Simulation of the Amide I Absorption of Stacked β-Sheets

What is it about?

A "new" influence on the infrared absorption of proteins was studied by computation using our Matlab program: formation of β-sheet sandwiches leads to a detectable upshift of the absorption of the backbone C=O (amide I) stretching vibrations. This is relevant for Alzheimer's disease since the Alzheimer's peptide forms β-sheet layers upon aggregation into fibrils.

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Why is it important?

The work shows that the amide I band is influenced not only by secondary structure but also by tertiary structure. This is relevant for the study of amyloid formation.