Filming protein fibrillogenesis in real time

Protein fibrillogenesis is a universal tool of nano-to-micro scale construction supporting different forms of biological function. Its exploitable potential in nanoscience and technology is substantial, but the direct observation of homogeneous fibre growth able to underpin a kinetic-based rationale for building customized nanostructures in situ is lacking. Here we introduce a kinetic model of de novo protein fibrillogenesis which we imaged at the nanoscale and in real time, filmed. The model helped to reveal that, in contrast to heterogeneous amyloid assemblies, homogeneous protein recruitment is principally characterized by uniform rates of cooperative growth at both ends of growing fibers, bi-directional growth, with lateral growth arrested at a post-seeding stage. The model provides a foundation for in situ engineering of sequence-prescribed fibrous architectures.