Skip to main content
  • Submit
  • About
    • Editorial Board
    • PNAS Staff
    • FAQ
    • Accessibility Statement
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Site Map
  • Contact
  • Journal Club
  • Subscribe
    • Subscription Rates
    • Subscriptions FAQ
    • Open Access
    • Recommend PNAS to Your Librarian
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Main menu

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Special Feature Articles - Most Recent
    • Special Features
    • Colloquia
    • Collected Articles
    • PNAS Classics
    • List of Issues
  • Front Matter
  • News
    • For the Press
    • This Week In PNAS
    • PNAS in the News
  • Podcasts
  • Authors
    • Information for Authors
    • Editorial and Journal Policies
    • Submission Procedures
    • Fees and Licenses
  • Submit
  • About
    • Editorial Board
    • PNAS Staff
    • FAQ
    • Accessibility Statement
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Site Map
  • Contact
  • Journal Club
  • Subscribe
    • Subscription Rates
    • Subscriptions FAQ
    • Open Access
    • Recommend PNAS to Your Librarian

User menu

  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Home
Home

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Special Feature Articles - Most Recent
    • Special Features
    • Colloquia
    • Collected Articles
    • PNAS Classics
    • List of Issues
  • Front Matter
  • News
    • For the Press
    • This Week In PNAS
    • PNAS in the News
  • Podcasts
  • Authors
    • Information for Authors
    • Editorial and Journal Policies
    • Submission Procedures
    • Fees and Licenses

New Research In

Physical Sciences

Featured Portals

  • Physics
  • Chemistry
  • Sustainability Science

Articles by Topic

  • Applied Mathematics
  • Applied Physical Sciences
  • Astronomy
  • Computer Sciences
  • Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
  • Engineering
  • Environmental Sciences
  • Mathematics
  • Statistics

Social Sciences

Featured Portals

  • Anthropology
  • Sustainability Science

Articles by Topic

  • Economic Sciences
  • Environmental Sciences
  • Political Sciences
  • Psychological and Cognitive Sciences
  • Social Sciences

Biological Sciences

Featured Portals

  • Sustainability Science

Articles by Topic

  • Agricultural Sciences
  • Anthropology
  • Applied Biological Sciences
  • Biochemistry
  • Biophysics and Computational Biology
  • Cell Biology
  • Developmental Biology
  • Ecology
  • Environmental Sciences
  • Evolution
  • Genetics
  • Immunology and Inflammation
  • Medical Sciences
  • Microbiology
  • Neuroscience
  • Pharmacology
  • Physiology
  • Plant Biology
  • Population Biology
  • Psychological and Cognitive Sciences
  • Sustainability Science
  • Systems Biology
Research Article

Aqueous urea solution destabilizes Aβ16–22 oligomers

D. K. Klimov, John E. Straub, and D. Thirumalai
PNAS October 12, 2004 101 (41) 14760-14765; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0404570101
D. K. Klimov
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
John E. Straub
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
D. Thirumalai
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  1. Edited by Harold A. Scheraga, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, and approved August 27, 2004 (received for review June 25, 2004)

  • Article
  • Figures & SI
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

We use long multiple trajectories generated by molecular dynamics simulations to probe the stability of oligomers of Aβ16–22 (KLVFFAE) peptides in aqueous urea solution. High concentration of urea promotes the formation of β-strand structures in Aβ16–22 monomers, whereas in water they adopt largely compact random coil structures. The tripeptide system, which forms stable antiparallel β-sheet structure in water, is destabilized in urea solution. The enhancement of β-strand content in the monomers and the disruption of oligomeric structure occur largely by direct interaction of urea with the peptide backbone. Our simulations suggest that the oligomer unbinding dynamics is determined by two opposing effects, namely, by the increased propensity of monomers to form β-strands and the rapid disruption of the oligomers. The qualitative conclusions are affirmed by using two urea models. Because the proposed destabilization mechanism depends largely on hydrogen bond formation between urea and the peptide backbone, we predict that high urea concentration will destabilize oligomers of other amyloidogenic peptides as well.

Footnotes

  • ↵ † To whom correspondence may be addressed. E-mail: thirum{at}glue.umd.edu or dklimov{at}gmu.edu.

  • This paper was submitted directly (Track II) to the PNAS office.

  • Abbreviations: Aβ, amyloid β; MD, molecular dynamics; OPLS, optimized potentials for liquid simulations; WS, Weerasinghe and Smith; RC, random coil; ASA, accessible surface area; HB, hydrogen bond; FSS, first solvation shell; DO, disordered oligomers; OO, ordered oligomers.

  • Copyright © 2004, The National Academy of Sciences
View Full Text
PreviousNext
Back to top
Article Alerts
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on PNAS.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Aqueous urea solution destabilizes Aβ16–22 oligomers
(Your Name) has sent you a message from PNAS
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the PNAS web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Aqueous urea solution destabilizes Aβ16–22 oligomers
D. K. Klimov, John E. Straub, D. Thirumalai
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Oct 2004, 101 (41) 14760-14765; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0404570101

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Request Permissions
Share
Aqueous urea solution destabilizes Aβ16–22 oligomers
D. K. Klimov, John E. Straub, D. Thirumalai
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Oct 2004, 101 (41) 14760-14765; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0404570101
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Mendeley logo Mendeley
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America: 101 (41)
Table of Contents

Submit

Sign up for Article Alerts

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • Methods
    • Results
    • Discussion and Conclusions
    • Acknowledgments
    • Footnotes
    • References
  • Figures & SI
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF

You May Also be Interested in

Abstract depiction of a guitar and musical note
Science & Culture: At the nexus of music and medicine, some see disease treatments
Although the evidence is still limited, a growing body of research suggests music may have beneficial effects for diseases such as Parkinson’s.
Image credit: Shutterstock/agsandrew.
Large piece of gold
News Feature: Tracing gold's cosmic origins
Astronomers thought they’d finally figured out where gold and other heavy elements in the universe came from. In light of recent results, they’re not so sure.
Image credit: Science Source/Tom McHugh.
Dancers in red dresses
Journal Club: Friends appear to share patterns of brain activity
Researchers are still trying to understand what causes this strong correlation between neural and social networks.
Image credit: Shutterstock/Yeongsik Im.
White and blue bird
Hazards of ozone pollution to birds
Amanda Rodewald, Ivan Rudik, and Catherine Kling talk about the hazards of ozone pollution to birds.
Listen
Past PodcastsSubscribe
Goats standing in a pin
Transplantation of sperm-producing stem cells
CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing can improve the effectiveness of spermatogonial stem cell transplantation in mice and livestock, a study finds.
Image credit: Jon M. Oatley.

Similar Articles

Site Logo
Powered by HighWire
  • Submit Manuscript
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • RSS Feeds
  • Email Alerts

Articles

  • Current Issue
  • Special Feature Articles – Most Recent
  • List of Issues

PNAS Portals

  • Anthropology
  • Chemistry
  • Classics
  • Front Matter
  • Physics
  • Sustainability Science
  • Teaching Resources

Information

  • Authors
  • Editorial Board
  • Reviewers
  • Librarians
  • Press
  • Site Map
  • PNAS Updates

Feedback    Privacy/Legal

Copyright © 2021 National Academy of Sciences. Online ISSN 1091-6490