Download MendeleyStructure of the cross-beta spine of amyloid-like fibrils.
Nelson, R., Sawaya, M.R., Balbirnie, M., Madsen, A.O., Riekel, C., Grothe, R., Eisenberg, D.(2005) Nature 435: 773-778
- PubMed: 15944695
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature03680
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:
1YJO, 1YJP - PubMed Abstract:
Numerous soluble proteins convert to insoluble amyloid-like fibrils that have common properties. Amyloid fibrils are associated with fatal diseases such as Alzheimer's, and amyloid-like fibrils can be formed in vitro. For the yeast protein Sup35, conversion to amyloid-like fibrils is associated with a transmissible infection akin to that caused by mammalian prions. A seven-residue peptide segment from Sup35 forms amyloid-like fibrils and closely related microcrystals, from which we have determined the atomic structure of the cross-beta spine. It is a double beta-sheet, with each sheet formed from parallel segments stacked in register. Side chains protruding from the two sheets form a dry, tightly self-complementing steric zipper, bonding the sheets. Within each sheet, every segment is bound to its two neighbouring segments through stacks of both backbone and side-chain hydrogen bonds. The structure illuminates the stability of amyloid fibrils, their self-seeding characteristic and their tendency to form polymorphic structures.
Organizational Affiliation:
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, UCLA-DOE Institute for Genomics and Proteomics, Box 951570, UCLA, Los Angeles, California 90095-1570, USA.
