Molecular Simulation to Aid in the Understanding of the Aβ(1–42) Peptide of Alzheimer's Disease
Peter P. Mager, Robert Reinhardt, Katrin Fischer · Molecular Simulation · 2001
The Aβ(1–42) peptide of Alzheimer's disease was studied by molecular modeling. The coordinates of the peptide were experimentally generated from solution-NMR spectroscopy, and the conformations were energy minimized using a combination of connectivity-based iterative partial equalization of orbital electronegativity with the MM + force field. There is a central folded domain in the Aβ peptide. This part is an apolar α-helix. The remaining residues form β-sheets. Aggregation requires that β-sheets interact by noncovalent bonding forces. The unsoluble, aggregated complexes are energetically stable and have ordered structures. A perspective in drug research is to design compounds that inhibit the hydrophobic cores of the individual Aβ peptides, blocking so the associations between the β-strains.