Computer Simulations to Unravel Protein Clumps Causing Type 2 Diabetes
Intrinsically disordered proteins are proteins that lack a stable three dimensional structure. In many cases they control vital cellular processes or have been associated with disease. In this project, we use computer simulations to study a protein called IAPP that clumps up harmfully in type 2 diabetes, killing the cells that make insulin. Lacking fixed structure, IAPP's flexible conformations shift with mutations toward fibril-prone states that block insulin from working properly.

