The β-amyloid peptide (Aβ) aggregation in the brain, known as amyloid plaques, is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The aberrant interaction of Cu(2+) ion with Aβ potentiates AD by inducing Aβ aggregation and generating neurotoxic reactive oxygen species (ROS). In this study, the biosynthesized recombinant Aβ(1-40) was, for the first time, used to investigate the mechanism for heme to prevent Aβ(1-40) aggregation and its cytotoxicity. Cell viability studies of SH-SY5Y cells and rat primary hippocampal neurons showed that exogenous heme can protect the cells by reducing cytotoxicity in the presence of Cu(2+) and/or Aβ(1-40). UV-vis spectroscopy, circular dichroism spectroscopy, and differential pulse voltammetry were applied to examine the interaction between heme and Aβ(1-40). It was proven that a heme-Aβ(1-40) complex is formed and can stabilize the α-helix structure of Aβ(1-40) to inhibit Aβ(1-40) aggregation. The heme-Aβ(1-40) complex possesses peroxidase activity and it may catalyze the decomposition of H(2)O(2), reduce the generation of ROS downstream, and ultimately protect the cells. These results indicated that exogenous heme is able to alleviate the cytotoxicity induced by Aβ(1-40) and Cu(2+). This information may be a foundation to develop a potential strategy to treat AD.

Aggregation and cytotoxicity of Aβ with redox-active metals in neuronal cells have been implicated in the progression of Alzheimer disease. Human metallothionein (MT) 3 is highly expressed in the normal human brain and is downregulated in Alzheimer disease. Zn(7)MT3 can protect against the neuronal toxicity of Aβ by preventing copper-mediated Aβ aggregation, abolishing the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the related cellular toxicity. In this study, we intended to decipher the roles of single-domain proteins (α/β) and the α-β domain-domain interaction of Zn(7)MT3 to determine the molecular mechanism for protection against the neuronal cytotoxicity of Aβ(1-42) with copper ions. With this in mind, the α and β single-domain proteins, heterozygous β(MT3)-α(MT1), and a linker-truncated mutant ∆31-34 were prepared and characterized. In the presence/absence of various Zn(7)MT3 proteins, the Aβ(1-42)-Cu(2+)-mediated aggregation, the production of ROS, and the cellular toxicity were investigated by transmission electron microscopy, ROS assay by means of a fluorescent probe, and SH-SY5Y cell viability, respectively. The β domain cannot abolish Aβ(1-42)-Cu(2+)-induced aggregation, and neither the β domain nor the α domain can quench the production of ROS because of the redox cycling of Aβ-Cu(2+). Similarly to wild-type Zn(7)MT3, the heterozygous β(MT3)-α(MT1) possesses the characteristic of alleviating Aβ(1-42) aggregation and oxidative stress to neuronal cells. Therefore, the two domains through the linker Lys-Lys-Ser form a cooperative unit, and each of them is indispensable in conducting its bioactivity. The α domain plays an important role in modulating the stability of the metal-thiolate cluster, and the α-β domain-domain interaction through the linker is critical for its protective role in the brain.

Neuronal growth inhibitory factor (GIF), also known as metallothionein (metallothionein-3), impairs the survival and neurite formation of cultured neurons. It is known that the α-β domain-domain interaction of hGIF is crucial to the neuron growth inhibitory bioactivity although the exact mechanism is not clear. Herein, the β(MT3)-β(MT3) mutant and the hGIF-truncated Δ33-35 mutant were constructed, and their biochemical properties were characterized by pH titration, EDTA, and DTNB reactions. Their inhibitory activity toward neuron survival and neurite extension was also examined. We found that the Δ33-35 mutant α-domain containing β-domain-like M3S9 cluster exhibits the function of α-domain with M4S11 cluster in hGIF. These results showed that the stability and solvent accessibility of the metal-thiolate cluster in β-domain is very significant to the neuronal growth inhibitory activity of hGIF and also indicated that the particular primary structure of α-domain is pivotal to domain-domain interaction in hGIF.