Journal: Current Protein & Peptide Science
Guest editor(s): Mai Li
Co-Guest Editor(s): Yuko Okamoto,Adam Liwo

Introduction

Protein folding, misfolding and aggregation remain one of the main problems of interdisciplinary science not only because many questions are still open, but also because they are important from the point of view of practical application. Protein aggregation and formation of fibrillar structures, for example, is a hallmark of a large group of neurodegenerative human diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, type 2 diabetes, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and Parkinson’s disease among many others. Thanks to RNA vaccines and special drugs, COVID-19 has been controlled, but the consequences of this disease are worrying because it can make many other diseases worse. Correlation between COVID-19 and the onset of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson and Alzheimer’s disease let to the idea that amyloidogenic segments in SARS-COV-2 proteins can induce aggregation of alpha-synuclein and amyloid beta peptides. Thus understanding the effect of SARS-CoV-2 on amyloid aggregation is important for protecting public health. In the past decade, compelling experimental evidence has emerged, highlighting the ability of proteins (mainly intrinsically disordered proteins) and nucleic acids to undergo liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS). LLPS attracts special attention from researchers because this reversible process can lead to the creation of membrane-less organelles within the cytoplasm that play key roles in cellular signaling, stress response, and regulation of biomolecular condensates. This special issue is a collection of mini-reviews and original papers addressing the important problems mentioned above

Keywords

Protein folding, Protein aggregation, Liquid-liquid phase separation, SARS-CoV-2, Amyloid fibrils, Coarse-grained simulation

Sub-topics

⮚ Protein folding on and off ribosomes
⮚ Protein misfolding, aggregation and related neurodegenerative diseases
⮚ Coupling of SARS-CoV-2 to amyloid fibrils
⮚ Liquid-liquid phase separation
⮚ Others