Dissecting the role of glutamine in seeding peptide aggregation

Poly glutamine and glutamine-rich peptides play a central role in a plethora of pathological aggregation events. However, biophysical characterization of soluble oligomers --the most toxic species involved in these processes-- remains elusive due to their structural heterogeneity and dynamical nature. Here, we exploit the high spatio-temporal resolution of simulations as a computational microscope to characterize the aggregation propensity and morphology of a series of polyglutamine and glutamine-rich peptides. Comparative analysis of ab-initio aggregation pinpointed a double role for glutamines. In the first phase, glutamines mediate seeding by pairing monomeric peptides, which serve as primers for higher-order nucleation. According to the glutamine content, these low molecular-weight oligomers may then proceed to create larger aggregates. Once within the aggregates, buried glutamines continue to play a role in their maturation by optimizing solvent-protected hydrogen bonds networks. TOC / Abstract Figure O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=109 SRC="FIGDIR/small/381632v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (26K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@bfd8d7org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@135264forg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@661c8aorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1dbd663_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG