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Self-assembly of the full-length amyloid Aβ42 protein in dimers

Journal Article · · Nanoscale
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1039/c6nr06850b· OSTI ID:1879279
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [2]
  1. University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE (United States); Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
  2. University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE (United States)
The self-assembly of amyloid (Aβ) proteins into nano-aggregates is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) development, yet the mechanism of how disordered monomers assemble into aggregates remains elusive. Here, we applied long-time molecular dynamics simulations to fully characterize the assembly of Aβ42 monomers into dimers. Monomers undergo conformational changes during their interaction, but the resulting dimer structures do not resemble those found in fibril structures. Further, to identify natural conformations of dimers among a set of simulated ones, validation approaches were developed and applied, and a subset of dimer conformations were characterized. These dimers do not contain long β-strands that are usually found in fibrils. The dimers are stabilized primarily by interactions within the central hydrophobic regions and the C-terminal regions, with a contribution from local hydrogen bonding. The dimers are dynamic, as evidenced by the existence of a set of conformations and by the quantitative analyses of the dimer dissociation process.
Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Institutes of Health (NIH); National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-07NA27344
OSTI ID:
1879279
Report Number(s):
LLNL-JRNL-837698; 1057615
Journal Information:
Nanoscale, Journal Name: Nanoscale Journal Issue: 45 Vol. 8; ISSN 2040-3364
Publisher:
Royal Society of ChemistryCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (12)

Nano-assembly of amyloid β peptide: role of the hairpin fold journal May 2017
A Toxic Conformer of Aβ42 with a Turn at 22–23 is a Novel Therapeutic Target for Alzheimer’s Disease journal September 2017
Etersalate prevents the formations of 6Aβ16-22 oligomer: An in silico study journal September 2018
Interaction of Aβ42 with Membranes Triggers the Self-Assembly into Oligomers journal February 2020
Symmetry-breaking transitions in the early steps of protein self-assembly journal March 2020
Force clamp approach for characterization of nano-assembly in amyloid beta 42 dimer journal January 2019
Influence of electric field on the amyloid- β (29-42) peptides embedded in a membrane bilayer journal January 2018
Direct AFM visualization of the nanoscale dynamics of biomolecular complexes journal August 2018
Lipid membranes trigger misfolding and self-assembly of amyloid β 42 protein into aggregates journal March 2019
Spontaneous Self-assembly of Amyloid β (1-40) into Dimers journal June 2019
Exploiting a Mechanical Perturbation of Titin Domain to Identify How Force Field Parameterization Affects Protein Refolding Pathways journal September 2019
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  • International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Vol. 19, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms19082415
journal August 2018

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