Fiber diffraction of the prion-forming domain HET-s(218-289) shows dehydration-induced deformation of a complex amyloid structure.

Amyloids are filamentous protein aggregates that can be formed by many different proteins and are associated with both disease and biological functions. The pathogenicities or biological functions of amyloids are determined by their particular molecular structures, making accurate structural models a requirement for understanding their biological effects. One potential factor that can affect amyloid structures is hydration. Previous studies of simple stacked β-sheet amyloids have suggested that dehydration does not impact structure, but other studies indicated dehydration-related structural changes of a putative water-filled nanotube. Our results show that dehydration significantly affects the molecular structure of the fungal prion-forming domain HET-s(218-289), which forms a β-solenoid with no internal solvent-accessible regions. The dehydration-related structural deformation of HET-s(218-289) indicates that water can play a significant role in complex amyloid structures, even when no obvious water-accessible cavities are present.