Aamir Sohail

Conformational transitions induced by in vitro macromolecular crowding lead to the amyloidogenesis of buffalo heart cystatin

The biological cells and extracellular matrix exhibit a highly crowded environment, called as macromolecular crowding. Crowding significantly influences protein structure and may lead to its aggregation. In the present study, buffalo heart cystatin (BHC), after purification from buffalo heart tissue, has been used as a model protein for studying effect of macromolecular crowding in the presence of high concentrations of bovine serum albumin (BSA), poly‐ethylene glycol‐1000 (PEG‐1000), and poly‐ethylene glycol‐4000 (PEG‐4000). Cystatins are thiol protease inhibitors and found to be involved in various important physiological processes. Functional inactivation of BHC was observed upon crowding, which varied as a function of concentration and molecular weight of crowding agents as well as incubation time. Structural changes of BHC at tertiary and secondary level were detected with the help of fluorescence and CD spectroscopy. CD analysis showed changes of α‐helix to β‐sheet, which could be due to aggregation. The ANS‐fluorescence study suggested the unfolding and presence of some partially folded intermediates. Increase in ThT‐fluorescence and absorption of Congo red spectra with red shift, confirmed the amyloid type aggregation of BHC in the presence of various crowding agents. Finally, electron microscopy provided the physical evidence about the formation of amyloid fibrils. Results suggested that among the various crowding agents used, amyloidogenesis of BHC was maximal in case of BSA followed by PEG‐4000 and least for PEG‐1000. The present work makes an important contribution in crowding mediated protein aggregation, which can have implications of potential interest. Copyright

Deciphering the interaction of bovine heart cystatin with ZnO nanoparticles: Spectroscopic and thermodynamic approach

ZnO-NPs have been widely used in biomedical fields such as therapeutics, cellular imaging, and drug delivery. However, the risk of exposure of nanoparticles to the biological system is not well understood. Nanoparticle-protein interaction is pivotal to understand their biological behavior and predict nanoparticle toxicity that is crucial for its safer applications. In the present study zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) were synthesized and subjected to interact with buffalo heart cystatin (BHC), purified from buffalo heart, to assess the effect(s) of ZnO-NPs on the structure and function of BHC. In vitro toxicity assessments revealed that BHC, upon interaction with ZnO-NPs, led to the altered protein conformation and perturbed function. A decrease in the anti-papain activity of BHC was observed. Spectroscopic studies demonstrated that formation of BHC-ZnO-NPs complex accompanied by structural changes in BHC along with a significant decrease in its α-helical content. ITC determined the thermodynamic parameters of binding between ZnO-NPs and BHC quantitatively. Increased surface hydrophobicity (change in the tertiary structure) was observed by ANS fluorescence that demonstrated the formation of molten globular intermediates that were found to be stable without any signs of aggregation as depicted by ThT fluorescence. TEM images gave the physical evidence of the formation of ZnO-NPs-BHC corona.

Isolation and purification of phytocystatin from almond: Biochemical, biophysical, and immunological characterization

Abstract It is well known that fruit nuts contain wide variety of flavonoids and various proteins, consumption of which has been associated with the reduced risk of chronic diseases. Cystatins, a family of cysteine proteinase inhibitors, ubiquitously present in all cells serve various important and critical physiological functions. In this study a phytocystatin with molecular mass of 63.4 kDa was purified to homogeneity by a three-step process including ammonium sulfate fractionation (50–70%), acetone precipitation, and gel filtration chromatography on Sephacryl S100-HR column. The purified inhibitor migrated as single band under native and SDS-PAGE. The Ki values for purified inhibitor with papain, ficin, and bromelain were found to be 45.45, 83.33, and 90.9 nM, respectively, suggesting higher affinity of the inhibitor for papain as compared to ficin and bromelain. Phytocystatin was stable in broad pH and temperature range. Purified cystatin appeared to be antigenic as observed in western blot analysis. ITC assay data show a binding stoichiometry of 0.870 ± 0.03 sites for cystatin and papain interaction which indicated that cystatin is surrounded by nearly one papain molecule. FTIR, UV, and fluorescence studies showed significant conformational changes on cystatin–papain complex formation. Purified cystatin was found to possess 36.8% α-helical content as observed by CD spectroscopy.

Synthesis, molecular docking and biological evaluation of new steroidal 4H-pyrans.

A series of new steroidal 4H-pyrans (4-6) have been synthesized from steroidal α, β-unsaturated ketones (1-3). The products (4-6) were characterized by IR, (1)H NMR, (13)C NMR, MS and analytical data. The interaction studies of compounds (4-6) with DNA were carried out by employing gel electrophoresis, UV-vis and fluorescence spectroscopy. The gel electrophoresis pattern revealed that compounds (4-6) bind to DNA and also demonstrated that the compound 6 alone or in presence of Cu (II) causes the nicking of supercoiled pBR322. The compounds 4 and 5 bind to DNA preferentially through electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions with Kb values found to be 5.3×10(3) and 3.7×10(3) M(-1), respectively, indicating the higher binding affinity of compound 4 towards DNA. The docking study suggested the intercalation of compounds in between the nucleotide base pairs. The cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of the newly synthesized compounds were checked by MTT and comet assay, respectively during which compound 6 showed potential behaviour.

Glycation induced conformational transitions in cystatin proceed to form biotoxic aggregates: A multidimensional analysis

Hyperglycaemic conditions facilitate the glycation of serum proteins which may have predisposition to aggregation and thus lead to complications. The current study investigates the glycation induced structural and functional modifications of chickpea cystatin (CPC) as well as biological toxicity of the modified protein forms, using CPC-glucose as a model system. Several structural intermediates were formed during the incubation of CPC with glucose (day 4, 8, 12, & 16) as revealed by circular dichroism (CD), altered intrinsic fluorescence, and high ANS binding. Further incubation of CPC with glucose (day 21) formed abundant β structures as revealed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and CD analysis which may be due to the aggregation of protein. High thioflavin T fluorescence intensity and increased Congo red absorbance together with enhanced turbidity and Rayleigh scattering by this modified form confirmed the aggregation. Electron microscopy finally provided the valid physical authentication about the presence of aggregate structures. Functional inactivation of glucose incubated CPC was also observed with time. Single cell electrophoresis of lymphocytes and plasmid nicking assays in the presence of modified CPC showed the DNA damage which confirmed its biological toxicity. Hence, our study suggests that glycation of CPC not only leads to structural and functional alterations in proteins but also to biotoxic AGEs and aggregates.

Investigating the preventive effects of baicalin and gallocatechin against glyoxal-induced cystatin aggregation

Several mammalian proteins form pathological deposits under nonphysiological conditions that are associated with many degenerative diseases. Protein aggregation is associated with aging, as well as a variety of diseases, including cystic fibrosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. There is a lack of any potential anti-amyloidogenic agents and therapeutics till date. Polyphenols have been accredited with myriad biological effects. An analysis of the effects of natural agents like baicalin (BC) and gallocatechin (GC) on aggregation process can open new avenues for the treatment of protein misfolding diseases. Thus, investigation of the effects of these flavonoids on Buffalo Heart Cystatin (BHC) aggregation induced by a reactive metabolic dialdehyde, glyoxal (GO), was taken up. Results have shown that elevated concentration of GO forms aggregates of BHC, which was characterized by an increase in the ANS fluorescence intensity, an increase in ThT fluorescence intensity, red shift in Congo red absorbance, negative ellipticity peak at 217 nm in the far-UVCD and BHC aggregates displaying by TEM. Using fluorescence spectroscopic analysis with Thioflavin T, CD and electron microscopic studies, anti-aggregation effects of polyphenols, BC and GC were analyzed. The study showed that BC and GC produced concentration-dependent anti-aggregation effects with GC producing a more pronounced effect than BC. The study proposed a mechanistic approach assuming structural constraints and specific aromatic interactions of polyphenols with sheets of BHC aggregates.