Amyloids are pathological fibrillar aggregates of proteins related to more than 20 different diseases. Amyloid fibers have a characteristic cross-beta structure consisting of a series of beta-strands extended perpendicular to the fiber axis and joined by hydrogen bonds parallel to the fiber direction. Fibril aggregation results in helical suprastructures. Here we used high-resolution SEM and cryo-SEM for the study of chirality in the amyloid suprastructure. We found that amyloids of Abeta1-40 and hen lysozyme form at all hierarchical levels always and only left-handed helices. In contrast, amyloid fibers formed by the N-terminal sequence of serum amyloid A (SAA1-12) consist of right-handed helices exclusively. Consistently, the peptide enantiomer, formed of (R)-aminoacids, aggregates exclusively in left-handed helices. We conclude that the opposite handedness of the SAA1-12 amyloids is an intrinsic feature of the peptide structure. The left-handed chirality observed for the Abeta1-40 and hen lysozyme amyloid suprastructures is consistent with the conventional beta-sheet structural model. In contrast, the right-handedness observed in (all-S) SAA1-12 fibers indicates that the cross-beta structure of SAA1-12 fibers is probably not formed of beta-sheets. Whatever the answer to the dilemma of the right-handed helicity of SAA1-12 amyloid fibers is, its existence shows that the supramolecular chirality of amyloid fibers is not only dictated by the molecular chirality of the component molecules but also by their structural organization. 相似文献
A novel sublimable organic salt was synthesized, and its chemical structure was characterized by FTIR, 1D NMR, 2D NMR, and elemental analysis. In addition, the thermal phase transitions and thermal stability of new organic salt were investigated. The DSC and TGA results showed that the organic salt could convert into constituent molecules at?<?145 °C before decomposition temperature (Tdec.?~?200 °C) under atmospheric pressure without forming the liquid phase. Then, it was recondensed to regenerate the initial organic salt in the cool part of the vial. Therefore, it can be a promising organic salt towards the regeneration of spent catalyst from synthesis processes when the reaction mixture contains poorly volatile components and includes its use in gas-phase procedures. Also, the catalytic efficiency of new organic salt was investigated in the Knoevenagel condensation reaction. A variety of substituted arylidene and alkylidene malonates were isolated in 78–95% yield within six hours.? Under the optimized reaction conditions, the current catalytic procedure exhibited superiority compared to the mixed piperazine/acetic acid, piperidine/acetic acid, and piperidinium acetate. There were no significant changes in the new organic salt chemical structure and catalytic activity even after the 5th run. This work revealed the importance of the existence of simultaneous hydrogen bond acceptor/donor groups in our environmentally friendly catalyst to promote the Knoevenagel condensation reaction without the use of metal-containing catalysts.
