Amyloid Fibril Solubility

Abstract

It is well established that amyloid fibril solubility is protein specific, but how solubility depends on the interactions between the fibril building blocks is not clear. Here we use a simple protein model and perform Monte Carlo simulations to directly measure the solubility of amyloid fibrils as a function of the interaction between the fibril building blocks. Our simulations confirms that the fibril solubility depends on the fibril thickness and that the relationship between the interactions and the solubility can be described by a simple analytical formula. The results presented in this study reveal general rules how side-chain–side-chain interactions, backbone hydrogen bonding, and temperature affect amyloid fibril solubility, which might prove to be a powerful tool to design protein fibrils with desired solubility and aggregation properties in general