Monosialoganglioside-GM1 triggers binding of the amyloid-protein salmon calcitonin to a Langmuir membrane model mimicking the occurrence of lipid-rafts

GM1 ganglioside is known to be involved in the amyloid-associated diseases and it is a crucial factor for the assembly of amyloid proteins on lipid-rafts, which are lipid structures located on the synaptic plasma membranes. Due to its slow aggregation rate, we employed salmon calcitonin (sCT) as a suitable probe representative of amyloid proteins, to study the interaction between this class of proteins and a membrane model. Here, we prepared a neuronal membrane model by depositing onto mica two Langmuir-Blodgett films in liquid-condensed phase: the outer monolayer was characterized by high content of GM1 (50%) and minority parts of cholesterol and POPC (25–25%), while the inner one by plain POPC. To deeply investigate the interaction of sCT with this model and the role-played by GM1, we prepared the outer leaflet adding sCT at a concentration such that the number of proteins equals that of GM1. Atomic Force Microscopy revealed the occurrence of two distinct kinds of flat surfaces, with globular aggregates localized exclusively on top of the highest one. To unravel the nature of the interaction, we studied by ζ-potential technique liposomes composed as the outer leaflet of the model. Results demonstrated that an electrostatic interaction sCT-GM1 occurred. Finally, to investigate the interaction thermodynamics between sCT and the outer leaflet, Langmuir films as the outer monolayer and containing increasing content of sCT were studied by compression isotherms and Brewster Angle Microscopy experiments. Based on the all body of results we propose an interaction model where GM1 plays a pivotal role.