AN INNOVATIVE PROTEIN CRYSTALLIZATION DEVICE FOR A BETTER ALZHEIMER’S TREATMENT

Abstract

Researchers from Morgan State University (i.e., Dr. Kadir Aslan) and Juxtopia (i.e., Dr. Jayfus Doswell) constructed a prototype crystallization device (PCD) based on the MA-MAEC technique for the rapid crystallization of peptides and proteins within minutes. In contrast, traditional PCDs typically take up to several weeks to complete using conventional crystallization techniques. Researchers tested the resulting PCD device on the Amyloid precursor protein (APP) and its components as biological macromolecules of interest. APP is most commonly studied as the precursor molecule whose proteolysis generates beta amyloid (Aβ42) peptide whose amyloid fibrillar form is the primary component of amyloid plaques found in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients. Purified APP and synthetic peptides [Aβ42 (42 amino acid residues), copper binding domain (CuBD, 63 amino acid residues) and growth factor-like domain (GFLD, 105 amino acid residues) of APP] were crystallized using microwave heating on the innovative PCD crystallization platforms to demonstrate the proof-of-principle use of the iCrystal system based on multi-parameter assessment: 1) Time of crystallization and microwave power; 2) Size of crystals; and 3) Quality of crystals. The control experiments included: 1) No microwave heating; 2) No SNFs and no microwave heating to assess the effectiveness of the MA-MAEC technique for the rapid crystallization of APP and its relevant components. The iCrystal PCD time was significantly less than traditional PCD with a higher quality crystal. The crystallization experiments for APP and its relevant peptides were repeated separately a minimum of 50 different 21-well PMMA platform to assess the reproducibility of the technique. In this regard, the variation in the size, crystallization time, and quality of APP crystals remain similar. The researched MA-MAEC technique, within the iCrystal system, demonstrated a potential to revolutionize the way peptides and proteins are crystallized as it relates to human diseases, which will afford for rapid development of treatments.