Polypeptide Models to Understand Misfolding and Amyloidogenesis and Their Relevance in Protein Design and Therapeutics

Jesus      Zurdo

doi:10.2174/0929866053005791

Abstract

The study of amyloid polypeptide models (polypeptides able to generate amyloid structures not necessarily connected with any pathology) provides an excellent tool to increase the understanding of the generic aspects of misfolding and aggregation as well as the details of the mechanism of polypeptide deposition in disease. This knowledge can be integrated and applied to different problems in therapy and biotechnology, and in particular to re-designing bioactive polypeptides (biopharmaceuticals) with improved properties.

Keywords: protein misfolding and aggregation, protein re-design, protein evolution, amyloid model, amyloid nucleation, amyloid hotspots, polypeptide deposition disorders, amyloidosis