Aβ, a 40-42 amino acid peptide, is derived by proteolytic cleavage of an integral membrane protein known as amyloid precursor protein (APP) by the action of beta- and gamma-secretases. Aβ(1-40) and Aβ(1-42) constitute the majority of the Aβ peptide found in human brain and has been considered to play a role in the development and progression of AD [
49]. Aβ(1-42) is the more toxic of these species both
in vitro and
in vivo. Further, a number of studies suggest that the small oligomers of Aβ are the actual toxic species of this peptide rather than Aβ fibrils [
50-
53]. In addition, genetic mutations in genes for APP or presenilin-1 or presenilin-2, which lead to familial AD, have been reported to increase the production of Aβ(1-42) and, consequently, to early onset of AD [
49]. Presenilin-1 and presenilin-2 comprise the catalytic element of gamma-secretase [
54]. Another critical component of gamma-secretase is presenilin enhancer 2 (Pen-2). Pen-2 binds to presenilins and subsequently enhances gamma-secretase activity, thereby accumulating high levels of toxic Aβ (1-42) [
55,
56].
Aβ (1-42) has a critical methionine residue at position 35, which is believed to be associated with the toxicity of Aβ peptide [
57-
61]. Oxidation of the Met
35 produces methionine sulfoxide (MetO) or through further irreversible oxidation, methionine sulfone () [
62]. Methionine sulfoxide can be reduced back to methionine by the enzyme, methionine sulfoxide reductase. This stereospecific reaction is facilitated by thioredoxin and is NADPH-driven [
63]. Methionine sulfoxide modulates oxidative stress and neurotoxic properties of Aβ (1-42), and studies have shown the activity of methionine sulfoxide reductase is reduced in AD brain [
64,
65].
This Met35 residue has been shown to be critical for Aβ(1-42) toxicity and oxidative stress [
57]. The secondary structure of Aβ(1-42), which is helical as a small oligomer in membrane lipid bilayers, contributes to the oxidative stress and neurotoxicity of this peptide [
66]. When Ile31 of Aβ(1-42) is substituted by the helix-breaking amino acid, proline, in the “i + 4” α-helix conformation, no protein oxidation occurs [
66]. A sulfuranyl radical (MetS·
+) results as the lone pair of electrons on the S atom undergo a one-electron oxidation () [
57,
67,
68]. The sulfuranyl radical can initiate free radical chain reactions with allylic H-atoms on unsaturated acyl chains of lipids until a termination step is reached. Sulfuranyl radicals can react with molecular oxygen to produce sulfoxide and superoxide [
69]. Similarly, MetS·
+ can react with oxygen to form MetO [
70], making various proteins inactive [
71]. Aβ (1-40) is a shorter peptide fragment produced from APP, which is also neurotoxic [
72]. There is an abundance of Aβ(1-40) MetO in senile plaques [
73]. The oxidation of this methionine is reported to prevent Aβ(1-40) from forming beta sheets during fibril formation [
74]; therefore, Aβ(1-42) could be more toxic by this mechanism. With the I31P substitution of Aβ(1-42), the interaction of the carboxyl oxygen of Pro31 with the S-atom of Met35 is disrupted, yielding no neurotoxicity or protein oxidation in neurons [
66]. The sulfuranyl radical can react with the methylene moieties of Met to form the α-(alkylthio)alkyl radical of methionine (-CH
2- CH
2-S- CH
2). Others showed, using computer modeling, that the β-sheet conformation of this toxic peptide contains the sulfur-centered radical cation of Met35, which bolsters the creation of an α-carbon centered radical on the Gly33 residue. This gives rise to a hydrophobic environment that is ideal for lipid peroxidation in the lipid bilayer [
75,
76]. The sulfuranyl radical (a positively charged radical) on the Met35 can in principle be stabilized by the helix-associated dipole of the C-terminal end of Aβ(1-42). Since the dipole of Aβ(1-42) would be greater than that of Aβ(1-40), the differential toxicity of Aβ(1-42) and Aβ(1-40) may be related to this characteristic. The importance of the hydrophobic environment of the Met35 residue was evaluated. By substituting aspartic acid for Gly37, the critical methionine residue no longer remained in a hydrophobic environment, and Aβ(1-42) oxidative stress and neurotoxicity was abrogated [
76]. This result suggests that Aβ(1-42)-mediated lipid peroxidation is an early and crucial step in the toxicity of this peptide.
If Gly33 residue is substituted by the hydrophobic amino acid, valine, neurotoxicity is minimal and protein oxidation is significantly reduced in comparison to the wildtype Aβ(1-42) peptide [
77]. Several groups [
58,
59,
61] have confirmed our findings that substitution of the S-atom of Met35 by CH
2 (to make the R-group, norleucine, Nle) abrogates the oxidative stress and neurotoxicity of the resulting peptide [
68]. Other researchers point to the role of Tyr10 as a source of free radicals of Aβ(1-42). This free radical is proposed to reduce Cu
2+ bound to His6, His13, and His14, leading to Cu
+-mediated chemistry to produce OH· [
78,
79]. These researchers point out that rat Aβ(1-42) lacks Tyr10 and is not toxic. However, substitution of Tyr10 by Phe (to keep aromaticity present but to prevent any possible electron flow in contrast to this possibility with Tyr), as well as substitution of three His residues by Asn (which binds Cu
2+ at least 100-fold less than His) led to a toxic peptide similar to native human Aβ(1-42) [
57]. Also rat Aβ(1-42) was shown to be toxic upon longer incubation with neurons [
80]. The p3 fragment of human Aβ(1-42), Aβ(17-42), which does not contain Tyr10 or His6, His13, and His14, was reported to be toxic [
60]. This Met-containing peptide, which is present in AD brain, was no longer toxic if the Met35 was substituted by Nle [
60]. The dissociation constant of Cu
2+ binding to Aβ(1-42) was resigned to be attomolar [
79]. While some of these researchers propose an AD therapy based on Cu
2+ chelation using clioquinol, which has a K
d of nanomolar [
81], the nine orders of magnitude difference in affinity of Cu
2+ between Aβ(1-42) and clioquinol make it unlikely that the effectiveness of this agent is correctly ascribed to its chelating ability. However, we propose that clioquinol could chelate relevant weakly bound Cu
2+, for example if Cu
2+ were loosely bound to Met35 of Aβ(1-42). This scenario would account for the oxidation of Met to a sulfuranyl radical while Cu
2+ would be reduced to Cu
+, from whence further oxidative chemistry conceivably could ensue. Further investigation will be required to test this notion. Thus, while a role for Cu
2+/Cu
+ in the oxidative stress and neurotoxicity of Aβ(1-42) can not be excluded, it appears that there is a paramount role of Met35 in these properties.
Finally, several researchers employ the 11-mer, Aβ(25-35), as a model for the AD-relevant (but more costly) Aβ(1-42). Even in the case of the 11-mer, substitution of the C-terminal Met by Nle abrogated the free radical oxidative stress induced by this shorter peptide as did use of the 10-mer Aβ(25-34) [
68]. Moreover, because Met is C-terminal in Aβ(25-35), while Met is intrachain in Aβ (1-42), the mechanism by which the sulfuranyl free radical on Met35 is generated is different in these two peptides [
68]. This fact, coupled with the absence of evidence for Aβ(25-35) in AD brain, suggests to us that use of Aβ(25-35), though of possible academic interest, is of no relevance for gaining insight into AD.