Dried and Hydrated X-Ray Scattering Analysis of Amyloid Fibrils

Abstract

Wide angle X-ray scattering is a key technique for the analysis of amyloid fibrils that can be used to ­confirm the presence of a characteristic cross-beta fibril structure and to characterise the arrangement of beta-strands and beta-sheets within this fibril core. Further structural insight can be obtained by the comparison of X-ray scattering data obtained for dried and hydrated fibril samples. We describe simple techniques for the preparation of dried and hydrated fibril samples for X-ray analysis and the subsequent analysis of X-ray scattering patterns using custom built and readily available software.