Atomic structures of peptide self-assembly mimics.

ABSTRACT: Although the beta-rich self-assemblies are a major structural class for polypeptides and the focus of intense research, little is known about their atomic structures and dynamics due to their insoluble and noncrystalline nature. We developed a protein engineering strategy that captures a self-assembly segment in a water-soluble molecule. A predefined number of self-assembling peptide units are linked, and the beta-sheet ends are capped to prevent aggregation, which yields a mono-dispersed soluble protein. We tested this strategy by using Borrelia outer surface protein (OspA) whose single-layer beta-sheet located between two globular domains consists of two beta-hairpin units and thus can be considered as a prototype of self-assembly. We constructed self-assembly mimics of different sizes a

SUBMITTER: Makabe K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1693819 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature