Oligothiophenes with specific photophysical properties and molecular organization are of great interest, since this class of materials are used in organic electronics and bioelectronics, as well as biosensing. Herein, 8 different pentameric oligothiophenes, denoted proteophenes, with different amino acid substitution patterns at distinct positions along the thiophene backbone were investigated. Spectroscopic and microscopic studies of the ligands revealed the formation of optically active self-assembled materials under acidic or basic conditions. The distinct photophysical characteristics, including induced circular dichroism, as well as the supramolecular structures of the assemblies deduced from light scattering and transmission electron microscopy, were highly influenced by the positioning of distinct amino acid moieties along the thiophene backbone. Proteophenes functionalized with only glutamate residues or these functionalities in combination with hydrophobic valine moieties formed fibrillar structures with excellent chiroptical properties under acidic conditions. In addition, the amino acid functionality at the beta-position of distinct thiophene moieties influenced the induced circular dichroism pattern observed from the proteophenes. Overall, the obtained results demonstrate how changes in the position of various amino acid functionalities, as well as the chemical nature of the amino acid side chain functionality greatly affect the optical properties as well as the architecture of the self-assembled materials. Self-assembled Proteophenes. Oligothiophenes with distinct amino acid side-chain functionalities along the conjugated backbone displayed distinct chiroptical and structural properties in acidic or alkaline solutions. The distinct photophysical characteristics, as well as the supramolecular structures of the assemblies were highly influenced by the chemical nature of the amino acid, as well as the positioning of distinct amino acid moieties along the thiophene backbone.image

Extracellularly released molecular inflammasome assemblies -ASC specks- cross-seed A beta amyloid in Alzheimer's disease. Here we show that ASC governs the extent of inflammation-induced amyloid A (AA) amyloidosis, a systemic disease caused by the aggregation and peripheral deposition of the acute-phase reactant serum amyloid A (SAA) in chronic inflammatory conditions. Using super-resolution microscopy, we found that ASC colocalized tightly with SAA in human AA amyloidosis. Recombinant ASC specks accelerated SAA fibril formation and mass spectrometry after limited proteolysis showed that ASC interacts with SAA via its pyrin domain (PYD). In a murine model of inflammatory AA amyloidosis, splenic amyloid load was conspicuously decreased in Pycard-/- mice which lack ASC. Treatment with anti-ASC(PYD) antibodies decreased amyloid loads in wild-type mice suffering from AA amyloidosis. The prevalence of natural anti-ASC IgG (-logEC(50 )>= 2) in 19,334 hospital patients was <0.01%, suggesting that anti-ASC antibody treatment modalities would not be confounded by natural autoimmunity. These findings expand the role played by ASC and IL-1 independent inflammasome employments to extraneural proteinopathies and suggest that anti-ASC immunotherapy may contribute to resolving such diseases.

Aggregated species of amyloid-beta (A beta) are one of the pathological hallmarks in Alzheimer's disease (AD), and ligands that selectively target different A beta deposits are of great interest. In this study, fluorescent thiophene-based ligands have been used to illustrate the features of different types of A beta deposits found in AD brain tissue. A dual-staining protocol based on two ligands, HS-276 and LL-1, with different photophysical and binding properties, was developed and applied on brain tissue sections from patients affected by sporadic AD or familial AD associated with the PSEN1 A431E mutation. When binding to A beta deposits, the ligands could easily be distinguished for their different fluorescence, and distinct staining patterns were revealed for these two types of AD. In sporadic AD, HS-276 consistently labeled all immunopositive A beta plaques, whereas LL-1 mainly stained cored and neuritic A beta deposits. In the PSEN1 A431E cases, each ligand was binding to specific types of A beta plaques. The ligand-labeled A beta deposits were localized in distinct cortical layers, and a laminar staining pattern could be seen. Biochemical characterization of the A beta aggregates in the individual layers also showed that the variation of ligand binding properties was associated with certain A beta peptide signatures. For the PSEN1 A431E cases, it was concluded that LL-1 was binding to cotton wool plaques, whereas HS-276 mainly stained diffuse A beta deposits. Overall, our findings showed that a combination of ligands was essential to identify distinct aggregated A beta species associated with different forms of AD.

Multiple system atrophy is a progressive neurodegenerative disease with prominent autonomic and motor features. During early stages different subtypes of multiple system atrophy are distinguished by their predominant parkinsonian or cerebellar symptoms reflecting the heterogeneous nature of the disease. The pathognomonic feature of multiple system atrophy is the presence of ɑ-synuclein (ɑSyn) protein deposits in oligodendroglial cells. ɑSyn can assemble in specific cellular or disease environments and form ɑSyn strains with unique structural features but the ability of ɑSyn strains to propagate in oligodendrocytes remains elusive. More recently, it was shown that multiple multiple system atrophy strains with related conformations exist in the brain of patients. Here, we investigated if different ɑSyn strains can influence multiple system atrophy progression in a strain-dependent manner. To this aim, we injected two recombinant ɑSyn strains (fibrils and ribbons) in multiple system atrophy transgenic mice and found that ɑSyn protein strains determine disease severity in multiple system atrophy via host-restricted and cell-specific pathology in vivo. ɑSyn strains significantly impact disease progression in a strain-dependent way via oligodendroglial, neurotoxic and immune-related mechanisms. Neurodegeneration and brain atrophy were accompanied by unique microglial and astroglial responses and the recruitment of central and peripheral immune cells. The differential activation of microglial cells correlated with the structural features of ɑSyn strains both in vitro and in vivo. Spectral analysis showed that ribbons propagate oligodendroglial inclusions that are structurally distinct from those of fibrils, with resemblance to oligodendroglial inclusions in multiple system atrophy patient brain. This study therefore shows that the multiple system atrophy phenotype is governed by both the ɑSyn strain nature and the host environment and that by injecting ɑSyn strains in a multiple system atrophy animal model a more comprehensive phenotype can be established.

The aggregation and accumulation of proteins in the brain is the defining feature of many devastating neurodegenerative diseases. The development of fluorescent ligands that bind to these accumulations, or deposits, is essential for the characterization of these neuropathological lesions. We report the synthesis of donor-acceptor-donor (D-A-D) thiophene-based ligands with different emission properties. The D-A-D ligands displayed selectivity towards distinct disease-associated protein deposits in histological sections from postmortem brain tissue of individuals affected by Alzheimers disease (AD). The ability of the ligands to selectively identify AD-associated pathological alterations, such as deposits composed of aggregates of the amyloid-beta (A beta) peptide or tau, was reduced when the chemical composition of the ligands was altered. When combining the D-A-D ligands with conventional thiophene-based ligands, superior spectral separation of distinct protein aggregates in AD tissue sections was obtained. Our findings provide the structural and functional basis for the development of new fluorescent ligands that can distinguish between aggregated proteinaceous species, as well as offer novel strategies for developing multiplex fluorescence detection of protein aggregates in tissue sections.

Misfolded A & beta; is involved in the progression of Alzheimers disease (AD). However, the role of its polymorphic variants or conformational strains in AD pathogenesis is not fully understood. Here, we study the seeding properties of two structurally defined synthetic misfolded A & beta; strains (termed 2F and 3F) using in vitro and in vivo assays. We show that 2F and 3F strains differ in their biochemical properties, including resistance to proteolysis, binding to strain-specific dyes, and in vitro seeding. Injection of these strains into a transgenic mouse model produces different pathological features, namely different rates of aggregation, formation of different plaque types, tropism to specific brain regions, differential recruitment of A & beta;(40)/A & beta;(42) peptides, and induction of microglial and astroglial responses. Importantly, the aggregates induced by 2F and 3F are structurally different as determined by ssNMR. Our study analyzes the biological properties of purified A & beta; polymorphs that have been characterized at the atomic resolution level and provides relevant information on the pathological significance of misfolded A & beta; strains.

Aggregates of medin amyloid (a fragment of the protein MFG-E8, also known as lactadherin) are found in the vasculature of almost all humans over 50 years of age(1,)(2), making it the most common amyloid currently known. We recently reported that medin also aggregates in blood vessels of ageing wild-type mice, causing cerebrovascular dysfunction(3). Here we demonstrate in amyloid-beta precursor protein (APP) transgenic mice and in patients with Alzheimers disease that medin co-localizes with vascular amyloid-beta deposits, and that in mice, medin deficiency reduces vascular amyloid-beta deposition by half. Moreover, in both the mouse and human brain, MFG-E8 is highly enriched in the vasculature and both MFG-E8 and medin levels increase with the severity of vascular amyloid-beta burden. Additionally, analysing data from 566 individuals in the ROSMAP cohort, we find that patients with Alzheimers disease have higher MFGE8 expression levels, which are attributable to vascular cells and are associated with increased measures of cognitive decline, independent of plaque and tau pathology. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that medin interacts directly with amyloid-beta to promote its aggregation, as medin forms heterologous fibrils with amyloid-beta, affects amyloid-beta fibril structure, and cross-seeds amyloid-beta aggregation both in vitro and in vivo. Thus, medin could be a therapeutic target for prevention of vascular damage and cognitive decline resulting from amyloid-beta deposition in the blood vessels of the brain.

Large-field multifocal illumination fluorescence microscopy and panoramic volumetric multispectral optoacoustic tomography can be combined to longitudinally assess amyloid-beta deposits in transgenic mouse models of Alzheimers disease. Deposits of amyloid-beta (A beta) in the brains of rodents can be analysed by invasive intravital microscopy on a submillimetre scale, or via whole-brain images from modalities lacking the resolution or molecular specificity to accurately characterize A beta pathologies. Here we show that large-field multifocal illumination fluorescence microscopy and panoramic volumetric multispectral optoacoustic tomography can be combined to longitudinally assess A beta deposits in transgenic mouse models of Alzheimers disease. We used fluorescent A beta-targeted probes (the luminescent conjugated oligothiophene HS-169 and the oxazine-derivative AOI987) to transcranially detect A beta deposits in the cortex of APP/PS1 and arcA beta mice with single-plaque resolution (8 mu m) and across the whole brain (including the hippocampus and the thalamus, which are inaccessible by conventional intravital microscopy) at sub-150 mu m resolutions. Two-photon microscopy, light-sheet microscopy and immunohistochemistry of brain-tissue sections confirmed the specificity and regional distributions of the deposits. High-resolution multiscale optical and optoacoustic imaging of A beta deposits across the entire brain in rodents thus facilitates the in vivo study of A beta accumulation by brain region and by animal age and strain.

Protein deposits composed of specific proteins or peptides are associated with several neurodegenerative diseases and fluorescent ligands able to detect these pathological hallmarks are vital. Here, we report the synthesis of a class of thiophene-based ligands, denoted proteophenes, with different amino acid side-chain functionalities along the conjugated backbone, which display selectivity towards specific disease-associated protein aggregates in tissue sections with Alzheimers disease (AD) pathology. The selectivity of the ligands towards AD associated pathological hallmarks, such as aggregates of the amyloid-beta (A beta) peptide or tau filamentous inclusions, was highly dependent on the chemical nature of the amino acid functionality, as well as on the location of the functionality along the pentameric thiophene backbone. Finally, the concept of synthesizing donor-acceptor-donor proteophenes with distinct photophysical properties was shown. Our findings provide the structural and functional basis for the development of new thiophene-based ligands that can be utilized for optical assignment of different aggregated proteinaceous species in tissue sections.

Optotracers are conformation-sensitive fluorescent tracer molecules that detect peptide- and carbohydrate-based biopolymers. Their binding to bacterial cell walls allows selective detection and visualisation of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). Here, we investigated the structural properties providing optimal detection of S. aureus. We quantified spectral shifts and fluorescence intensity in mixes of bacteria and optotracers, using automatic peak analysis, cross-correlation, and area-under-curve analysis. We found that the length of the conjugated backbone and the number of charged groups, but not their distribution, are important factors for selective detection of S. aureus. The photophysical properties of optotracers were greatly improved by incorporating a donor-acceptor-donor (D-A-D)-type motif in the conjugated backbone. With significantly reduced background and binding-induced on-switch of fluorescence, these optotracers enabled real-time recordings of S. aureus growth. Collectively, this demonstrates that chemical structure and photophysics are key tunable characteristics in the development of optotracers for selective detection of bacterial species.