Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 17, 2026

Rapid Generation of Amyloid from Native Proteins In vitro
Published on: December 5, 2013
Insights into the conformational changes of several human lysozyme variants associated with hereditary systemic
Hsuan-Liang Liu1, Yi-Ching Wu, Jian-Hua Zhao
1Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology and Graduate Institute of Biotechnology, National Taipei University of Technology, 1 Sec. 3 ZhongXiao E. Rd., Taipei, Taiwan.
Abstract:
In this study, various ethanol- and temperature-induced molecular dynamics simulations were conducted to investigate the conformational changes of several human lysozyme variants (I56T, D67H, and T70N) associated with hereditary systemic amyloidosis. The results show that these variants are all more sensitive to conditions affecting the structural integrity of this protein. The structural analyses of these variants reveal a high population of more unstable beta-domain and distorted hydrophobic core compared to the wild-type human lysozyme, particularly for the two natural amyloidogenic variants D67H and I56T. For the D67H variant, the distance between the mass centers of residues 54 and 67 was found to elongate as a result of the destruction of the hydrogen-bonding network stabilizing the two long loops in the beta-domain. It further accelerates the unfolding of this variant, starting from the hydrophobic core between the alpha- and beta-domains. For the I56T variant, the introduction of a hydrophilic residue in the hydrophobic core directly destroys the native contacts in the alpha-beta interface, leading to fast unfolding. The present results are consistent with the previous hypothesis suggesting that the distortion of the hydrophobic core at the alpha-beta interface putatively results in the formation of the initial "seed" for amyloid fibrils.
More Related Videos
10:04Imaging Amyloid Tissues Stained with Luminescent Conjugated Oligothiophenes by Hyperspectral Confocal Microscopy and Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging
Published on: October 20, 2017
08:48High-Resolution Neutron Spectroscopy to Study Picosecond-Nanosecond Dynamics of Proteins and Hydration Water
Published on: April 28, 2022
Related Concept Videos
Amyloid Fibrils
Amyloid deposits were observed as early as 1639 in the liver and the spleen. In 1854, Rudolph Virchow performed iodine staining, normally used to...
Amyloid Fibrils
Amyloid deposits were observed as early as 1639 in the liver and the spleen. In 1854, Rudolph Virchow performed iodine staining, normally used to...
Lysosomal Hydrolases