On the polyelectrolyte brush model of neurofilaments

Abstract

We use scaling arguments and numerical self-consistent-field theory to highlight the structure of a biological polyelectrolyte (PE) brush formed by projection domains of a triplet neurofilament (NF) protein. The protein chains are coarse-grained on the amino acid level and grouped by their polarity and chargability. In the numerical model the full primary sequence is taken, whereas in the scaling approach sequence-averaged properties are accounted for. We elaborate on the electrostatic regulation of the brush structure and discuss its role in the formation of the NF network inside axons.