Time-Dependent Lipid Dynamics, Organization and Peptide-Lipid Interaction in Phospholipid Bilayers with Incorporated β-Amyloid Oligomers.

Abstract

Nonfibrillar β-amyloid (Aβ) oligomers are considered as major neurotoxic species in the pathology of Alzheimer's disease. The presence of Aβ oligomers was shown to cause membrane disruptions in a broad range of model systems. However, the molecular basis of such a disruption process remains unknown. We previously demonstrated that membrane-incorporated 40-residue Aβ (Aβ40) oligomers could form coaggregates with phospholipids. This process occurred more rapidly than the fibrillization of Aβ40 and led to more severe membrane disruption. The present study probes the time-dependent changes in lipid dynamics, bilayer structures, and peptide-lipid interactions along the time course of the oligomer-induced membrane disruption, using solid-state NMR spectroscopy. Our results suggest the presence of certain intermediate states with phospholipid molecules entering the C-terminal hydrogen-bonding networks of the Aβ40 oligomeric cores. This work provides insights on the molecular mechanisms of Aβ40-oligomer-induced membrane disruption.