Intra-chain organisation of hydrophobic residues controls inter-chain aggregation rates of amphiphilic polymers

TL;DR

This paper investigates how the internal arrangement of hydrophobic residues in amphiphilic polymers influences their aggregation rates, revealing that sequence organization controls interface formation and aggregation efficiency.

Contribution

It demonstrates that intra-chain hydrophobic residue organization governs inter-chain aggregation rates in amphiphilic polymers, a novel insight into sequence-structure-function relationships.

Findings

Hydrophobic residue distribution affects interface formation.

Sequence organization influences aggregation rates.

Interfaces drive the aggregation process.

Abstract

Aggregation of amphiphiles through the action of hydrophobic interactions is a common feature in soft condensed matter systems and is of particular importance in the context of biophysics as it underlies both the generation of functional biological machinery as well as the formation of pathological misassembled states of proteins. Here we explore the aggregation behaviour of amphiphilic polymers using lattice Monte-Carlo calculations and show that the distribution of hydrophobic residues within the polymer sequence determines the facility with which dry/wet interfaces can be created and that such interfaces drive the aggregation process.