Proteins Fibrils from a Polymer Physics Perspective

Protein fibrils resulting from assembly of proteins or peptides into long, insoluble, highly ordered fibrillar structures are emerging as one of the fastest growing scientific areas, since interest in these systems spans disciplines as broad and diverse as medicine, biology, soft condensed matter, nanotechnology, and materials science. Since the discovery of the implication of protein amyloid fibrils in neurodegenerative diseases, to their more recent applications in high-performance materials, the understanding of these intriguing macromolecular assemblies has been steadily widening and deepening. Thus, the precise characterization of structural, physical, and mechanical properties of protein fibrils is the first critical step toward our understanding of these systems not only in the context of biology and medicine but also in nanotechnology and advanced biomaterials applications. In this Perspective we wish to discuss how polymer and colloidal science concepts can be efficiently used to unravel very useful information on the mechanisms of formation, structure, and physical properties of protein fibrils and want to show, through available examples, how a soft condensed matter perspective can shed light into these fascinating systems.