Poly-(L-alanine) expansions form core beta-sheets that nucleate amyloid assembly

Leonid M Shinchuk1, Deepak Sharma, Sylvie E Blondelle

  • 1Department of Biology, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts 02467-3811, USA.

Proteins
|August 23, 2005
PubMed
Summary

Expanded polyalanine (polyAla) stretches in PABPN1 cause oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy (OPMD). This study shows polyAla peptide length critically influences self-assembly into stable, amyloid-like fibrils, explaining disease pathology.

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