Hetero-oligomeric Amyloid Assembly and Mechanism: Prion Fragment PrP(106-126) Catalyzes the Islet Amyloid Polypeptide β-Hairpin.

Protein aggregation is typically attributed to the association of homologous amino acid sequences between monomers of the same protein. Coaggregation of heterogeneous peptide species can occur, however, and is implicated in the proliferation of seemingly unrelated protein diseases in the body. The prion protein fragment (PrP) and human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP) serve as an interesting model of nonhomologous protein assembly as they coaggregate, despite a lack of sequence homology.