Insights into Protein-Misfolding Diseases
The work of Professor John Straub and his collaborators at the University of Maryland, Dr. Govardhan Reddy and Professor Dave Thirumalai demonstrates that when aggregation occurs in aqueous solution between amyloid or prion peptides—which are associated with protein-misfolding diseases—a dry interface between the biomolecules forms in two different ways, suggesting how aggregation rates might differ substantially between proteins (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 107(50), 21459-21464, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1008616107).
The work is highlighted in the December 2010 issue of C&E News.
