The Inhibition Effect of Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate on the Co-Aggregation of Amyloid- and Human Islet Amyloid Polypeptide Revealed by Replica Exchange Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Alzheimer's disease and Type 2 diabetes are two epidemiologically linked diseases which are closely associated with the misfolding and aggregation of amyloid proteins amyloid-beta (A beta) and human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP), respectively. The co-aggregation of the two amyloid proteins is regarded as the fundamental molecular mechanism underlying their pathological association. The green tea extract epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) has been extensively demonstrated to inhibit the amyloid aggregation of A beta and hIAPP proteins. However, its potential role in amyloid co-aggregation has not been thoroughly investigated. In this study, we employed the enhanced-sampling replica exchange molecular dynamics simulation (REMD) method to investigate the effect of EGCG on the co-aggregation of A beta and hIAPP. We found that EGCG molecules substantially diminish the beta-sheet structures within the amyloid core regions of A beta and hIAPP in their co-aggregates. Through hydrogen-bond, pi-pi and cation-pi interactions targeting polar and aromatic residues of A beta and hIAPP, EGCG effectively attenuates both inter-chain and intra-chain interactions within the co-aggregates. All these findings indicated that EGCG can effectively inhibit the co-aggregation of A beta and hIAPP. Our study expands the potential applications of EGCG as an anti-amyloidosis agent and provides therapeutic options for the pathological association of amyloid misfolding disorders.