin significantly reduces toxicity, increasing the effective concentration of amylin required to reach 50% toxicity by >7-fold, but has modest effects on the time to form amyloid. A Lys-1 to Glu replacement has a weaker effect but does reduce toxicity relative to that of human amylin, without having a significant impact on the time to form amyloid. The effect of the Lys-1 to Glu substitution on amyloid kinetics is more significant in Tris buffer than in phosphate-buffered saline. This work demonstrates that the N-terminus of amylin plays a role in modulating toxicity and highlights the key role of position 22

Analysis of Amylin Consensus Sequences Suggests That Human Amylin Is Not Optimized to Minimize Amyloid Formation and Provides Clues to Factors That Modulate Amyloidogenicity

The neuropancreatic polypeptide hormone amylin forms pancreatic islet amyloid in type-2 diabetes. Islet amyloid formation contributes to β-cell death in the disease and to the failure of islet transplants, but the features which influence amylin amyloidogenicity are not understood. We constructed an amino acid sequence alignment of 202 sequences of amylin and used the alignment to design consensus sequences of vertebrate amylins, mammalian amylins, and primate amylins. Amylin is highly conserved, but there are differences between human amylin and each consensus sequence, ranging from one to six substitutions. Biophysical analysis shows that all of the consensus sequences form amyloid but do so more slowly than human amylin in vitro. The rate of amyloid formation by the primate consensus sequence is 3- to 4-fold slower than human amylin; the mammalian consensus sequence is approximately 20- to 25-fold slower, and the vertebrate consensus sequence is approximately 6-fold slower. All of the consensus sequences are moderately less toxic than human amylin toward a cultured β-cell line, with the vertebrate consensus sequence displaying the largest reduction in toxicity of 3- to 4-fold. All of the consensus sequences activate a human amylin receptor and exhibit only modest reductions in activity, ranging from 3- to 4-fold as judged by a cAMP production assay. The analysis argues that there is no strong selective evolutionary pressure to avoid the formation of islet amyloid and provides information relevant to the design of less amyloidogenic amylin variants

The triphenylmethane dye brilliant blue G is only moderately effective at inhibiting amyloid formation by human amylin or at disaggregating amylin amyloid fibrils, but interferes with amyloid assays; Implications for inhibitor design.

The development of inhibitors of islet amyloid formation is important as pancreatic amyloid deposition contributes to type-2 diabetes and islet transplant failure. The Alzheimer's Aβ peptide and human amylin (h-amylin), the polypeptide responsible for amyloid formation in type-2 diabetes, share common physio-chemical features and some inhibitors of Aβ also inhibit amyloid formation by h-amylin and vice versa. Thus, a popular and potentially useful strategy to find lead compounds for anti-amylin amyloid agents is to examine compounds that have effects on Aβ amyloid formation. The triphenylmethane dye, brilliant blue G (BBG, Sodium;3-[[4-[(E)-[4-(4-ethoxyanilino)phenyl]-[4-[ethyl-[(3-sulfonatophenyl)methyl]azaniumylidene]-2-methylcyclohexa-2,5-dien-1-ylidene]methyl]-N-ethyl-3-methylanilino]methyl]benzenesulfonate) has been shown to modulate Aβ amyloid formation and inhibit Aβ induced toxicity. However, the effects of BBG on h-amylin have not been examined, although other triphenylmethane derivatives inhibit h-amylin amyloid formation. The compound has only a modest impact on h-amylin amyloid formation unless it is added in significant excess. BBG also remodels preformed h-amylin amyloid fibrils if added in excess, however BBG has no significant effect on h-amylin induced toxicity towards cultured β-cells or cultured CHO-T cells except at high concentrations. BBG is shown to interfere with standard thioflavin-T assays of h-amylin amyloid formation and disaggregation, highlighting the difficulty of interpreting such experiments in the absence of other measurements. BBG also interferes with ANS based assays of h-amylin amyloid formation. The work highlights the differences between inhibition of Aβ and h-amylin amyloid formation, illustrates the limitation of using Aβ inhibitors as leads for h-amylin amyloid inhibitors, and reinforces the difficulties in interpreting dye binding assays of amyloid formation

Analysis of Proline Substitutions Reveals the Plasticity and Sequence Sensitivity of Human IAPP Amyloidogenicity and Toxicity

Pancreatic amyloid formation by the polypeptide IAPP contributes to β-cell dysfunction in type 2 diabetes. There is a 1:1 correspondence between the ability of IAPP from different species to form amyloid in vitro and the susceptibility of the organism to develop diabetes. Rat IAPP is non-amyloidogenic and differs from human IAPP at six positions, including three proline replacements: A25P, S28P, and S29P. Incorporation of these proline residues into human IAPP leads to a non-amyloidogenic analogue that is used clinically. The role of the individual proline residues is not understood. We examine the three single and three double proline substitutions in the context of human IAPP. An S28P substitution significantly decreases amyloidogenicity and toxicity, while an S29P substitution has very modest effects despite being an identical replacement just one residue away. The consequences of the A25P substitution are between those of the two Ser to Pro substitutions. Double analogues containing an S28P replacement are less amyloidogenic and less toxic than the IAPPA25P S29P double analogue. Ion mobility mass spectrometry reveals that there is no correlation between the monomer or dimer conformation as reported by collision cross section measurements and the time to form amyloid. The work reveals both the plasticity of IAPP amyloid formation and the exquisite sequence sensitivity of IAPP amyloidogenicity and toxicity. The study highlights the key role of the S28P substitution and provides information that will aid in the rational design of soluble variants of IAPP. The variants studied here offer a system for further exploring features that control IAPP toxicity