Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41253764›Full record

ArticleNature communications2025

Energetic profiling reveals thermodynamic principles underlying amyloid fibril maturation.

Ramon Duran-Romaña, Joost Schymkowitz, Frederic Rousseau, Nikolaos Louros

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. A functional amyloid scaffold shapes insect egg coats.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
    Article
  6. Review
  7. Reverse-engineering amyloid strains with generative protein design.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Ramon Duran-RomañaSwitch Laboratory, VIB Center for Brain and Disease Research, Herestraat 49, Leuven, Belgium.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2020-8672
Joost SchymkowitzSwitch Laboratory, VIB Center for Brain and Disease Research, Herestraat 49, Leuven, Belgium. Joost.Schymkowitz@kuleuven.vib.be.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2020-0168
Frederic RousseauSwitch Laboratory, VIB Center for Brain and Disease Research, Herestraat 49, Leuven, Belgium. Frederic.Rousseau@kuleuven.vib.be.
Nikolaos LourosSwitch Laboratory, VIB Center for Brain and Disease Research, Herestraat 49, Leuven, Belgium. Nikolaos.louros@utsouthwestern.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4030-1022

Funding

Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (Research Foundation Flanders) G0A6724NInternationale Stichting Alzheimer Onderzoek (ISAO) SAO-FRA 2023/0005KU Leuven (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) PDMT2/24/084
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Amyloid fibrils adopt diverse structural polymorphs linked to disease-specific phenotypes, but the thermodynamic principles guiding their formation and maturation remain unclear. Here, we apply energetic profiling to structural time series from cryo-EM datasets of IAPP, tau, and α-synuclein to decode the principles governing fibril maturation and polymorphic divergence. By mapping residue-level free energy contributions across experimentally resolved assembly pathways, we reconstruct their maturation trajectories and find that amyloid assembly is anchored by aggregation-prone regions that serve as sequence-encoded stabilizing motifs. As assembly progresses, these motifs are reorganized and expanded, while additional regions introduce structural frustration that enables conformational flexibility. Environmental cofactors such as metal ions or polyanions are observed in association with regions of structural remodeling, where they may act to compensate for otherwise energetically strained conformations. This framework offers mechanistic insight into how distinct polymorphs arise from a common sequence and mature through both intrinsic and extrinsic thermodynamic influences.

Indexed as

Amyloidalpha-SynucleinCryoelectron MicroscopyHumansModels, MolecularProtein Conformationtau ProteinsThermodynamicsalpha-SynucleinAmyloidtau Proteins

Identifiers

PMID41253764
PMCPMC12627711

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.