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Updated: Oct 28, 2025
14:55
Atomic Scale Structural Studies of Macromolecular Assemblies by Solid-state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
Published on: September 17, 2017
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Structures of Pathological and Functional Amyloids and Prions, a Solid-State NMR Perspective
Asen Daskalov1, Nadia El Mammeri1, Alons Lends1
1CNRS, CBMN UMR 5348, IECB, University of Bordeaux, Pessac, France.
Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience
|July 19, 2021
Summary
Prions are infectious proteins causing disease through misfolding into amyloid aggregates. Researchers use solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (SSNMR) to study these structures, revealing insights into both pathological and functional amyloids.
Area of Science:
- Structural biology
- Biochemistry
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Prions are infectious proteins characterized by conformational changes leading to amyloid aggregate formation.
- These aggregates are implicated in neurodegenerative diseases and other protein-deposition disorders.
- Functional amyloids, selected by evolution, also exist and have diverse biological roles.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review pathological and functional amyloid structures.
- To discuss structural models derived from experimental data.
- To explore the potential of integrative structural biology approaches for prion research.
Main Methods:
- Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (SSNMR) is a key technique for studying insoluble, heterogeneous amyloid aggregates.
- Review of existing structural models of prion and prion-like fibrils.
- Discussion of integrative approaches combining SSNMR, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), and cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM).
Main Results:
- SSNMR has provided significant insights into prion biology and the structure of amyloid fibrils.
- Structural models of various pathological and functional amyloids have been elucidated.
- Integrative approaches offer complementary structural information.
Conclusions:
- Understanding prion structures is crucial for both disease and functional biology.
- SSNMR is vital for characterizing these challenging aggregates.
- Future research will benefit from combining multiple advanced structural techniques.
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