title: Copper (II) modulates in vitro aggregation of a tau peptide.
abstract: Copper (II) has been implicated in the pathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD) for the impaired homeostatic mechanism found in the brains of AD patients. Here we studied the binding properties of Cu(II) with the first microtubule-binding repeat, encompassing residues 256-273 of the human tau441 sequence. Additionally, the effect of Cu(II) on the assembly of this repeat was also investigated. Our results indicate that Cu(II) can bind to this repeat with His(268) involved and has an inhibiting effect on the in vitro aggregation of this repeat. This work provides new insight into the role of Cu(II) in Alzheimer's disease.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Phosphorus Chemistry & Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, PR China.
authors.forename: Lian-Xiu
authors.initials: LX
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Jin-Tang
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Du
authors.forename: Zhi-Yang
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Wei-Hui
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Yu-Fen
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kanazawa
authors.forename: Yasuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ishizuka
authors.forename: Tadashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nemoto
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakanishi
authors.forename: Yan-Mei
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism; D002942:Circular Dichroism; D003300:Copper / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D006639:Histidine / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D011485:Protein Binding; D011487:Protein Conformation / Q000187:drug effects; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D010446:Peptide Fragments; D016875:tau Proteins; D006639:Histidine; D003300:Copper