Dynamical changes triggered by the amyloidogenesis of Hfq-CTR

The Hfq protein is reported to be involved in environmental adaptation and virulence of several bacteria. In Gram-negative bacteria, Hfq mediates the interaction between regulatory noncoding RNAs and their target mRNAs. Besides these RNA-related functions, Hfq is also associated with DNA and is a part of the bacterial chromatin. Its precise role in DNA structuration is, however, unclear and whether Hfq plays a direct role in DNA-related processes such as replication or recombination is controversial. Inelastic neutron, due to its sensitivity to hydrogen atoms, is expected to shed light on the dynamical changes triggered by the amyloidogenesis of Hfq-CTR. This results will be helpful in elucidating the mechanism of hydrogen bonding interactions in action during the fibrillar structure formation.

据报道，Hfq蛋白参与多种细菌的环境适应与毒力调控。在革兰氏阴性菌（Gram-negative bacteria）中，Hfq介导调控性非编码RNA（noncoding RNAs）与其靶mRNA之间的相互作用。除上述RNA相关功能外，Hfq还与DNA相关联，是细菌染色质（bacterial chromatin）的组成部分。然而，其在DNA结构形成（DNA structuration）中的具体作用尚不明确，且Hfq是否在复制（replication）或重组（recombination）等DNA相关过程中发挥直接作用仍存在争议。非弹性中子（inelastic neutron）因其对氢原子的敏感性，有望揭示Hfq-CTR淀粉样生成（amyloidogenesis）引发的动态变化。这些结果将有助于阐明纤维状结构（fibrillar structure）形成过程中氢键相互作用（hydrogen bonding interactions）的作用机制。