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Reversing the Amyloid Trend: Mechanism of Fibril Assembly and Dissolution of the Repeat Domain from a Human Functional Amyloid
Author(s) -
McGlinchey Ryan P.,
Lee Jennifer C.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
israel journal of chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.908
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1869-5868
pISSN - 0021-2148
DOI - 10.1002/ijch.201600080
Subject(s) - amyloid (mycology) , fibril , mechanism (biology) , context (archaeology) , chemistry , amyloidosis , biophysics , amyloid fibril , protein aggregation , protein folding , biochemistry , disease , biology , amyloid β , medicine , philosophy , paleontology , inorganic chemistry , epistemology
Amyloids are traditionally observed in the context of disease. However, there is growing momentum that these structures can serve a beneficial role where the amyloid carries out a specific function. These so called ‘functional amyloids’ have all the structural hallmarks of disease‐associated amyloids, raising the question as to what differentiates a well‐behaved benign amyloid from a lethally destructive one. Here, we review our work on the repeat domain (RPT) from Pmel17, an important functional amyloid involved in melanin biosynthesis. Particularly, we focused our attention on the unique reversible aggregation‐disaggregation process of RPT that is controlled strictly by solution pH. This pH dependence of RPT amyloid formation functions as a switch to control fibril assembly and maintains the benign nature that is associated with functional amyloids.