Crystallin-Derived Mini-Chaperones as Protein Aggregation Inhibitors

描述(由申请人提供)：许多不同的疾病，包括白内障、某些类型的青光眼、阿尔茨海默病、糖尿病和癌症，现在已知具有聚集、错误折叠或修饰的蛋白质沉积的共同特征。这组疾病的病理特征是特定细胞、组织或器官中的蛋白质聚集和沉积。病理上的相似性表明，控制蛋白质相互作用的共同原则是蛋白质错误折叠退行性疾病的基础。因此，当蛋白质折叠/聚集问题在每种疾病中相同时，为一种构象疾病开发的治疗模式也可能适用于另一种构象疾病。晶状体晶体蛋白聚集和白内障形成是蛋白质错误折叠和聚集疾病的典型例子。随着时间的推移，晶状体中晶体蛋白聚集的累积效应会导致年龄相关性白内障的形成。在某些形式的青光眼中，蛋白myocin在小梁网络中错误折叠和聚集，干扰房水流出，导致眼压升高。该项目的目标是开发对蛋白质错误折叠和聚集起抑制作用的治疗性分子。我们的体外研究表明，α-晶状体蛋白的加入阻止了变性/去折叠蛋白质的聚集和光散射的进一步增加。我们还发现，α-晶体蛋白亚基中的特定序列具有抑制变性蛋白聚集的能力。然而，α-晶体蛋白衍生的多肽(迷你伴侣)的全部潜力尚未实现。我们建议开发1-晶体蛋白衍生的多肽，并测试它们作为活性迷你伴侣的功能，能够抑制晶体蛋白和肌球蛋白的聚集。具体目标如下：1.基于AA-晶体蛋白衍生的小分子伴侣序列，设计合成蛋白质相互作用的多肽调节剂(S)。B)用基于细胞培养的方法鉴定新发现的迷你伴侣(S)的体内活性。特定目的2：研究迷你-AA-晶状体蛋白伴侣蛋白抑制引起青光眼的突变型肌球蛋白聚集的可能性。多肽治疗蛋白质聚集性疾病的成功发展将提供新的治疗方法。这些创新的研究将让我们对蛋白质错误折叠疾病的潜在干预有新的见解，不仅是眼睛，还有身体的其他部位。这一努力将扩大对广泛的蛋白质错误折叠疾病的治疗策略。 与公共卫生相关：白内障和青光眼，以及许多其他疾病，都是由于细胞内蛋白质的异常相互作用造成的。这项研究的目标是开发和测试晶状体蛋白1-晶体蛋白衍生的多肽作为能够抑制蛋白质聚集的活性迷你伴侣。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): A large number of diverse diseases, including cataract, some types of glaucoma, Alzheimer disease, diabetes and cancer to name only a few, are now known to share the common feature of aggregated, misfolded or modified protein deposits. The pathological hallmark in this group of diseases is protein aggregation and deposition in specific cells, tissues or organs. The pathological similarities indicate that common principles that govern protein interactions underlie protein misfolding degenerative diseases. Therefore, a therapeutic modality developed for one conformational disease might also be applicable to another conformational disease when the protein folding/aggregation problem is the same in each disease. Lens crystallin aggregation and cataractogenesis is a classic example of a protein misfolding and aggregation disease. Over time, the cumulative effects of crystallin aggregation in the lens results in age-related cataract formation. In certain forms of glaucoma, the protein myocilin misfolds and aggregates in the trabecular meshwork, interfering with the outflow of aqueous humor and causing elevated intraocular pressure. The goal of this project is to develop therapeutic molecules that exert inhibitory actions on protein misfolding and aggregation. Our in vitro studies have shown that the addition of a-crystallin to aggregating proteins stops a further increase in aggregation and light scattering of denaturing/unfolding proteins. We have also found that specific sequences in a-crystallin subunits have the capacity to suppress aggregation of denaturing proteins. However, the full potential of a-crystallin-derived peptides (mini-chaperones) is yet to be realized. We propose to develop 1-crystallin-derived peptides and test their function as active mini-chaperones capable of suppressing crystallin and myocilin protein aggregation. The Specific Aims are the following: Specific Aim 1. a) Design and synthesize peptide modulator(s) of protein-protein interactions based on the aA-crystallin-derived mini-chaperone sequence. b) Characterize the in vivo activity of the newly identified mini-chaperone(s) using cell culture-based assay methods. Specific Aim 2: Investigate the potential of mini-aA-crystallin chaperone for suppressing aggregation of glaucoma-causing mutant myocilin. Successful development of peptide-based therapeutics for protein aggregation diseases will offer new therapeutic approaches. These innovative studies will give us new insights into potential interventions for protein misfolding diseases, not only of the eye but also of other parts of the body. This effort would expand the therapeutic strategies for wide range of protein misfolding diseases. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Cataract and glaucoma, along with a host of other diseases, result from abnormal interaction of proteins in the cells. The goals of this research are to develop and test lens protein 1-crystallin-derived peptides as active mini-chaperones capable of suppressing protein aggregation.