The structure of amyloid-β (1–42) oligomers in membrane-mimetic environments

Aggregation of the amyloid-β peptide (Aβ) characterises and probably causes Alzheimer's disease. While lipid-mediated Aβ aggregation has been extensively studied for the 40-residue variant Aβ40, the interaction of the 42-residue variant Aβ42 with membranes has received less attention. Our time-resolved infrared spectra demonstrate that Aβ42 oligomers preserve their β-sheet structure in aqueous solution also in a membrane-mimicking environment consisting of either 1-hexadecanoyl-2-(9Z-octadecenoyl)-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC, zwitterionic) or 1-hexadecanoyl-2-(9Z-octadecenoyl)-sn-glycero-3-phospho-(1'racglycerol) (POPG, anionic) vesicles. Structure and formation of β-sheets is mainly unaffected by the presence of lipids, with only slight effects observed during the initial oligomer formation at low temperatures. Isotope-edited infrared experiments reveal that the V18 residue is located in β-sheets in the presence and in the absence of lipids. This is in contrast to the detergent sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), which prevents the inclusion of V18 in stable β-sheets and therefore does not mimic our model membranes in its interactions with Aβ42. The insensitivity of Aβ42 to the presence of lipid vesicles can be explained by the distinct aggregation behaviour of Aβ42, compared to Aβ40: its faster formation of presumably more stable and/or larger aggregates prevents significant membrane interaction. We conclude that models of Aβ42 oligomer structure obtained in aqueous solutions bear relevance also in the presence of biological membranes.