Taurine Stabilizing Effect on Lysozyme

Taurine is an important organic osmolyte in mammalian cells, and it weakens inflammationand oxidative stress mediated injuries in some diseases. Recently, taurine has been demonstratedto play a therapeutic role against neurodegenerative disorders, although its parallel involvement inseveral biochemical mechanisms makes not clear taurine specific role in these diseases. Furthermore,the stabilizing effect of this molecule in terms of protein stability is known, but not deeply investigated.In this work we explore by Circular Dichroism the stabilizing impact of taurine in lysozyme thermaldenaturation and its influence in lysozyme aggregation into amyloid fibrils. Taurine even at lowconcentration modifies protein-protein interactions in lysozyme native state, as revealed by SmallAngle X-ray Scattering experiments, and alters the amyloid aggregation pattern without completelyinhibiting it, as confirmed by UV/Vis spectroscopy with Congo Red and by Atomic Force Microscopy.Evaluation of the cytotoxicities of the amyloid fibrils grown in presence or in absence of taurine isinvestigated on SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells.