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Updated: Apr 17, 2026

Rapid Generation of Amyloid from Native Proteins In vitro
Published on: December 5, 2013
Formation of DNA-copolymer fibrils through an amyloid-like nucleation polymerization mechanism
Dawid Kedracki1, Sergey K Filippov, Nidhi Gour
1Department of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, University of Geneva, Quai Ernest Ansermet 30, 1211, Geneva 4, Switzerland.
Abstract:
Conjugation of a hydrophobic poly(2-oxazoline) bearing tertiary amide groups along its backbone with a short single stranded nucleotide sequence results in an amphiphilic comb/graft copolymer, which organizes in fibrils upon direct dissolution in water. Supported by circular dichroism, atomic force microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and scattering data, fibrils are formed through inter- and intramolecular hydrogen bonding between hydrogen accepting amide groups along the polymer backbone and hydrogen donating nucleic acid grafts leading to the formation of hollow tubes.
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