N- and C-terminal regions of ?B-crystallin and Hsp27 mediate inhibition of amyloid nucleation, fibril binding, and fibril disaggregation

Abstract

Small heat-shock proteins (sHSPs) are ubiquitously expressed molecular chaperones that inhibit amyloid fibril formation; however, their mechanisms of action remain poorly understood. sHSPs comprise a conserved α-crystallin domain flanked by variable N- and C-terminal regions. To investigate the functional contributions of these three regions, we compared the chaperone activities of various constructs of human αB-crystallin (HSPB5) and heat-shock 27-kDa protein (Hsp27, HSPB1) during amyloid formation by α-synuclein and apolipoprotein C-II. Using an array of approaches, including thioflavin T fluorescence assays and sedimentation analysis, we found that the N-terminal region of Hsp27 and the t..