X-ray crystallographic studies of two transthyretin variants: further insights into amyloidogenesis

Transthyretin (TTR) is a homotetrameric plasma protein that, as a result of a set of not yet fully characterized conformational changes, forms fibrillar aggregates that are the major protein component of amyloid deposits. More than 80 mutations associated with TTR amyloid deposition have been described in the literature. X-ray crystallography was used to elucidate the three-dimensional structure of two important TTR variants: TTR Y78F, an amyloidogenic protein, and TTR R104H, which is associated with a protective effect over the amyloidogenic V30M mutation. The structures of those two TTR variants have been determined in space group P2₁2₁2 to 1.55 and 1.60 Å resolution, respectively, using molecular-replacement techniques. Detailed analysis of the protein model for TTR Y78F indicates a destabilization of the contacts between the α-helix and AB loop and the body of the molecule, intimately related to the amyloidogenic nature; contrastingly, in the TTR R104H variant new contacts involving the N-terminal region and His104 are clearly antagonists of amyloid formation.