Atomic structures of peptide self-assembly mimics.

Although the beta-rich self-assemblies are a major structural class for polypeptides and the focus of intense research, little is known about their atomic structures and dynamics due to their insoluble and noncrystalline nature. We developed a protein engineering strategy that captures a self-assembly segment in a water-soluble molecule. A predefined number of self-assembling peptide units are linked, and the beta-sheet ends are capped to prevent aggregation, which yields a mono-dispersed soluble protein.