Potential pathogenic role of Я-amyloid 1–42–aluminum complex in
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Potential pathogenic role of Я-amyloid 1–42–aluminum complex in
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology 40 (2008) 731–746 Potential pathogenic role of -amyloid1–42–aluminum complex in Alzheimer’s disease夽 Denise Drago a , Mikol Bettella b , Silvia Bolognin a , Laura Cendron c , Janez Scancar d , Radmila Milacic d , Fernanda Ricchelli a , Angela Casini e , Luigi Messori e , Giuseppe Tognon a , Paolo Zatta a,∗ a e CNR-Institute for Biomedical Technologies, Padova “Metalloproteins” Unit, Department of Biology, University of Padova, Viale G. Colombo, 3-35121 Padova, Italy b Department of Pharmacy, University of Padova, Italy c Department of Chemistry, University of Padova, Italy d Department of Environmental Sciences, Jozef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39-1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia Department of Chemistry, University of Florence, Via della Lastruccia 3, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Firenze, Italy Received 6 August 2007; received in revised form 9 October 2007; accepted 9 October 2007 Available online 22 October 2007 Abstract The etiopathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease is far from being clearly understood. However, the involvement of metal ions as a potential key factor towards conformational modifications and aggregation of amyloid is widely recognized. The aim of the present study is to shed some light on the relationship between metal ions, amyloid conformation/aggregation, and their potential relationship with the conformational aspects of AD. We compare the effects of -amyloid1–42 and its various metal complexes (-amyloid–Al, amyloid–Zn, -amyloid–Cu, -amyloid–Fe) in human neuroblastoma cells in terms of cell viability, membrane structure properties, and cell morphology. No significant toxic effects were observed in neuroblastoma cells after 24 h treatment both with -amyloid and -amyloid–metals (-amyloid–Zn, -amyloid–Cu, -amyloid–Fe); on the other hand, there was a marked reduction of cellular viability after treatment with -amyloid–Al complex. In addition, treatment with -amyloid–Al increased membrane fluidity much more than other -amyloid–metal complexes, whose contribution was negligible. Furthermore, the cellular morphology, as observed by electron microscopy, was deeply altered by -amyloid–Al. Importantly, -amyloid–Al toxicity is closely and significantly associated with a great difference in the structure/aggregation of this complex with respect to that of -amyloid alone and other -amyloid–metal complexes. In addition, -amyloid, as a consequence of Al binding, becomes strongly hydrophobic in character. These findings show a significant involvement of Al, compared to the other metal ions used in our experiments, in promoting a specific amyloid1–42 aggregation, which is able to produce marked toxic effects on neuroblastoma cells, as clearly demonstrated for the first time in this study. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Alzheimer; Aluminum; Metal ions; Membranes; Neuroblastoma; Fibrils Abbreviations: AD, Alzheimer’s disease; A, -amyloid; MTT, 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide; DPH, 1,6diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene; TMA-DPH, N,N,N-trimethyl-4-(6-phenyl-1,3,5-hexatrien-1-yl) phenylammonium p-toluenesulfonate; ETASS, electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry; FAAS, flame atomic absorption spectrometry; TEM, transmission electron microscopy; SEM, scanning electron microscopy; SEC, size exclusion chromatography; HFIP, hexafluoroisopropanol. 夽 This work was supported in part by grant from Italian Ministry of Research and University FIRB # RGNEO3PX83. ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +39 049 8276331; fax: +39 049 8276330. E-mail address: [email protected] (P. Zatta). 1357-2725/$ – see front matter © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.biocel.2007.10.014 732 D. Drago et al. / The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology 40 (2008) 731–746 1. Introduction Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized, among other pathological features, by amyloid plaques and the formation of “tangles” as a peculiar specificity of this devastating syndrome. Senile plaques (SP) are made up mainly of -amyloid (A) peptide accumulation in its fibrillar form, concomitantly with metal ions accumulation and the presence of various elements from the immuno-response system (Lovell, Ehmann, & Markesbery, 1993; Lovell, Robertson, Teesdale, Campbell, & Markesbery, 1998). In vitro studies have suggested that the observed A neurotoxicity might be a consequence of an amyloid fibrillar aggregation state (Pike, Burdick, Walencewicz, Glabe, & Cotman, 1993). More recently it has been suggested that A-soluble (As) oligomers might be the principal neurotoxic agent (Cleary et al., 2005; Dahlgren et al., 2002; Finder & Glockshuber, 2007; Kayed et al., 2003). In this connection, enormous efforts have been made to identify which of the various forms of A found in the brains of AD patients could be most important in inducing the neuropathological changes and neurological clinical symptoms that characterize this disease. Currently, several laboratories are focusing extensive research on attempting to understand the chemical structure/conformation, of As species, as a important element in the etiopathogenesis of AD (Deshpande, Mina, Glabe, & Busciglio, 2006; Oddo et al., 2006). As from the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of AD patients, have been shown to be neurotoxic in character at very low concentrations, and at the same time, capable of inducing marked alterations in neuronal long-term potentiation as well as cognitive impairment (Lesnè et al., 2006). The aggregation/oligomerization of A has been the subject of numerous studies, mainly in vitro, employing a variety of experimental approaches (Chen & Glabe, 2006) including the use of transgenic animals (Oddo et al., 2006). The pivotal event in the amyloid aggregation appears to be the protein misfolding that drives the peptides towards a -sheet structure formation, which result in the ability of amyloid to aggregate in an infinitely propagating fashion. Such protein misfolding, associated with A aggregation, is greatly affected by various biophysical and chemical factors including metal ions which have been found in high concentration in the core and the rim of the SP in the AD brain (Beauchemin & Kisilevsky, 1998; Dong et al., 2003; Lovell et al., 1993, 1998; Miu & Benga, 2006). Metal ions have been widely demonstrated to be implicated as potential risk cofactors in several neurodegenerative disorders (Liu et al., 2006; Zatta, 2003). Several recent studies reported that some metals are able to accelerate the dynamic of A aggregation, thus increasing the neurotoxic effects on neuronal cells as a consequence of marked biophysical alterations properties of the peptide (Bush, 2003; Ricchelli, Drago, Filippi, Tognon, & Zatta, 2005). According to some authors (Bush, 2003; House et al., 2004), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu) and iron (Fe) are found markedly concentrated in the cerebral A deposits, leading to the final formation of A aggregation. It is worth noticing that in human brains and in amyloid transgenic mice the chelation of these metal ions could reverse the A peptide aggregation dissolving amyloid aggregates (Cherny et al., 2001, 1999). Moreover, in the past years, many hostilities rejected the possible role of aluminum (Al) in the aetiology or pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease and this issue has never been resolved properly. However, since long time Al concentration in the brain of Alzheimer’s disease patients has been analytically well established (Beauchemin & Kisilevsky, 1998; Candy et al., 1986; Good, Perl, Bierer, & Schmeidler, 1992; Walton, 2006). Recently, the controversial issue of the role played by Al in the aetiology of Alzheimer’s disease has been renewed following numerous experiments, albeit with conflicting results (Munoz, 1998; Zatta, 1993; Zatta, Lucchini, Van Rensburg, & Taylor, 2003). Thus, the possible link between Al and AD remains on the other hand, still controversial along with many other hypotheses on AD aetiology (see alzforum.com), but at the same time of great current interest (Bala Gupta et al., 2005; Miu & Benga, 2006; Walton, 2006; Zatta, 2006). The complexity of defining the etiopathogenesis of AD clearly demonstrates that, in spite of numerous interesting results obtained so far, our navigation in the vast sea of AD remains fogbound. Recent studies, from our laboratory and others, have clearly demonstrated that of the various metal ions, Al appears to be the most efficient cation in promoting A aggregation in vitro increasing A neurotoxicity dramatically (Kawahara, Kato, & Kuroda, 2001; Kawahara, Muramoto, Kobayashi, Mori, & Kuroda, 1994; Ricchelli et al., 2005). Furthermore, the marked involvement of Al in human A aggregation, compared to that observed for the rat A–Al complex in terms of increased toxicity in endothelial cells, clearly showed the peculiarity of the effects of the human A–Al complex (Drago et al., 2007). The aim of this paper is to shed some light on the relationship between metal ions, amyloid conformation/aggregation, and their potential relationship with the conformational aspects of AD. Our findings show for the first time that each single metal ion (Zn, Fe, Cu, Al) can D. Drago et al. / The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology 40 (2008) 731–746 affect A oligomerization in a specific way. Finally, we also describe how A–metal complexes can contribute to membrane dysfunctions and neurodegeneration. 2. Materials and methods 2.1. Chemicals Synthetic A1–42 was purchased from Biosource (Camarillo, CA, USA). Al(C3 H5 O3 )3 , CuSO4 , ZnCl2 , FeCl3 , acridine orange (AO) and propidium iodide (PI) were obtained from Sigma–Aldrich (St. Louis, MO). Hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP), 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT), 1,6diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (DPH) and N,N,N-trimethyl4-(6-phenyl-1,3,5-hexatrien-1-yl) phenylammonium ptoluenesulfonate (TMA-DPH) were obtained from Sigma–Aldrich. 2.2. Cell cultures SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells were purchased from ECACC (European Collection of Cell Culture, Salisbury, UK). SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells were maintained in Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium (MEM):F-12 (1:1) with l-glutamine and 15 mM Hepes (Gibco, Carlsbad, CA, USA) at 37 ◦ C with 5% CO2 in a humidified atmosphere (90% humidity). The medium was replaced every 2 days. Penicillin (100 units/ml; Gibco) and streptomycin (100 g/ml; Gibco), 15% fetal bovine serum (FBS; Sigma–Aldrich) and MEM non-essential amino acids (100×; Sigma–Aldrich) were added to the medium. 0.25% trypsin–EDTA solution and phosphate buffered saline (PBS) were obtained from Sigma–Aldrich. 2.3. Preparation of Aβ–metal complexes 1.0 mg of synthetic A1–42 was dissolved to 1 mM in hexafluoroisopropanol for 40 min at room temperature. After this incubation, the A1–42 solution was separated into aliquots in microcentrifuge tubes. Hexafluoroisopropanol was removed under vacuum in a Speed Vac (Sc110 Savant Instruments) and lyophilized peptide film was stored desiccated at −20 ◦ C. This treatment with HFIP was repeated three times in order to destroy the peptide’s pre-existing structure during synthesis. All work with HFIP was done in a chemical fume hood with adequate protection. Immediately prior to use, the HFIP-treated aliquots were carefully and completely resuspended in distilled water to a concentration of 50 M (modified protocol from Dahlgren et al., 2002). 733 The A–metal complexes were prepared by 24h dialysis against different metal solutions (Al(C3 H5 O3 )3 , CuSO4 , ZnCl2 , FeCl3 ) at T = 4 ◦ C using Spectra/Por® Float-A-Lyser® tubes (Spectrum Labs) with 1000 molecular weight cut offs (MWCO). Al(C3 H5 O3 )3 was used instead of Al inorganic salts in order to improve the metal-soluble concentrations (Bala Gupta et al., 2005). Then, A–metal complexes were dialysed against water (three water changes) for 24 h in order to remove the excess of metals not bound to the peptide. The same treatment was also performed with A alone. Aliquots of A and different A–metal complexes were taken at 48 h incubation time, after dialysis, for observation by electron microscopy, for metal detection by atomic absorption (electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry, ETAAS, or flame atomic absorption spectrometry, FAAS) and size exclusion chromatography. 2.4. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) 2.4.1. TEM of Aβ–metal complexes Aliquots of A and different A–metal complexes were absorbed onto glow-discharged carbon-coated butwar films on 400-mesh copper grids. The grids were negatively stained with 1% uranyl acetate and observed at 40,000× by TEM (Fei Tecnai 12). All experiments were carried out at 10 M peptide concentration. 2.4.2. SEM of human neuroblastoma cells SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells were seeded onto glass cover slips and treated with A and different A–metal complexes at 0.5 M peptide concentration for 24 h. After this incubation, the cells on glass cover slips were fixed with formaldehyde pH 7.4 and dehydrated in a graded ethanol series. Then, the samples were critical point dried with CO2 in an HCP-2 Hitachi 2 Critical Point Dryer and gold-coated for examination under a XL30 ESEM scanning electron microscope. The working pressure was 4.2–4.3 bar and the temperature was 5 ◦ C. 2.5. Atomic absorption measurements To each sample (A and different A–metal complexes at 50 M) was added 200 l HNO3 for mineralization and, after 24 h at 70 ◦ C, the samples were made up a final volume of 1 ml with distilled water. Before measurement, all samples were adequately diluted with MilliQ water. Al, Fe and Cu were determined by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS) 734 D. Drago et al. / The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology 40 (2008) 731–746 on a Hitachi (Tokyo, Japan) Z-8270 polarized Zeeman atomic absorption spectrometer. Zn was determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) using a Varian (Mulgrave, Victoria, Australia) Spectra AA 110 instrument, in an air–acetylene flame. Calibration standards were prepared in the same acid (nitric acid) concentration as was used in measured samples. Before measurement, elements were diluted 1:5, 1:10 and 1:2, using matrix matched standards (the addition of acid was the same as that in the standards). The reproducibility of measurements (three subsequent determinations of each sample) was greater than 2% for all elements determined. 2.6. Size exclusion chromatography (SEC) Size exclusion chromatography was performed on AKTA HPLC system with a P-900 pump and a variable wavelength P900 UV detector (GE Healthcare, Italy). Unicorn software was used to analyse data. Chromatographic separations of A and different A–metal complexes were performed in 30 mM Tris/HCl and NaCl 150 mM (pH 7.4) at a flow rate of 0.5 ml/min on a Zorbax GF 250 column (Agilent Technologies, Wilmington, DE). GF-250 columns are recommended for the size separation of water-soluble macromolecules having molecular weights from 400,000 to 4000 Da. Samples of A and different A–metal complexes were injected at 50 M peptide concentration and detected by UV absorbance at 215 nm. The column was equilibrated with at least three column volumes of elution buffer and then calibrated with six molecular weight standards: bovine serum albumin (67,000 Da), avian ovalbumin (43,000 Da), bovine carbonic anhydrase (29,000 Da), ribonuclease A (13,700 Da), equine cytochrome C (12,400 Da) and insulin from bovine pancreas (11,466 Da as a dimmer). The chromatograms shown are representative of the results from the two separate experiments. 2.7. Mass spectrometry Spectra of the A1–42 and A–Al complex (50 M) were recorded on an LTQ Orbitrap High-resolution mass spectrometer (Thermo, San Jose, CA) just after addition of 0.5% Formic Acid. The instrument was equipped with a conventional ESI source. The working conditions were the following: sample flow rate was 3 l/min, spray voltage was 2.6 kV, capillary voltage was 20 V and capillary temperature was kept at 403 K. Sheath gas was set at 10 (arbitrary units), the sweep gas and auxiliary gas were kept at 0 (arbitrary units). For spectra acquisition a nominal resolution (at m/z 400) of 60,000 was used. 2.8. Cell viability assay MTT assay was performed with SHSY5Y cells plated onto 96-well plates (at a density of 8 × 104 cells per well, to confluency, in 100 l medium containing 15% FBS per well). The day after this plating, the culture medium was replaced with the same medium with 2% FBS containing A1–42 or A–metal complexes at 0.5 M peptide concentration. The cells were incubated with different A or A–metal complexes for 24 h. The assay was also performed in the presence of different metals (Al, Cu, Zn, Fe) in a range of concentrations of 5–100 M. At the end of incubation, 10 l of MTT (5 mg/ml) was added to each well and the incubation continued for an additional 3 h. The MTT solution was carefully decanted off, and formazan was extracted from the cells with 100 l of acidic isopropanol (0.04 M HCl in absolute isopropanol) in each well (Shearman, Hawtin, & Tailor, 1995). Colour was measured with a 96-well ELISA plate reader (Microplate SPECTRAmax® at 550 nm). All MTT assays were repeated nine times. 2.9. Fluorescence anisotropy The stock solution of fluorescent probe TMA-DPH was prepared by dissolving the probe in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO; Sigma–Aldrich) at a final concentration of 2 mM, while the probe DPH was dissolved in tetrahydrofuran (THF; Sigma–Aldrich) at a final concentration of 1 mM. SH-SY5Y cells (4 × 105 cells/ml) were centrifuged, washed three times with PBS and re-suspended in PBS. Cells suspended in PBS were labelled with the fluorescent probes TMA-DPH or DPH at room temperature for 10 and 20 min, respectively, i.e. the requisite time to obtain a stationary fluorescence equilibrium. The final concentration of both probes was 2 M (Kuhry, Duportail, Bronner, & Laustriat, 1985). Probe incorporation was assessed by recording the fluorescence intensity in a Perkin-Elmer LS-50B spectrofluorimeter fitted with an automated polarization accessory (Perkin-Elmer, Monza, Italy). The non-polar DPH and its cationic derivative, TMA-DPH, intercalate into lipid membranes and their fluorescence polarization is related to the reorientation of their long axes, making them sensitive to the angular re-orientation of the acyl chains of surrounding lipids (Lentz, 1993). After the incubation D. Drago et al. / The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology 40 (2008) 731–746 of the fluorescent probes, the cells were treated with A and different A–metal complexes at 0.5 M peptide concentration and the fluorescence anisotropy was followed for 20 min. All fluorescence measurements were carried out at 37 ◦ C. 735 The excitation and emission wavelengths for TMADPH were 356 and 428 nm, respectively. For DPH, the corresponding wavelengths were 360 and 471 nm. The fluorescence anisotropy (r) was obtained from the fluorescence intensities parallel (Ivv ) and perpendicular (Ivh ) Fig. 1. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of A and A–metal complexes. Electron micrographs of human A1–42 in the absence (A) and in the presence of different metal ions: Al (B), Cu (C), Zn (D) and Fe (E). A–metal complexes were prepared by 24 h dialysis (T = 4 ◦ C) against metal solution. The incubation of A–metal complexes was carried out for 48 h with three water changes in order to eliminate the unbound metal. Before dialysis, A1–42 was pre-treated with hexafluoroisopropanol for 40 min at room temperature in order to destroy the pre-existing peptide structure. The peptide concentration was 10 M. Scale bars, 200 nm. 736 D. Drago et al. / The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology 40 (2008) 731–746 to the direction of polarization of the excitation light using the following equation (Van der Meer, 1988): r= Ivv − Ivh G Ivv + 2Ivh G Student–Newman–Keuls t-test as post-hoc test. A value of p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. 3. Results where G is an instrumental correction factor. 3.1. Characterization of Aβ and Aβ–metal complexes by transmission electron microscopy 2.10. Analysis of cell death by fluorescence microscopy: acridine orange/propidium iodide double staining Morphological study of apoptosis and necrosis were carried out by means of acridine orange and propidium iodide staining as previously described (Martin & Leonardo, 1994) after 24 h treatment with A and A–Al (0.5 M). Cells were seeded on glass cover slips, and stained with 4 g/ml acridine orange (AO) and 4 g/ml propidium iodide (PI). Within 30 min, the cells were examined by fluorescence microscopy (Leica DM 5000 B microscope) with 480 and 520 nm filters and photographed using a Leica DCF 300 FX camera. An apoptotic index was determined by nuclear condensation and segmentation, and by plasma membrane integrity using the two fluorescent dyes mentioned above. AO was used to characterize chromatin condensation and PI to characterize membrane integrity. AO is a membrane permeable marker that stains nuclei green; PI binds to DNA, stains nuclei red and is mainly taken up by cells with lost membrane integrity. Controls (green nuclei), early apoptotic (DNA condensed, green nuclei), late apoptotic (DNA condensed, orange nuclei) and necrotic (red nuclei) cells were analysed. At least 300 cells were counted in total five independent experiments. 2.10.1. Statistical analysis The experimental data were expressed as a percentage with respect to control values and were presented as the mean ± S.D. of, at least, four separate experiments. Statistical analysis was performed by ANOVA followed by Samples of A and various A–metal complexes (see Section 2) were studied by TEM at relatively low peptide concentration (10 M) (Fig. 1). After 48 h dialysis at 4 ◦ C, many short and irregular protofibrillar structures were present in the A sample as the consequence of selfaggregation and few fibrils were observed (Fig. 1A). By contrast, A–Al complex was characterized by a large population of small oligomeric aggregates (Fig. 1B). A–Cu complex, showed few aggregates, bigger than those observed for A–Al (Fig. 1C; see scale bar). Electron micrographs of A–Zn complex showed few aggregates and unstructured filaments (Fig. 1D). Finally, A–Fe complex promoted the formation of some filaments with very small aggregates (Fig. 1E). 3.2. Analytical determination of various metal ions (Al, Zn, Cu, Fe) in samples of Aβ and Aβ–metal complexes using atomic absorption measurements To measure the metal content in A and in different A–metal complexes, and to exclude possible metal contamination in the synthetic peptide, each sample was assessed by ETAAS and FAAS at 50 M peptide concentration. Tables 1 and 2 show the metal content of A with respect to the blank sample. No analytically detectable metal contamination was ascertained in the synthetic A1–42 peptide. By contrast, the presence of metal ions in different A–metal complexes was established analytically. The level of different metal ions in A–metal complexes were very similar with a 422.65 M for Al in A–Al sample and 377.50, 274.53 and 251.29 M for A–Cu, A–Fe and A–Zn, respectively. These metal Table 1 Detection of different metal ions in A and A–metal complexes by ETAAS and FAAS Samples (50 M) Metals deterimantion Al (ng/ml) Cu (ng/ml) Fe (ng/ml) Zn (ng/ml) A A–Al A–Cu A–Fe A–Zn Blank Al, Cu, Fe, Zn Al Cu Fe Zn Al, Cu, Fe, Zn 80 ± 2 11,500 ± 300 – – – 97 ± 3 8.0 ± 0.2 – 24,000 ± 700 – – 9.0 ± 0.2 56 ± 2 – – 15,400 ± 500 – 67 ± 2 74 ± 2 – – – 16,500 ± 500 68 ± 2 The metal content for A and A–metals samples was measured after 48 h dialysis at 4 ◦ C. Al, Fe and Cu were determined by ETAAS whereas Zn was determined by FAAS. D. Drago et al. / The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology 40 (2008) 731–746 Table 2 Detection of different metal ions in A and A–metal complexes by ETAAS and FAAS Samples (50 M) Al (M) A A–Al A–Cu A–Fe A–Zn 0 422.65 Cu (M) 0 Fe (M) 0 Zn (M) 0.092 377.509 737 molecular weight peaks with respect to the elution of A and A–Al. In addition, those peaks, present a shoulder that could signify a non-homogeneity of the eluted compounds. This finding appears to be consistent with the TEM micrographs where the aggregates of A–Cu, A–Zn and A–Fe are larger and more heterogeneous than those of A and A–Al. 274.531 251.291 Metal content for A and A–metals samples expressed in M. The blank value was subtracted from the final results. concentrations were reduced 100-fold in the A–metal complexes used in different cellular experiments. 3.3. Characterization of Aβ and Aβ–metal complexes by SEC To define the oligomerization of A and to obtain information on the conformation of A–metal complexes as observed by TEM, an analytical approach is required to resolve monomeric/oligomeric status of A under non-denaturating/non-disaggregating conditions. According to the experience of our laboratory and that of others, SEC appears to be appropriate to this purpose. A and various A–metal complexes were analysed at 50 M peptide concentration immediately after the preparation as described in the experimental procedures. As reported in Fig. 2, A and A–Al eluted as a symmetrical peaks (∼12 kDa). It is important to notice that A and A–Al co-eluted, but with a relatively different area of the eluted peak. A–metal complexes (A–Cu, A–Zn, A–Fe), eluted as higher 3.4. Mass spectrometry Additional ESI MS studies were performed to assess the formation of the A1–42 –Al(III) complex. In the reported experimental conditions the predominant peak in the multicharged ESI MS spectra of both A1–42 and its aluminium complex is the one corresponding to the 5+ charged state (data not shown). The deconvoluted highresolution ESI MS spectra of either A1–42 alone or its aluminium-treated sample are reported in Fig. 3. In the absence of aluminium (Fig. 3A) the main peak centered at ∼4513 Da corresponds to the A1–42 peptide while a less intense peak at 4529 Da most likely corresponds to a portion of A1–42 in which oxidation of Met-35 has occurred. In the presence of aluminium (Fig. 3B), together with the peaks at 4513 and 4529, an additional heavier cluster at about 4537 is observed, attributed to a A1–42 –Al(III) complex in which the binding stoichiometry between A1–42 and Al is 1:1. These conclusions arise from a careful analysis of the high-resolution data. Fig. 4A shows the m/z range covering the peaks corresponding to the most abundant 5+ charge state. Clustered at around 903 m/z, 906 m/z and 908 m/z are the various isotopic peaks of the A1–42 , A1–42 –Met oxidised and A1–42 –Al(III) species, respectively. The difference between the monoisotopic peaks of the free amyloid and the aluminium complex is ∼24 Da. However, since the monoisotopic A1–42 –Al(III) has three protons less, the actual mass difference is ∼27 Da, which is close to the nominal mass of an aluminium ion. Remarkably, the obtained experimental data perfectly match theoretical expectations (Fig. 4B), thus confirming our hypotheses on the chemical nature of the complex. 3.5. SEM: morphological alteration of SH-SY5Y cells treated with Aβ and Aβ–metal complexes Fig. 2. Size exclusion chromatography (SEC) of A and A–metal complexes. A–metal complexes were analysed using size exclusion chromatography with a Zorbax GF 250 column. A and A–Al coeluted with an approximate molecular weight of 12,000 Da. The gelincluded peak elutes at 13.08 ml, while the gel-excluded peak elutes at 7.3 ml. Elution positions of molecular weight standards are indicated by arrows. Molecular masses are indicated in kDa. Cellular morphological alteration after treatment with A and different A–metal complexes (0.5 M peptide concentration) was also considered using an SEM approach. Again, it was clearly demonstrated that A–Al induced a deep and marked modification at the level of 738 D. Drago et al. / The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology 40 (2008) 731–746 Fig. 3. ESI MS deconvoluted spectra of A1–42 (A) and A1–42 –Al(III) complex (B). the cellular bi-layer (Fig. 5B and C) with respect to the controls (Fig. 5A). 3.6. MTT assay on SH-SY5Y cells treated with Aβ and Aβ–metal complexes Experiments on cellular vitality show the toxicity of A–Al complex (0.5 M peptide concentration) with a significant decline in MTT reduction (Fig. 6A), whereas treatment with A and various A–metal complexes showed no effect. It is worth noting that exposure of neu- roblastoma cells to Al, Cu, Zn, Fe at 5–100 M range did not alter the cellular redox activity with respect to control. Importantly, metal concentrations were 10–20-fold higher than A peptide concentration (Fig. 6B–E). 3.7. Cellular membrane fluidity in the presence of Aβ and Aβ–metal complexes using fluorescence anisotropy Fluorescent dyes represent a useful tool for the determining of membrane dynamics. DPH is a fluorescent D. Drago et al. / The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology 40 (2008) 731–746 739 Fig. 4. Comparison between the observed (A) and theoretical (B) high-resolution spectra of 5+ charge state of A1–42 and A1–42 –Al(III) complex. probe that intercalates predominantly between the acyl chains of fatty acids in the membrane hydrocarbon core. TMA-DPH, on the other hand, is a cationic fluorescent aromatic hydrocarbon that anchors at the lipid–water interface of the plasma membrane lipid bi-layer and remains at the level of the hydrophilic head groups of membrane phospholipids (Kuhry et al., 1985). In an effort to further investigate the interaction of A and different A–metal complexes with the plasma membrane, anisotropy measurements were performed on human neuroblastoma cells after the addition of 0.5 M peptide concentration. The fluorescence anisotropy values of TMA-DPH in neuroblastoma cells revealed a significant increase in membrane fluidity (as detected by the decrease of anisotropy intensity) after treatment with A and, more markedly, with A–Al with respect to the control. These data indicated that A and A–Al perturbed the lipid tail/polar heads border areas of the cell membrane. No significant changes were obtained after treatment with other A–metal complexes (A–Cu, A–Zn, A–Fe). Control with different metal solutions, at a concentration 10-fold higher than that of the peptide, revealed no effect whatsoever with regard to membrane fluidity in these regions of the lipid bi-layer (Fig. 7A). A significant decrease in fluorescence anisotropy with both A and A–Al was also observed using DPH with respect to the other A–metal complexes. This effect was consistent with an enhancement of fluidity in the lipid core region of the plasma membrane. In that case, the greater decrease in fluorescence anisotropy was detected in the presence of A. In addition, A–Cu produced an increased lipid packing density, which is coherent with a rigidification of the lipid core region of the plasma 740 D. Drago et al. / The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology 40 (2008) 731–746 membrane. Finally, A–Zn and A–Fe revealed no significant changes as well as controls with different metal solutions at a concentration 10-fold higher than that of the peptide (Fig. 7B). In conclusion, the effects of A–Al on the fluidity of neuroblastoma cells at the lipid water interface (TMADPH anisotropy) were quantitatively higher than those of the membrane hydrocarbon core (DPH anisotropy), indicating weaker effects at this membrane region. The opposite behaviour was observed using only A. Considering all A–metal complexes utilized in our experiments, only A–Al was able to produce major effects in terms of increasing membrane fluidity. 3.8. Determination of apoptosis and necrosis: acridine orange/propidium iodide double staining The morphological changes and different fluorescence of fluorochrome in cells were used to distinguish living, apoptotic and necrotic cells after treatment with A and A–Al (Fig. 8). Living cells had normal shaped nuclei with green chromatin. In early apoptosis, acridine orange entered the cell with propidium iodide exclusion and cells had shrunken green nuclei with chromatin condensation; in late apoptosis, with loss of membrane integrity, both dyes entered the cell and the nucleus appeared bright orange. A–Al-exposed cells (see arrows, Fig. 8C) showed typical features of late apoptosis including dense nuclear condensation and cell shrinkage compared with A (Fig. 8B) and control (Fig. 8A). These morphological changes did not occur after treatment with A alone except for some cells in early apoptosis. The results shown are representative of five independent experiments (Fig. 9). Data were expressed as the total number of apoptotic cells (early plus late) as a percentage of the total cell number. Cell magnification 40×. 4. Discussion Fig. 5. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of SH-SY5Y cells. Electron micrographs of untreated neuroblastoma or A–metal complexes (A) and neuroblastoma treated for 24 h with A–Al complex (B and C). The peptide concentration was 0.5 M. Alterations in the cellular membrane after A–Al treatment are clearly shown (B and C). A aggregation and accumulation are crucial aspects of the etiopathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease. A growing body of evidences points to the role of relatively small soluble oligomers as the pivotal element in the pathogenic event. To understand the pathophysiology of AD, it is thus crucial to clarify the role of A and the dynamics of various conformational states concomitantly with the profile of the disease in terms of its clinical and histopathological evolution. The aggregation of A proceeds through several steps, starting with dimers, then spherical oligomers, protofibrils, and eventually the insoluble fibrillar status (Demuro, Mina, Kayed, Milton, D. Drago et al. / The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology 40 (2008) 731–746 741 Fig. 7. Fluorescence anisotropy of TMA-DPH (A) and DPH (B) in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma. A decrease in anisotropy, which reflects an increase in membrane fluidity, was obtained with A and A–Al complex according to the fluorescent probe used in the experiment. A–metal complexes concentration was 0.5 M. Data were presented as a percentage with respect to control values. Similar results were obtained in four independent experiments. Error bars indicate the mean ± S.D.; ** p < 0.01 compared with control; ◦◦ p < 0.01 compared with A; ◦ p < 0.05 compared with A; ˆˆp < 0.01 compared with A–Zn, A–Cu, A–Fe; §§ p < 0.01 compared with A–Al. & Parker, 2005). To assess the pathological role of A, a clear understanding of the conditions that drive the peptide assembly from one conformational state to another is essential. Any single change that alters the conformation of A is most likely to affect its biological activity as well (Stine, Dahlgren, Krafft, & LaDu, 2003). In this rather complex and still, at least partially, unresolved scenario, metal ions seem to play an important compelling role in A aggregation, as reported by our laboratory (Drago et al., 2007; Ricchelli et al., 2005) as a very crucial aspect for A neurotoxicity. Protein–metal ion interactions have been shown to contribute to many neurodegenerative disorders, such as AD, Parkinson’s disease, Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) (Sigel, Sigel, Fig. 6. Cytotoxicity assay in SH-SY5Y cells. Redox activity in SH-SY5Y cells after treatment with human A and other A–metal complexes. The metal-free and metal-complexed peptide concentration was 0.5 M. Neuroblastoma redox activity was measured by MTT assay. A significant decrease in cellular viability was obtained with A–Al complex (A). MTT assay was also performed with different metal solutions at 5–100 M concentration range. The metal concentrations were 10–20-fold higher than A peptide concentration (B–E). Similar results were obtained in four independent experiments. Error bars indicate the mean ± S.D.; * p < 0.05 compared with control. 742 D. Drago et al. / The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology 40 (2008) 731–746 Fig. 9. Apoptosis as assessed by fluorescent microscopy after staining with acridine orange and propidium iodide. SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells were treated with A and A–Al complex (0.5 M). The results are mean of five independent experiments ± S.D.; ** p < 0.01 compared with control; ◦ p < 0.05 compared with A. Data were expressed as a total number of apoptotic cells (early and late apoptosis) as a percentage of the total cell number. Fig. 8. Acridine orange and propidium iodide double staining of SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma (A) after treatment with A (B) and A–Al complex (C). SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells were treated with A and A–Al complex (0.5 M). Living cells have normal shaped nuclei with green chromatin (L). Early apoptotic cells have shrunken green nuclei with chromatin condensation (EA), whereas late apoptotic cells had condensed nuclei that were brightly stained with propidium iodide and appeared orange-red (LA). A–Al-exposed cells exhibited typical & Sigel, 2006; Zatta, 2003). Our previous studies on the effects of metal ions on the PrP and ataxin conformational structures are highly significant since the aggregational properties of the prion and ataxin molecules have been shown to exhibit surprising analogies with A in the presence of various metal ions (Kenward, Bartolotti, & Burns, 2007; Ricchelli et al., 2006, 2005, 2007; Sasson & Brown, 2003). In vitro studies to define the structure and toxicity of different conformational states of A, in the presence and absence of metal ions need to be based on procedures that consistently produce fully characterized structural populations. According to Stine et al. (2003), the aggregation state in commercial amyloid, as used by most laboratories, is not controlled by the manufacturers, who only guarantee the chemical purity, but not the conformational homogeneity. Therefore, removal of pre-existing structures using HFIP in lyophilized stocks of A is required for controlled aggregation studies, as widely reported in the literature (Dahlgren et al., 2002; Demuro et al., 2005; Stine et al., 2003). The solubilization and aggregation protocols herein reported (see Section 2), showed consistent and reproducible results for A and A–metal complexes as observed by TEM (Fig. 1). Electron microscopy analysis showed that A–Al was characterized by a large population of small oligomers (Fig. 1B), which could be responsible for the significant toxicity on neuroblastoma cells in terms features of late apoptosis including dense nuclear condensation and cell shrinkage (see arrows). Similar results were obtained in five independent experiments; magnification: ×40. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of the article.) D. Drago et al. / The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology 40 (2008) 731–746 of alteration of cell morphology (Fig. 5), decrease in cell viability (Fig. 6), increase in membrane fluidity (Fig. 7) justified by its high hydrophobicity (Ricchelli et al., 2005), and possible increase of late apoptosis (see arrows, Fig. 8C). Al seemed somehow to be able to “freeze” the oligomeric state of A, stabilizing this assembly with respect to the conformations obtained for other A–metal complexes. With regard to A assembly (Fig. 1A), the cellular toxic effects produced were significantly less pronounced than those obtained with A–Al (Figs. 6 and 7A). Recently, it has been demonstrated that when aluminium is bound to amyloid, forming a stable metallorganic complex, the molecule surface hydrophobicity dramatically increases as a consequence of metal-induced conformational changes, favouring misfolding/aggregation phenomena and lypophilicity significantly (Ricchelli et al., 2005). As a consequence of a higher hydrophobicity, with respect to A alone A–Al reduced its capillary sequestration increasing its permeability through the blood brain barrier as recently demonstrated by Banks, Niehoff, Drago, and Zatta (2006). Additionally, the aggregation of both human and rat amyloid in the presence of aluminium is more pronounced than that obtained with amyloids alone and the morphology of the two aggregation types was very different. This finding was closely linked to the different amino acid sequence of human and rat amyloid with a consequently different cellular toxicity produced by human and rat A–Al complexes (Drago et al., 2007). The different aggregational behaviour of rat and human amyloids in the presence of Al emphasized the close relationship between the A aggregates’ morphology and their cell toxicity. By contrast, other A–metal complexes (A–Cu, A–Zn, A–Fe) showed the formation of bigger agglomerates (Fig. 1C–E) unable to produce any kind of cellular toxic effects (Figs. 6 and 7). Taken together, all these results confirmed, once again, the strong link, widely reported in the literature, between A conformation structure and toxicity. The crucial role of A oligomers and, in this current investigation, of A–Al complex in promoting neurotoxic effects was also assessed (Dahlgren et al., 2002; Demuro et al., 2005; Deshpande et al., 2006). Our results appeared to be particularly important when compared with previous publications where a higher amyloid concentration (20 or 100 M) was required (Awasthi, Matsunaga, & Yamada, 2005; Boyd-kimball, Sultana, Mohmmad-Abdul, & Butterfield, 2004; Datki et al., 2003), much more indeed than 0.5 M of A as used in our protocols. This aspect is worthy of particular attention because in physiological conditions the 743 brain concentration of A might be at a nanomolar level. The presence of various metal ions in A–metal complexes were confirmed by the analytical detection using ETAAS and FAAS (Tables 1 and 2). The binding sites of metal ions to the amyloid have been suggested by different experimental approaches (Miura, Suzuki, Kohata, & Takeuchi, 2000; Stellato et al., 2006; Vyas & Duffy, 1995). Particularly, the presence of Al and its binding to amyloid was confirmed by high-resolution ESI mass spectrometry experiments as clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The use of ESI MS to study the binding of metal ions with the A1–42 peptide has been recently considered by Jiang et al. (2007). Of particular interest is our finding of the presence of a portion of both A and A–Al in which oxidation of Met-35 has occurred. The mass shift of 16 Da between the two main peaks (4513 and 4529) has been recently described by Chen and Cook (2007) in the mass spectrum of A1–40 and has been attributed to oxidative degradation prior to or during analysis by ESI MS. The structural characterization of A oligomers is a challenge, since the A amphipathic properties and the strong tendency to self-aggregate complicates both the characterization of structure and function (Dahlgren et al., 2002). In this connection, some results in the literature appear to be inconsistent, due to the different experimental conditions and analytical methods used (Bitan, Lomakin, & Teplow, 2001). The choice of a suitable chromatographic column and the chromatographic behaviour of A and A–metal complexes appeared to be extremely important (Fig. 2). First of all, A eluted with an apparent molecular weight of ∼12 kDa and this finding was consistent with the size exclusion chromatography performed recently by Chen and Glabe (2006). These authors demonstrated that the trimer/tetramer formation correlated well with the faster nucleation kinetics of A1–42 with respect to A1–40 , suggesting that these small oligomers may be important for nucleation. The greater resistance of trimers to denaturation supported the hypothesis that trimers are the fundamental starting point of the A assembly unit in vivo (Lesnè et al., 2006; Townsend, Shankar, Mehta, Walsh, & Selkoe, 2006). In addition, A coeluted with A–Al, confirming a very similar molecular weight in the presence of aluminium, but with different biophysical properties. However, a more pronounced chromatographic peak was detected for A–Al and this finding was consistent with the larger population of small oligomers observed for A–Al by electron microscopy (Fig. 1A and B). On the contrary, A–Zn, A–Cu, A–Fe were characterized by higher molecular weights 744 D. Drago et al. / The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology 40 (2008) 731–746 and by an apparent high heterogeneity in A assemblies shown by peaks not well resolved (Fig. 2). Further investigations are still in progress to improve the quality of the A and A–metal complex structural characterization. The importance of these results is supported by the lack of data about the characterization of A–metal complexes in comparison to A alone. Several studies have suggested that the initial pathophysiology induced by A might involve alterations in membrane structure (Kagan, Hirakura, Azimov, Azimova, & Lin, 2002; Kremer, Pallitto, Sklansky, & Murphy, 2000; Lau et al., 2006). Soluble A peptides could interact with cellular membranes and it has been suggested that they affect membrane integrity leading to apoptosis (Demeester et al., 2000). Physicochemical interaction of A oligomeric species with membrane domains, including changes in fluidity, can be a determining factor for triggering the mechanisms of neurotoxicity. Changes in the membrane fluidity, for instance, have been associated with dysfunctions of membrane receptors, ionic channels and transport proteins (Szollosi, 1994). Given that A is generated in a membrane environment and its pathological behaviour may be due to interactions with membranes, understanding the physical nature of A/membrane interactions is important for deciphering the biological role of A and A–metal complexes. An extensive literature supports the view that plasma membrane might be one major target of A toxicity (Ambroggio et al., 2005; Curtain et al., 2003; Demuro et al., 2005; Lau et al., 2006; Muller, Kirsch, & Eckert, 2001; Qi et al., 2005). One explanation for the A–membrane interaction might be that amyloid aggregates accumulate predominantly in the extracellular compartment, close to the plasma membrane, during the disease process. A detailed study on the permeabilization of the lipid bi-layer by soluble A oligomers demonstrated that these types of A assembly were responsible for a generalized increase in membrane conductance that might represent the common primary mechanism of pathogenesis in amyloid-related neurodegenerative disorders (Kayed et al., 2004). Kremer et al. (2000) showed a correlation of A aggregation size and hydrophobicity with decreased bi-layer fluidity of model membranes. Moreover, Muller et al. (2001) demonstrated clearly that A peptides specifically disturb the acyl-chain layer of cell membranes in a very distinct fashion. By contrast, membrane properties at the level of the polar heads of the phospholipids bi-layer at the interface with membrane proteins were much less affected. In our investigation, A and A–Al were able to produce a strong increase in membrane fluidity in neuroblastoma cells cultures, to different extents (Fig. 7). A–Al promoted a greater increase in membrane fluidity mostly in the lipid tail/polar heads border areas of cell membrane with respect to the other A–metal complexes (Fig. 7A). These results appear to be consistent with the major alteration produced by A–Al in the cellular morphology (see SEM experiments in Fig. 5). The amyloidogenesis occurring in AD is strongly associated with cell membrane, considering that -amyloid peptides derive from sequential cleavage of the transmembrane amyloid precursor protein by two membrane-bound proteases, the - and ␥-secretase. As a result, APP processing by these enzymes might be affected by the hydrophobic environment and thus directly or indirectly by membrane fluidity (Gamerdinger, Clement, & Behl, 2007). Finally, no effects on membrane structure were detected in the presence of A–Zn, A–Fe or with metal ions alone except for a rigidification in the core of the lipid bi-layer with A–Cu (Fig. 7B). In conclusion, the in vitro experiments reported in this study provide a unique insight into the role of metal ions, particularly Al–A complex, in affecting A oligomerization. Experiments that take into account A conformational differences in the presence of various metal ions, particularly aluminium, and the consequent neurotoxic effects would appear to be extremely important; they could provide a better biological understanding for developing successful therapeutics for the treatment of AD. Our findings show for the first time the crucial importance of the complex formation of A and Al in affecting some fundamental cellular functions. Of particular interest is our finding of the complete absence of membrane biophysical alterations produced by the metal ion alone, even at a higher concentration, with respect to the complex A–Al (0.5 M). 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