Induction, inhibition, and incorporation: Different roles for anionic and zwitterionic lysolipids in the fibrillation of the functional amyloid FapC

Amyloid proteins are widespread in nature both as pathological species involved in several diseases and as functional entities that can provide protection and storage for the organism. Lipids have been found in amyloid deposits from various amyloid diseases and have been shown to strongly affect the formation and structure of both pathological and functional amyloid proteins. Here, we investigate how fibrillation of the functional amyloid FapC from Pseudomonas is affected by two lysolipids, the zwitterionic lipid 1-myristoyl-2-hydroxy-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine and the anionic lipid 1-myristoyl-2-hydroxy-sn-glycero-3-phospho-(1′-rac-glycerol) (LPG). Small-angle X-ray scattering, circular dichroism, dynamic light scattering, and thioflavin T fluorescence measurements were performed simultaneously on the same sample to ensure reproducibility and allow a multimethod integrated analysis. We found that LPG strongly induces fibrillation around its critical micelle concentration (cmc) by promoting formation of large structures, which mature via accumulation of intermediate fibril structures with a large cross section. At concentrations above its cmc, LPG strongly inhibits fibrillation by locking FapC in a core–shell complex. In contrast, lipid 1-myristoyl-2-hydroxy-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine induces fibrillation at concentrations above its cmc, not via strong interactions with FapC but by being incorporated during fibrillation and likely stabilizing the fibrillation nucleus to reduce the lag phase. Finally, we show that LPG is not incorporated into the fibril during assembly but rather can coat the final fibril. We conclude that lipids affect both the mechanism and outcome of fibrillation of functional amyloid, highlighting a role for lipid concentration and composition in the onset and mechanism of fibrillation in vivo.