Hexa-Histidine, a Peptide with Versatile Applications in the Study of Amyloid-β(1-42) Molecular Mechanisms of Action

Amyloid beta (A beta) oligomers are the most neurotoxic forms of A beta, and A beta(1-42) is the prevalent A beta peptide found in the amyloid plaques of Alzheimer's disease patients. A beta(25-35) is the shortest peptide that retains the toxicity of A beta(1-42). A beta oligomers bind to calmodulin (CaM) and calbindin-D28k with dissociation constants in the nanomolar A beta(1-42) concentration range. A beta and histidine-rich proteins have a high affinity for transition metal ions Cu2+, Fe3+ and Zn2+. In this work, we show that the fluorescence of A beta(1-42) HiLyte (TM)-Fluor555 can be used to monitor hexa-histidine peptide (His(6)) interaction with A beta(1-42). The formation of His(6)/A beta(1-42) complexes is also supported by docking results yielded by the MDockPeP Server. Also, we found that micromolar concentrations of His(6) block the increase in the fluorescence of A beta(1-42) HiLyte (TM)-Fluor555 produced by its interaction with the proteins CaM and calbindin-D28k. In addition, we found that the His(6)-tag provides a high-affinity site for the binding of A beta(1-42) and A beta(25-35) peptides to the human recombinant cytochrome b(5) reductase, and sensitizes this enzyme to inhibition by these peptides. In conclusion, our results suggest that a His(6)-tag could provide a valuable new tool to experimentally direct the action of neurotoxic A beta peptides toward selected cellular targets.