Effect of Lauric Acid on the Stability of Abeta-Oligomers

While Alzheimers disease is correlated with the presence of A{beta} fibrils in patient brains, the more likely agents are their precursors, soluble oligomers that may form pores or otherwise distort cell membranes. Using all-atom molecular dynamics simulation we study how presence of fatty acids such as lauric acid changes the stability of pore-forming oligomers built from three-stranded A{beta}42 chains. Such a change would alter the distribution of amyloids in the fatty-acid rich brain environment, and therefore could explain the lower polymorphism observed in A{beta}-fibrils derived from brains of patients with Alzheimers disease. We find that lauric acid stabilizes both ring-like and barrel-shaped models, with the effect being stronger for barrel-like models than for ring-like oligomers.