TY - JOUR A1 - Röthlein, Christoph A1 - Miettinen, Markus S. A1 - Ignatova, Zoya T1 - A flexible approach to assess fluorescence decay functions in complex energy transfer systems JF - BMC biophysics N2 - Background: Time-correlated Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) probes molecular distances with greater accuracy than intensity-based calculation of FRET efficiency and provides a powerful tool to study biomolecular structure and dynamics. Moreover, time-correlated photon count measurements bear additional information on the variety of donor surroundings allowing more detailed differentiation between distinct structural geometries which are typically inaccessible to general fitting solutions. Results: Here we develop a new approach based on Monte Carlo simulations of time-correlated FRET events to estimate the time-correlated single photon counts (TCSPC) histograms in complex systems. This simulation solution assesses the full statistics of time-correlated photon counts and distance distributions of fluorescently labeled biomolecules. The simulations are consistent with the theoretical predictions of the dye behavior in FRET systems with defined dye distances and measurements of randomly distributed dye solutions. We validate the simulation results using a highly heterogeneous aggregation system and explore the conditions to use this tool in complex systems. Conclusion: This approach is powerful in distinguishing distance distributions in a wide variety of experimental setups, thus providing a versatile tool to accurately distinguish between different structural assemblies in highly complex systems. KW - Time resolved FRET KW - Monte-Carlo simulations KW - Complex heterogeneous systems KW - Protein aggregation Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13628-015-0020-z SN - 2046-1682 VL - 8 PB - BioMed Central CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Miettinen, Markus S. A1 - Monticelli, Luca A1 - Nedumpully-Govindan, Praveen A1 - Knecht, Volker A1 - Ignatova, Zoya T1 - Stable polyglutamine dimers can contain beta-hairpins with interdigitated side chains but not a-helices, alpha-nanotubes, beta-pseudohelices, or steric zippers JF - Biophysical journal N2 - A common thread connecting nine fatal neurodegenerative protein aggregation diseases is an abnormally expanded polyglutamine tract found in the respective proteins. Although the structure of this tract in the large mature aggregates is increasingly well described, its structure in the small early aggregates remains largely unknown. As experimental evidence suggests that the most toxic species along the aggregation pathway are the small early ones, developing strategies to alleviate disease pathology calls for understanding the structure of polyglutamine peptides in the early stages of aggregation. Here, we present a criterion, grounded in available experimental data, that allows for using kinetic stability of dimers to assess whether a given polyglutamine conformer can be on the aggregation path. We then demonstrate that this criterion can be assessed using present-day molecular dynamics simulations. We find that although the a-helical conformer of polyglutamine is very stable, dimers of a-helices lack the kinetic stability necessary to support further oligomerization. Dimers of steric zipper, beta-nanotube, and beta-pseudohelix conformers are also too short-lived to initiate aggregation. The beta-hairpin-containing conformers, instead, invariably form very stable dimers when their side chains are interdigitated. Combining these findings with the implications of recent solid-state NMR data on mature fibrils, we propose a possible pathway for the initial stages of polyglutamine aggregation, in which beta-hairpin-containing conformers act as templates for fibril formation. Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpj.2014.02.027 SN - 0006-3495 SN - 1542-0086 VL - 106 IS - 8 SP - 1721 EP - 1728 PB - Cell Press CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Roethlein, Christoph A1 - Miettinen, Markus S. A1 - Borwankar, Tejas A1 - Buerger, Joerg A1 - Mielke, Thorsten A1 - Kumke, Michael Uwe A1 - Ignatova, Zoya T1 - Architecture of polyglutamine-containing fibrils from time-resolved fluorescence decay JF - The journal of biological chemistry N2 - The disease risk and age of onset of Huntington disease (HD) and nine other repeat disorders strongly depend on the expansion of CAG repeats encoding consecutive polyglutamines (polyQ) in the corresponding disease protein. PolyQ length-dependent misfolding and aggregation are the hallmarks of CAG pathologies. Despite intense effort, the overall structure of these aggregates remains poorly understood. Here, we used sensitive time-dependent fluorescent decay measurements to assess the architecture of mature fibrils of huntingtin (Htt) exon 1 implicated in HD pathology. Varying the position of the fluorescent labels in the Htt monomer with expanded 51Q (Htt51Q) and using structural models of putative fibril structures, we generated distance distributions between donors and acceptors covering all possible distances between the monomers or monomer dimensions within the polyQ amyloid fibril. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we systematically scanned all possible monomer conformations that fit the experimentally measured decay times. Monomers with four-stranded 51Q stretches organized into five-layered beta-sheets with alternating N termini of the monomers perpendicular to the fibril axis gave the best fit to our data. Alternatively, the core structure of the polyQ fibrils might also be a zipper layer with antiparallel four-stranded stretches as this structure showed the next best fit. All other remaining arrangements are clearly excluded by the data. Furthermore, the assessed dimensions of the polyQ stretch of each monomer provide structural evidence for the observed polyQ length threshold in HD pathology. Our approach can be used to validate the effect of pharmacological substances that inhibit or alter amyloid growth and structure. Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M114.581991 SN - 0021-9258 SN - 1083-351X VL - 289 IS - 39 SP - 26817 EP - 26828 PB - American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology CY - Bethesda ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Miettinen, Markus S. A1 - Knecht, Volker A1 - Monticelli, Luca A1 - Ignatova, Zoya T1 - Assessing polyglutamine conformation in the nucleating event by molecular dynamics simulations JF - The journal of physical chemistry : B, Condensed matter, materials, surfaces, interfaces & biophysical chemistry N2 - Polyglutamine (polyQ) diseases comprise a group of dominantly inherited pathology caused by an expansion of an unstable polyQ stretch which is presumed to form beta-sheets. Similar to other amyloid pathologies, polyQ amyloidogenesis occurs via a nucleated polymerization mechanism, and proceeds through energetically unfavorable nucleus whose existence and structure are difficult to detect. Here, we use atomistic molecular dynamics simulations in explicit solvent to assess the conformation of the polyQ stretch in the nucleus that initiates polyQ fibrillization. Comparison of the kinetic stability of various structures of polyQ peptide with a Q-length in the pathological range (Q(40)) revealed that steric zipper or nanotube-like structures (beta-nanotube or beta-pseudohelix) are not kinetically stable enough to serve as a template to initiate polyQ fibrillization as opposed to beta-hairpin-based (beta-sheet and beta-sheetstack) or alpha-helical conformations. The selection of different structures of the polyQ stretch in the aggregation-initiating event may provide an alternative explanation for polyQ aggregate polymorphism. Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1021/jp305065c SN - 1520-6106 VL - 116 IS - 34 SP - 10259 EP - 10265 PB - American Chemical Society CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wong-Ekkabut, Jirasak A1 - Miettinen, Markus S. A1 - Dias, Christiano A1 - Karttunen, Mikko T1 - Static charges cannot drive a continuous flow of water molecules through a carbon nanotube Y1 - 2010 UR - http://www.nature.com/nnano U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2010.152 SN - 1748-3387 ER -