Identification of Physiological and Toxic Conformations in Aβ42 Aggregates

Aggregation of the 42-residue amyloid beta-protein (A beta 42) plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Despite numerous structural studies on A beta aggregates, the relationship between tertiary structure and toxicity remains unclear. Our praline scanning and solid-state NMR studies suggested that aggregates both of wild-type A beta 42 and of E22K-A beta 42 (one of the mutants related to cerebral amyloid angiopathy) contain two conformers: a major one with a turn at positions 25 and 26, and a minor one with a turn at positions 22 and 23. To identify the toxic conformer, the derivative A beta 42-lactam(22K-23E), in which the side chains at positions 22 and 23 were covalently linked, was synthesized as a minor conformer surrogate, along with A beta 42-lactam(25K-26E) as a major conformer surrogate. The A beta 42-lactam (22K-23E) showed stronger aggregation, neurotoxicity, radical generation, and oligomerization than wild-type A beta 42, whereas in A beta 42-lactam(25K-26E) were weak. The transition from the physiological conformation with a turn at positions 25 and 26 to the toxic conformation with a turn at positions 22 and 23 might be a key event in the pathogenesis of AD.