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Updated: Jul 17, 2026

Amyloid and the Cross-Beta Architecture
Published on: February 13, 2026
Alignment of a conjugated polymer onto amyloid-like protein fibrils
Anna Herland1, Per Björk, P Ralph Hania
1Biomolecular and Organic Electronics, IFM, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden. anher@ifm.liu.se
Abstract:
The amyloid-like fibril is a biomolecular nanowire template of very high stability. Here we describe the coordination of a conjugated polyelectrolyte, poly(thiophene acetic acid) (PTAA), to bovine insulin fibrils with widths of <10 nm and lengths of up to more than 10 microm. Fibrils complexed with PTAA are aligned on surfaces through molecular combing and transfer printing. Single-molecule spectroscopy techniques are applied to chart spectral variation in the emission of these wires. When these results are combined with analysis of the polarization of the emitted light, we can conclude that the polymer chains are preferentially aligned along the fibrillar axis.
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