Figure 9
From: Phosphate-dependent aggregation of [KL]n peptides affects their membranolytic activity
Overview of the pathways taken by KL peptides. The peptides are largely unstructured in water, but they will bind to an anionic lipid bilayer as β-strands that self-assemble further (possibly into bilayer-embedded β-sheets), thereby permeabilizing the membrane. At a sufficiently high concentration, peptides induce leakage of vesicles and kill cells in this manner. However, the presence of phosphate ions or high pH leads to rapid aggregation into free amyloid-like cross-β-sheet fibrils, which are no longer membrane-active.
