Neurofibrillar tangle surrogates: histone H1 binding to patterned phosphotyrosine peptide nanotubes.

Living cells contain a range of densely phosphorylated surfaces, including phospholipid membranes, ribonucleoproteins, and nucleic acid polymers. Hyperphosphorylated surfaces also accumulate in neurodegenerative diseases as neurofibrillar tangles. We have synthesized and structurally characterized a precisely patterned phosphotyrosine surface and establish this assembly as a surrogate of the neuronal tangles by demonstrating its high-affinity binding to histone H1.