PrP106–126 amide causes the semi-penetrated poration in the supported lipid bilayers

A major hallmark of prion diseases is the cerebral amyloid accumulation of the pathogenic PrPSc, an abnormally misfolded, protease-resistant, and β-sheet rich protein. PrP106–126 is the key domain responsible for the conformational conversion and aggregation of PrP. It shares important physicochemical characteristics with PrPSc and presents similar neurotoxicity as PrPSc. By combination of fluorescence polarization, dye release assay and in situ time-lapse atomic force microscopy (AFM), we investigated the PrP106–126 amide interacting with the large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs) and the supported lipid bilayers (SLBs). The results suggest that the interactions involve a poration-mediated process: firstly, the peptide binding results in the formation of pores in the membranes, which penetrate only half of the membranes; subsequently, PrP106–126 amide undergoes the poration-mediated diffusion in the SLBs, represented by the formation and expansion of the flat high-rise domains (FHDs). The possible mechanisms of the interactions between PrP106–126 amide and lipid membranes are proposed based on our observations.