title: The formation of a novel supramolecular structure by amyloid of poly-L-glutamic acid.
abstract: Polyglutamic acid (PE) has been shown to form amyloid fibrils in vitro under pH value of 4.0. However, under the pH of 2.0, a further self-association process resulting in a novel supramolecular structure was observed. These supramolecular assemblies had diameters ranging from 1 to 20 microm and lengths up to several hundred microns, which were significantly larger than those of typical "amyloid fibrils". The existence of amyloid-like structure within these assemblies was confirmed with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and Thioflavin T fluorescence assay. The aggregation process of PE was studied by direct observation of electronic microscopy. The supramolecular assemblies appeared to be formed in a hierarchical process in which the preformed amyloid-like subunits self-assembled into higher-order assemblies in a well-organized pattern.
authors.affiliation: College of Life Science, Sichuan University, Sichuan Key Laboratory of Molecular Biology & Biotechnology, No. 29, Wangjiang Road, Chengdu 610064, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Fan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.forename: Chengming
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Shixin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yizheng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jin
mesh_terms: D000682:Amyloid / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D052160:Benzothiazoles; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007700:Kinetics; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D015394:Molecular Structure; D011099:Polyglutamic Acid / Q000737:chemistry*; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D013844:Thiazoles / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000682:Amyloid; D052160:Benzothiazoles; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D013844:Thiazoles; C009462:thioflavin T; D011099:Polyglutamic Acid