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Equilibrium Ratio Of Polymers To Monomers In Cooperative Polymerization Of Amyloid-Β Protein, Tina Gagliardo

Undergraduate Journal of Mathematical Modeling: One + Two

Amyloid-β42 is a protein polymer that catalyzes the formation of pathogenic amyloid plaques that are a prominent feature in the brain tissue of patients who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. Aβ42 polymerizes via a nucleation-elongation mechanism; several monomers must first congregate into a nucleus before it can elongate into a polymer. The nucleation step is energetically unfavorable since a nucleus smaller than 7 to 8 monomeric units is unstable, therefore the pieces tend to dissociate faster than they can bond together. A solution of Aβ42 will consist of 100% monomers and oligomers smaller than the nucleus when the total concentration is …