Role of Cholesterol on Binding of Amyloid Fibrils to Lipid Bilayers

Molecular dynamics simulations are used to provide insights into the molecular mechanisms accounting for binding of amyloid fibrils to lipid bilayers and to study the effect of cholesterol in this process. We show that electrostatic interactions play an important role in fibril-bilayer binding and cholesterol modulates this interaction. In particular, the interaction between positive residues and lipid head groups becomes more favorable in the presence of cholesterol. Consistent with experiments, we find that cholesterol enhances fibril-membrane binding.