arXiv subjects

Brigita Urbanc

Publications and source records attributed to Brigita Urbanc.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2012

Folding of Pig Gastric Mucin Non-glycosylated Domains: A Discrete Molecular Dynamics Study

Mucin glycoprotein consist of tandem repeating glycosylated regions flanked by non-repetitive protein domains with little glycosylation. These non-repetitive domains are involved in the pH dependent gelation of gastric mucin, which is essential to protecting the stomach from autodigestion. We have examined the folding of the non-repetitive sequence of von Willebrand factor vWF-C1 domain (67 amino acids) and PGM 2X (242 amino acids) at neutral and low pH using Discrete Molecular Dynamics. A four-bead protein model with hydrogen bonding and amino acid-specific hydrophobic/hydrophilic and electrostatic interactions of side chains) was used. The simulations reveal that the distant N- and C-terminal regions form salt-bridges at neutral pH giving a relatively compact folded structure. At low pH, the salt bridges break giving a more open and extended structure. The calculated average value of the beta-strand increases from 0.23 at neutral pH to 0.36 at low pH in very good agreement with CD data. Simulations of vWF C1 show 4-6 beta strands separated by turns/loops and we found that pH did not affect significantly the folded structure. The average beta-strand structure of 0.32 was again in very good agreement with the CD results.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2008

Automated identification of neurons and their locations

Individual locations of many neuronal cell bodies (>10^4) are needed to enable statistically significant measurements of spatial organization within the brain such as nearest-neighbor and microcolumnarity measurements. In this paper, we introduce an Automated Neuron Recognition Algorithm (ANRA) which obtains the (x,y) location of individual neurons within digitized images of Nissl-stained, 30 micron thick, frozen sections of the cerebral cortex of the Rhesus monkey. Identification of neurons within such Nissl-stained sections is inherently difficult due to the variability in neuron staining, the overlap of neurons, the presence of partial or damaged neurons at tissue surfaces, and the presence of non-neuron objects, such as glial cells, blood vessels, and random artifacts. To overcome these challenges and identify neurons, ANRA applies a combination of image segmentation and machine learning. The steps involve active contour segmentation to find outlines of potential neuron cell bodies followed by artificial neural network training using the segmentation properties (size, optical density, gyration, etc.) to distinguish between neuron and non-neuron segmentations. ANRA positively identifies 86[5]% neurons with 15[8]% error (mean[st.dev.]) on a wide range of Nissl-stained images, whereas semi-automatic methods obtain 80[7]%/17[12]%. A further advantage of ANRA is that it affords an unlimited increase in speed from semi-automatic methods, and is computationally efficient, with the ability to recognize ~100 neurons per minute using a standard personal computer. ANRA is amenable to analysis of huge photo-montages of Nissl-stained tissue, thereby opening the door to fast, efficient and quantitative analysis of vast stores of archival material that exist in laboratories and research collections around the world.

physics.bio-ph↗

arXiv2007

Role of electrostatic interactions in amyloid beta-protein (Abeta) oligomer formation: A discrete molecular dynamics study

Pathological folding and oligomer formation of the amyloid beta-protein (Abeta) are widely perceived as central to Alzheimer's disease (AD). Experimental approaches to study Abeta self-assembly are problematic, because most relevant aggregates are quasi-stable and inhomogeneous. We apply a discrete molecular dynamics (DMD) approach combined with a four-bead protein model to study oligomer formation of the amyloid beta-protein (Abeta). We address the differences between the two most common Abeta alloforms, Abeta40 and Abeta42, which oligomerize differently in vitro. We study how the presence of electrostatic interactions (EIs) between pairs of charged amino acids affects Abeta40 and Abeta42 oligomer formation. Our results indicate that EIs promote formation of larger oligomers in both Abeta40 and Abeta42. The Abeta40 size distribution remains unimodal, whereas the Abeta42 distribution is trimodal, as observed experimentally. Abeta42 folded structure is characterized by a turn in the C-terminus that is not present in Abeta40. We show that the same C-terminal region is also responsible for the strongest intermolecular contacts in Abeta42 pentamers and larger oligomers. Our results suggest that this C-terminal region plays a key role in the formation of Abeta42 oligomers and the relative importance of this region increases in the presence of EIs. These results suggest that inhibitors targeting the C-terminal region of Abeta42 oligomers may be able to prevent oligomer formation or structurally modify the assemblies to reduce their toxicity.

q-bio.BM↗

arXiv2005

Solvent and mutation effects on the nucleation of amyloid $β$-protein folding

Experimental evidence suggests that the folding and aggregation of the amyloid $β$-protein (A$β$) into oligomers is a key pathogenetic event in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Inhibiting the pathologic folding and oligomerization of A$β$ could be effective in the prevention and treatment of AD. Here, using all-atom molecular dynamics simulations in explicit solvent, we probe the initial stages of folding of a decapeptide segment of A$β$, A$β_{21-30}$, shown experimentally to nucleate the folding process. In addition, we examine the folding of a homologous decapeptide containing an amino acid substitution linked to hereditary cerebral hemorrhage with amyloidosis--Dutch type, [Gln22]A$β_{21-30}$. We find that: (i) when the decapeptide is in water, hydrophobic interactions and transient salt bridges between Lys28 and either Glu22 or Asp23 are important in the formation of a loop in the Val24--Lys28 region of the wild type decapeptide; (ii) in the presence of salt ions, salt bridges play a more prominent role in the stabilization of the loop; (iii) in water with a reduced density, the decapeptide forms a helix, indicating the sensitivity of folding to different aqueous environments; (iv) the ``Dutch'' peptide in water, in contrast to the wild type peptide, fails to form a long-lived Val24--Lys28 loop, suggesting that loop stability is a critical factor in determining whether A$β$ folds into pathologic structures. Our results are relevant to understand the mechanism of A$β$ peptide folding in different environments, such as intra- and extracellular milieus or cell membranes, and how amino acid substitutions linked to familial forms of amyloidosis cause disease.

q-bio.BM↗