Self-assembly in aqueous solution of a modified amyloid beta peptide fragment Original Research Article

The self-assembly in films dried from aqueous solutions of a modified amyloid beta peptide fragment is studied. We focus on sequence Aβ(16–20), KLVFF, extended by two alanines at the N-terminus to give AAKLVFF. Self-assembly into twisted ribbon fibrils is observed, as confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Dynamic light scattering reveals the semi-flexible nature of the AAKLVFF fibrils, while polarized optical microscopy shows that the peptide fibrils crystallize after an aqueous solution of AAKLVFF is matured over 5 days. The secondary structure of the fibrils is studied by FT-IR, circular dichroism and X-ray diffraction (XRD), which provide evidence for β-sheet structure in the fibril. From high resolution TEM it is concluded that the average width of an AAKLVFF fibril is (63 ± 18) nm, indicating that these fibrils comprise beta-sheets with multiple repeats of the unit cell, determined by XRD to have b and c dimensions 1.9 and 4.4 nm with an a axis 0.96 nm, corresponding to twice the peptide backbone spacing in the antiparallel β-sheet.