Search

The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are transcription factors that regulate glucose and lipid metabolism. The role of PPARs in several chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, obesity and atherosclerosis is well known and, for this reason, they are the targets of antidiabetic and hypolipidaemic drugs. In the last decade, some rare mutations in human PPARγ that might be associated with partial lipodystrophy, dyslipidaemia, insulin resistance and colon cancer have emerged. In particular, the F360L mutant of PPARγ (PPARγ2 residue 388), which is associated with familial partial lipodystrophy, significantly decreases basal transcriptional activity and impairs stimulation by synthetic ligands. To date, the structural reason for this defective behaviour is unclear. Therefore, the crystal structure of PPARγ F360L together with the partial agonist LT175 has been solved and the mutant has been characterized by circular-dichroism spectroscopy (CD) in order to compare its thermal stability with that of the wild-type receptor. The X-ray analysis showed that the mutation induces dramatic conformational changes in the C-terminal part of the receptor ligand-binding domain (LBD) owing to the loss of van der Waals interactions made by the Phe360 residue in the wild type and an important salt bridge made by Arg357, with consequent rearrangement of loop 11/12 and the activation function helix 12 (H12). The increased mobility of H12 makes the binding of co-activators in the hydrophobic cleft less efficient, thereby markedly lowering the transactivation activity. The spectroscopic analysis in solution and molecular-dynamics (MD) simulations provided results which were in agreement and consistent with the mutant conformational changes observed by X-ray analysis. Moreover, to evaluate the importance of the salt bridge made by Arg357, the crystal structure of the PPARγ R357A mutant in complex with the agonist rosiglitazone has been solved. © 2014 International Union of Crystallography.

Genome polymorphisms are responsible for phenotypic differences between humans and for individual susceptibility to genetic diseases and therapeutic responses. Non-synonymous single-nucleotide polymorphisms (nsSNPs) lead to protein variants with a change in the amino acid sequence that may affect the structure and/or function of the protein and may be utilized as efficient structural and functional markers of association to complex diseases. This study is focused on nsSNP variants of the ligand binding domain of PPARγ a nuclear receptor in the superfamily of ligand inducible transcription factors that play an important role in regulating lipid metabolism and in several processes ranging from cellular differentiation and development to carcinogenesis. Here we selected nine nsSNPs variants of the PPARγ ligand binding domain, V290M, R357A, R397C, F360L, P467L, Q286P, R288H, E324K, and E460K, expressed in cancer tissues and/or associated with partial lipodystrophy and insulin resistance. The effects of a single amino acid change on the thermodynamic stability of PPARγ, its spectral properties, and molecular dynamics have been investigated. The nsSNPs PPARγ variants show alteration of dynamics and tertiary contacts that impair the correct reciprocal positioning of helices 3 and 12, crucially important for PPARγ functioning. © 2017 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

β-Sheet aggregates and amyloid fibrils rising from conformational changes of proteins are observed in several pathological human conditions. These structures are organized in β-strands that can reciprocally interact by hydrophobic and π-π interactions. The amyloid aggregates can give rise to pathological conditions through complex biochemical mechanisms whose physico-chemical nature has been understood in recent times. This review focuses on the various classes of natural and synthetic small molecules able to act against β-amyloid fibrillogenesis and toxicity that may represent new pharmacological tools in Alzheimer's diseases. Some peptides, named 'β-sheet breaker peptides', are able to hamper amyloid aggregation and fibrillogenesis by interfering with and destabilizing the non native β-sheet structures. Other natural compounds, like polyphenols or indolic molecules such as melatonin, can interfere with β-amyloid peptide pathogenicity by inhibiting aggregation and counteracting oxidative stress that is a key hallmark in Alzheimer's disease.

The synthesis and fibrillogenesis-inhibiting activity of the new peptide derivatives 1–6, containing α,β-unsaturated phenylalanines, are reported. These compounds are related to the pentapeptide Ac-LPFFD-NH2 (iAβ5p), which was designed by Soto and co-workers and is commonly accepted as a lead compound for fibrillogenesis inhibition . Their activities are determined by Thioflavin T binding assay, far-UV circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy , and SEM; in addition, their structures in solution are studied through far-UV CD and FTIR spectroscopy. The presence of two α,β-unsaturated phenylalanines increases the fibrillogenesis inhibiting activity significantly in comparison with the lead compound. The interactions between the Aβ1–40 and the inhibitors using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry are also studied. The analyses prove the presence of noncovalent complexes of Aβ1–40 with iAβ5p and its derivatives 1–3 with stoichiometries of 1:1 and 2:1, and the results are independent of time and Aβ1–40/inhibitor ratio.