title: Effects of lysine residues on structural characteristics and stability of tau proteins.
abstract: Pathological amyloid proteins have been implicated in neuro-degenerative diseases, specifically Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Lewy-body diseases and prion related diseases. In prion related diseases, functional tau proteins can be transformed into pathological agents by environmental factors, including oxidative stress, inflammation, Aβ-mediated toxicity and covalent modification. These pathological agents are stable under physiological conditions and are not easily degraded. This un-degradable characteristic of tau proteins enables their utilization as functional materials to capturing the carbon dioxides. For the proper utilization of amyloid proteins as functional materials efficiently, a basic study regarding their structural characteristic is necessary. Here, we investigated the basic tau protein structure of wild-type (WT) and tau proteins with lysine residues mutation at glutamic residue (Q2K) on tau protein at atomistic scale. We also reported the size effect of both the WT and Q2K structures, which allowed us to identify the stability of those amyloid structures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering Korea University, Seoul 136-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Myeongsang
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering Korea University, Seoul 136-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Inchul
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Baek
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering Korea University, Seoul 136-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hyunsung
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering Korea University, Seoul 136-701, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jae In
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering Korea University, Seoul 136-701, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: nass@korea.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Sungsoo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Na
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D019943:Amino Acid Substitution; D006801:Humans; D006860:Hydrogen Bonding; D008239:Lysine / Q000737:chemistry*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D055550:Protein Stability; D020836:Protein Structure, Quaternary; D055672:Static Electricity; D024801:Tauopathies / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D016875:tau Proteins; D008239:Lysine
keywords: Amyloid proteins; Lysine mutation; Molecular dynamics; Size effects; Tau protein