Related papers: Probing the Mechanisms of Fibril Formation Using L…
We develop a general theory for three states of equilibrium of amyloid peptides: the monomer, oligomer, and fibril. We assume that the oligomeric state is a disordered micelle-like collection of a few peptide chains held together loosely by…
Polypeptides can self-assemble into hierarchically organized fibrils consisting of a stack of individually folded polypeptides driven together by hydrophobic interaction. Using a coarse grained model, we systematically studied this…
We present and study a minimal structure-based model for the self-assembly of peptides into ordered beta-sheet-rich fibrils. The peptides are represented by unit-length sticks on a cubic lattice and interact by hydrogen bonding and…
Amyloid fibers are aggregates of proteins. They are built out of a peptide called $\beta$--amyloid (A$\beta$) containing between 41 and 43 residues, produced by the action of an enzyme which cleaves a much larger protein known as the…
Using lattice models we explore the factors that determine the tendencies of polypeptide chains to aggregate by exhaustively sampling the sequence and conformational space. The morphologies of the fibril-like structures and the time scales…
Many different proteins self-aggregate into insoluble fibrils growing apically by reversible addition of elementary building blocks. But beyond this common principle, the modalities of fibril formation are very disparate, with various…
The self-assembly of proteins into $\beta$-sheet-rich amyloid fibrils has been observed to occur with sigmoidal kinetics, indicating that the system initially is trapped in a metastable state. Here, we use a minimal lattice-based model to…
The importance of understanding the mechanism of protein aggregation into insoluble amyloid fibrils relies not only on its medical consequences, but also on its more basic properties of self--organization. The discovery that a large number…
Proteinaceous aggregation occurs through self-assembly-- a process not entirely understood. In a recent article [1], an analytical theory for amyloid fibril growth via secondary rather than primary nucleation was presented. Remarkably, with…
The need to understand the assembly kinetics of fibril formation has become urgent because of the realization that soluble oligomers of amyloidogenic peptides may be even more neurotoxic than the end product, namely, the amyloid fibrils. In…
Self-assembly of proteins is a biological phenomenon which gives rise to spontaneous formation of amyloid fibrils or polymers. The starting point of this phase, called nucleation exhibits an important variability among replicated…
Using lattice models we explore the factors that determine the tendencies of polypeptide chains to aggregate by exhaustively sampling the sequence and conformational space. The morphologies of the fibril-like structures and the time scales…
Protein aggregation in the form of amyloid fibrils has important biological and technological implications. Although the self-assembly process is highly efficient, aggregates not in the fibrillar form would also occur and it is important to…
Deciphering the links between amino acid sequence and amyloid fibril formation is key for understanding protein misfolding diseases. Here we use Monte Carlo simulations to study aggregation of short peptides in a coarse-grained model with…
Elongation is a fundament process in amyloid fiber growth, which is normally characterized by a linear relationship between the fiber elongation rate and the monomer concentration. However, in high concentration regions, a sub-linear…
Protein amyloid fibrils are a form of linear protein aggregates that are implicated in many neurodegenerative diseases. Here, we study the dynamics of amyloid fibril elongation by performing Langevin dynamic simulations on a coarse-grained…
Using Langevin dynamics complemented by Wang-Landau Monte Carlo simulations, we study the phase behavior of single and multiple semiflexible polymer chains in solution under poor-solvent conditions. In the case of a single chain, we obtain…
We develop a theory of aggregation using statistical mechanical methods. An example of a complicated aggregation system with several levels of structures is peptide/protein self-assembly. The problem of protein aggregation is important for…
Aims: We examine the movements of mass elements within dense fibrils using passive tracer particles (corks) in order to understand fibril creation and destruction processes. Methods: Simulated fibrils were selected at times when they were…
Amyloid fibrillation is a protein self-assembly phenomenon that is intimately related to well-known human neurodegenerative diseases. During the past few decades, striking advances have been achieved in our understanding of the physical…