Comparison of AA Amyloid Fibril Morphology and Serum Amyloid A Gene Sequence in 5 Animal Species

Abstract

Amyloid fibrils are characterized by a linear morphology and a cross-β structure. Polymorphic and multiple fibril morphologies can be found when amyloid fibrils are extracted from amyloid-laden tissue. In this study, we report on the purification and transmission electron microscopic analysis of amyloid fibrils from 5 different animal species (mouse, cow, goat, dog, and camel) with AA amyloidosis. The results show that amyloid fibrils had a linear morphology with a cross-structure and irregular length in vivo. Although the fibrils from these different species showed highly similar conformations, there were significant differences in fibril width and crossover distance. We analyzed the sequences of homologous amyloid proteins and serum amyloid A, an evolutionarily conserved protein and a major amyloid precursor. We found 78.23% homology between the most distant amyloid proteins. The findings suggested similar fibril width and crossover distance in different animal species that displayed high homology of amyloid protein sequences. Dog and camel, as well as goat and cow, showed high genetic homology and similar fibril morphology. These data indicate that the fibrils from different animal species have similar genetic homology and morphology, which may provide a better understanding of the pathogenesis of amyloidosis.

Keywords: amyloid A amyloidosis; amyloid fibrils; animal species; homology; serum amyloid A.