Electron tomography reveals the fibril structure and lipid interactions in amyloid deposits
Marius Kollmer1, Katrin Meinhardt1, Christian Haupt1
1Institute of Protein Biochemistry, Ulm University, 89081 Ulm, Germany;
Abstract:
Electron tomography is an increasingly powerful method to study the detailed architecture of macromolecular complexes or cellular structures. Applied to amyloid deposits formed in a cell culture model of systemic amyloid A amyloidosis, we could determine the structural morphology of the fibrils directly in the deposit. The deposited fibrils are arranged in different networks, and depending on the relative fibril orientation, we can distinguish between fibril meshworks, fibril bundles, and amyloid stars. These networks are frequently infiltrated by vesicular lipid inclusions that may originate from the death of the amyloid-forming cells. Our data support the role of nonfibril components for constructing fibril deposits and provide structural views of different types of lipid-fibril interactions.
More Related Videos
06:27Analysis of β-Amyloid-induced Abnormalities on Fibrin Clot Structure by Spectroscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy
Published on: November 30, 2018
14:55Atomic Scale Structural Studies of Macromolecular Assemblies by Solid-state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
Published on: September 17, 2017
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,...
Amyloid Fibrils
Electron Microscope Tomography and Single-particle Reconstruction
Electron Tomography
Electron tomography can be performed either in TEM or STEM (scanning transmission...
Cryo-electron Microscopy
