Peptide Aβ(16-25) forms nanofilms in the process of its aggregation

Abstract

A method for the synthesis and high purification of fragments of Aβ(1-42) peptide has been elaborated. We have synthesized the amyloidogenic fragment Aβ(16-25) predicted by us and studied the process of its aggregation by electron microscopy and X-ray analysis. Electron microscopy images show that the peptide forms a film, which is not characteristic of amyloid fibrils. At the same time, according to the X-ray diffraction data, its preparations display the presence of two main reflections (4.6-4.8 and 8-12 Å) characteristic of cross-β structure of amyloid fibrils. Thus, the fragment Aβ(16-25) that we predicted is a promising object not only for studying the process of polymerization of the peptides/proteins, but also for using it as a nanomaterial to study a number of biological processes.