Details zur Publikation

Kategorie Textpublikation
Referenztyp Zeitschriften
DOI 10.1159/000095257
Titel (primär) Spectroscopic approaches to the conformation of tau protein in solution and in paired helical filaments
Autor von Bergen, M.; Barghorn, S.; Jeganathan, S.; Mandelkow, E.-M.; Mandelkow, E.
Quelle Neurodegenerative Diseases
Erscheinungsjahr 2006
Department PROTEOM
Band/Volume 3
Heft 4-5
Seite von 197
Seite bis 206
Sprache englisch
Abstract The abnormal aggregation of the microtubule-associated protein tau into paired helical filaments is one the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease. This aggregation is based in the partial formation of β-structure. In contrast, the soluble protein shows a mostly random coil structure, as judged by circular dichroism, Fourier transform infrared, X-ray scattering and biochemical assays. Here, we review the basis of the natively unstructured character of tau, as well as recent studies of residual structure and long-range interactions between different domains of the protein. Analysis of the primary structure reveals a very low content of hydrophobic amino acids and a high content of charged residues, both of which tend to counteract a well-folded globular state of proteins. In the case of tau, the low overall hydrophobicity is sufficient to explain the lack of folding. This is in contrast to other proteins which also carry an excess charge at physiological pH. By tryptophan scanning mutagenesis and fluorimetry we found that most of the sequence is solvent exposed. Analysis of the hydrodynamic radii confirms a mostly random coil structure of various tau isoforms and tau domains. The proteins can be further expanded by denaturation with GdHCl which indicates some global folding. This was substantiated by a FRET-based approach where the distances between different domains of tau were determined. The combined data show that tau is mostly disordered and flexible but tends to assume a hairpin-like overall fold which may be important in the transition to a pathological aggregate.
dauerhafte UFZ-Verlinkung https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=3092
von Bergen, M., Barghorn, S., Jeganathan, S., Mandelkow, E.-M., Mandelkow, E. (2006):
Spectroscopic approaches to the conformation of tau protein in solution and in paired helical filaments
Neurodegener. Dis. 3 (4-5), 197 - 206 10.1159/000095257