Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 9, 2026
05:58
Detecting and Characterizing Protein Self-Assembly In Vivo by Flow Cytometry
Published on: July 17, 2019
Molecular crowding and amyloidogenic self-assembly: Emergent perspectives from modern computations
Sanjana Pandey1, Neelanjana Sengupta1
1Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Kolkata, Mohanpur, West Bengal 741246, India.
Current Opinion in Structural Biology
|July 7, 2026
Summary
Macromolecular crowding influences protein folding and self-assembly within cells. Understanding these effects is crucial for both cellular function and diseases like amyloidosis.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
- Cellular Biophysics
Background:
- The cellular interior is characterized by macromolecular crowding, leading to high biomolecule concentrations.
- Crowding significantly impacts protein folding, intermolecular interactions, and amyloidogenic self-assembly.
- This process is vital for cellular organization and implicated in protein misfolding diseases.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the context-dependent role of crowding in protein stability versus aggregation.
- To highlight how intracellular environments dictate functional or pathological protein assemblies.
- To emphasize the importance of multiscale computational approaches for understanding protein self-assembly.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on macromolecular crowding and protein self-assembly.
- Analysis of computational advances, including atomistic simulations and coarse-grained models.
- Discussion of integrative frameworks incorporating enhanced sampling and AI.
Main Results:
- Crowding modulates protein folding landscapes and aggregation propensity.
- Heterogeneous cellular environments determine the formation of functional or pathological amyloids.
- Multiscale computational methods offer mechanistic insights into protein self-assembly.
Conclusions:
- Macromolecular crowding plays a critical role in balancing protein stability and aggregation.
- Advanced computational techniques are essential for predicting protein self-assembly in crowded cellular environments.
- Integrative frameworks are needed to capture cellular complexity and understand amyloidogenesis.
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