Self-assembling amyloid materials with various length scales and tailored functions show wide applications in the fields of biomedicine, tissue engineering, energy materials, environmental science, nanodevices, biosensors, optical materials and liquid crystals.

COVID-19 is primarily known as a respiratory disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. However, neurological symptoms such as memory loss, sensory confusion, severe headaches, and even stroke are reported in up to 30% of cases and can persist even after the infection is over (long COVID). These neurological symptoms are thought to be produced by the virus infecting the central nervous system, however we don’t understand the molecular mechanisms triggering them. The neurological effects of COVID-19 share similarities to neurodegenerative diseases in which the presence of cytotoxic aggregated amyloid protein or peptides is a common feature. Following the hypothesis that some neurological symptoms of COVID-19 may also follow an amyloid etiology we identified two peptides from the SARS-CoV-2 proteome that self-assemble into amyloid assemblies. Furthermore, these amyloids were shown to be highly toxic to neuronal cells. We suggest that cytotoxic aggregates of SARS-CoV-2 proteins may trigger neurological symptoms in COVID-19.

Amyloidogenic model peptides are invaluable for investigating assembly mechanisms in disease related amyloids and in protein folding. During aggregation, such peptides can undergo bifurcation leading to fibrils or crystals, however the mechanisms of fibril-to-crystal conversion are unclear. We navigate herein the energy landscape of amyloidogenic peptides by studying a homologous series of hexapeptides found in animal, human and disease related proteins. We observe fibril-to-crystal conversion occurring within single aggregates via untwisting of twisted ribbon fibrils possessing saddle-like curvature and cross-sectional aspect ratios approaching unity. Changing sequence, pH or concentration shifts the growth towards larger aspect ratio species assembling into stable helical ribbons possessing mean-curvature. By comparing atomistic calculations of desolvation energies for association of peptides we parameterise a kinetic model, providing a physical explanation of fibril-to-crystal interconversion. These results shed light on the self-assembly of amyloidogenic peptides, suggesting amyloid crystals, not fibrils, represent the ground state of the protein folding energy landscape.