Issue 43, 2019

Membrane domain modulation of Aβ1–42 oligomer interactions with supported lipid bilayers: an atomic force microscopy investigation

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease is a devastating pathology affecting an increasing number of individuals following the general rise in life expectancy. Amyloid peptide Aβ1–42 has been identified as one of the main culprits of the disease. The peptide has been shown to have major effects on lipid membranes, including membrane fragmentation. The membrane composition has been identified as a factor that plays a pivotal role in regulating peptide/membrane interactions and several results suggest that lipid domains, or rafts, can promote peptide-induced membrane damage. In this work, we examined the effects of lipid segregation on the membrane-perturbing ability of Aβ1–42 and an oligomeric mutant (G37C), a peptide that shares common features with the suspected toxic intermediates involved in the neurodegeneration process. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to determine the impact of these peptides on the supported lipid bilayers of various compositions. In 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine/1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine/cholesterol (DOPC/DPPC/cholesterol) and DOPC/sphingomyelin/cholesterol ternary mixtures, two systems exhibiting liquid–liquid phase separations, it was shown that Aβ1–42 and G37C exclusively aggregated on liquid-disordered-phase domains, creating large deposits and even causing membrane fragmentation for the latter composition. Cholesterol and ganglioside GM1, the two most documented lipids in the context of Alzheimer's disease, are also considered to play a crucial role in promoting detrimental interactions with amyloid peptides. We show that, in model 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC) membranes, the presence of either cholesterol or GM1 in a proportion of 10 mol%, a content supposed to lead to domain formation, favoured the association of both Aβ1–42 and G37C, leading to a harmful membrane fragmentation. The AFM results established that the presence of domains favoured membrane perturbations induced by the amyloid peptides. It is proposed that lipid packing defects at the domain interface could act as adsorption and nucleation sites for the amyloid peptides. The more extensive bilayer perturbations induced by G37C compared to Aβ1–42 supported this hypothesis, indicating that oligomers that cannot mature to the fibril state can present considerable toxicity.

Graphical abstract: Membrane domain modulation of Aβ1–42 oligomer interactions with supported lipid bilayers: an atomic force microscopy investigation

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
25 Jul 2019
Accepted
16 Sep 2019
First published
11 Oct 2019

Nanoscale, 2019,11, 20857-20867

Membrane domain modulation of Aβ1–42 oligomer interactions with supported lipid bilayers: an atomic force microscopy investigation

M. Azouz, C. Cullin, S. Lecomte and M. Lafleur, Nanoscale, 2019, 11, 20857 DOI: 10.1039/C9NR06361G

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements