Effect of ambient polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and nicotine on the structure of Aβ42 protein
Kaumbekova S. Torkmahalleh M.A. Sakaguchi N. Umezawa M. Shah D.
February 2023Higher Education Press Limited Company
Frontiers of Environmental Science and Engineering
2023#17Issue 2
Recent studies have correlated the chronic impact of ambient environmental pollutants like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) with the progression of neurodegenerative disorders, either by using statistical data from various cities, or via tracking biomarkers during in-vivo experiments. Among different neurodegenerative disorders, PAHs are known to cause increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease, related to the development of amyloid beta (Aβ) peptide oligomers. However, the complex molecular interactions between peptide monomers and organic pollutants remains obscured. In this work, we performed an atomistic molecular dynamics study via GROMACS to investigate the structure of Aβ42 peptide monomer in the presence of benzo[a]pyrene, nicotine, and phenanthrene. Interestingly the results revealed strong hydrophobic, and hydrogen-bond based interactions between Aβ peptides and these environmental pollutants that resulted in the formation of stable intermolecular clusters. The strong interactions affected the secondary structure of the Aβ42 peptide in the presence of the organic pollutants, with almost 50 % decrease in the α-helix and 2 %–10 % increase in the β-sheets of the peptide. Overall, the undergoing changes in the secondary structure of the peptide monomer in the presence of the pollutants under the study indicates an enhanced formation of Aβ peptide oligomers, and consequent progression of Alzheimer’s disease. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]
Alzheimer’s disease , Aβ42 peptide , Environmental pollution , Molecular dynamics simulations , Nicotine , Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons , toxicology
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Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, School of Engineering and Digital Sciences, Nazarbayev University, Kabanbay Batyr 53, Nur-Sultan, 010000, Kazakhstan
Department of Materials Science and Technology, Faculty of Advanced Engineering, Tokyo University of Science, 6-3-1 Niijuku, Katsushika, Tokyo, 125-8585, Japan
Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering
Department of Materials Science and Technology
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