p amyloid-forming sequence did not induce aggregation, indicating that the observed effect was MedChemExpress BGJ 398 specific to the wild type sequence. To determine if the peptide-induced adhesion was accompanied by formation of amyloid-like interactions, cells were stained with thioflavin T. The small Als5pV326N aggregates lacked intense thioflavin T fluorescence. In contrast, aggregates formed from Als5pV326N-expressing cells in the presence of peptide exhibited more intense fluorescence. In the presence of peptide, there was also increased fluorescence of V326N soluble protein is deficient in amyloid formation and maintains native substrate binding activity We expressed the V326N mutation in two soluble versions of the Als5p protein: Als5p1-431, including the Ig-like and Thr-rich amyloid region; and Als5p1-664, which also includes the tandem repeat region. The proteins containing the V326N substitution were purified by published procedures and did not form amyloid fibers visible by electron microscopy. When these soluble proteins were tested in modified ELISA assays for in vitro binding to fibronectin and polystyrene, the 4 March 2011 | Volume 6 | Issue 3 | e17632 Amyloids in Cell Aggregation and Biofilms the aggregates formed from C. albicans or Als5pWT-expressing S. cerevisiae. Thus, exogenous amyloid-forming homologous sequence peptide induced increased aggregation in non-amyloid cells, and increased amyloid fluorescence in aggregating cells as well. Non-amyloid V326N peptide blocks aggregation Since the amyloid-forming peptide potentiated aggregation of the Als5pV326N-expressing strain, we hypothesized that the mutant peptide 
would block cell aggregation. All strains were incubated with the V326N peptide during the bead assay. This peptide strongly inhibited aggregation, including Als5pWT-expressing S. cerevisiae and C. albicans. The few remaining aggregates looked similar to those observed with Als5pV326N. This peptide did not have an effect on either empty vector or Als5pV326N strains. A scrambled V326N peptide did not block aggregation indicating that the inhibitory effect is specific to the V326N sequence. March 2011 | Volume 6 | Issue 3 | e17632 Amyloids in Cell Aggregation and Biofilms Given 10667210 that the V326N peptide blocked formation of aggregates in C. albicans and Als5pWT-expressing S. cerevisiae, we tested whether it prevented formation of amyloid-like interactions. In these strains, thioflavin T fluorescence was strongly reduced in the presence of V326N peptide. The peptide had no effect on the fluorescence of the empty vector and Als5pV326N aggregates. These results show that the V326N peptide blocked amyloid formation and aggregation mediated by Als5p in S. cerevisiae, as well as aggregation in C. albicans. abrogate adherence to plastic and biofilm-like 10608867 aggregation, and conversely that an activator of amyloid formation facilitates biofilm formation. AFM resolves Als adhesion nanodomains in S. cerevisae and C. albicans cells Lastly, we used single-molecule AFM to probe the distribution of Als proteins in living C. albicans cells, with the aim to determine whether they are initially evenly distributed and clustered following application of force, as are Als proteins on S. cerevisiae. Yeast cells were trapped into porous polymer membranes, and analyzed using topographic imaging and spatially-resolved force spectroscopy. We first analyzed the S. cerevisiae surface display model expressing V5-tagged Als5p proteins using AFM tips bearing anti-V5
