Comparison of Human and Bovine Insulin Amyloidogenesis under Uniform Shear.

A diverse range of proteins can assemble into amyloid fibrils, a process that generally results in a loss of function and an increase in toxicity. The occurrence and rate of conversion is strongly dependent on several factors including molecular structure and exposure to hydrodynamic forces. To investigate the origins of shear-induced enhancement in the rate of fibrillization, a stable rotating Couette flow was used to evaluate the kinetics of amyloid formation under uniform shear for two similar insulin species (human and bovine) that demonstrate unique fibrillization kinetics.