Star PolyMOCs with Diverse Structures, Dynamics, and Functions by Three-Component Assembly.

We report star polymer metal-organic cage (polyMOC) materials whose structures, mechanical properties, functionalities, and dynamics can all be precisely tailored through a simple three-component assembly strategy. The star polyMOC network is composed of tetra-arm star polymers functionalized with ligands on the chain ends, small molecule ligands, and palladium ions; polyMOCs are formed via metal-ligand coordination and thermal annealing. The ratio of small molecule ligands to polymer-bound ligands determines the connectivity of the MOC junctions and the network structure. The use of large M12 L24 MOCs enables great flexibility in tuning this ratio, which provides access to a rich spectrum of material properties including tunable moduli and relaxation dynamics.

N-Terminal Extensions Retard Aß42 Fibril Formation but Allow Cross-Seeding and Coaggregation with Aß42.

Amyloid ß-protein (Aß) sequence length variants with varying aggregation propensity coexist in vivo, where coaggregation and cross-catalysis phenomena may affect the aggregation process. Until recently, naturally occurring amyloid ß-protein (Aß) variants were believed to begin at or after the canonical ß-secretase cleavage site within the amyloid ß-protein precursor. However, N-terminally extended forms of Aß (NTE-Aß) were recently discovered and may contribute to Alzheimer's disease. Here, we have used thioflavin T fluorescence to study the aggregation kinetics of Aß42 variants with N-terminal extensions of 5-40 residues, and transmission electron microscopy to analyze the end states. We find that all variants form amyloid fibrils of similar morphology as Aß42, but the half-time of aggregation (t1/2) increases exponentially with extension length. Monte Carlo simulations of model peptides suggest that the retardation is due to an underlying general physicochemical effect involving reduced frequency of productive molecular encounters. Indeed, global kinetic analyses reveal that NTE-Aß42s form fibrils via the same mechanism as Aß42, but all microscopic rate constants (primary and secondary nucleation, elongation) are reduced for the N-terminally extended variants. Still, Aß42 and NTE-Aß42 coaggregate to form mixed fibrils and fibrils of either Aß42 or NTE-Aß42 catalyze aggregation of all monomers. NTE-Aß42 monomers display reduced aggregation rate with all kinds of seeds implying that extended termini interfere with the ability of monomers to nucleate or elongate. Cross-seeding or coaggregation may therefore represent an important contribution in the in vivo formation of assemblies believed to be important in disease.