Conformational behavior andaggregation of amyloid betapeptides: Molecular Dynamicssimulation studiesDissertationzur Erlangung des Grades einesDoktor der Naturwissenschaften(Dr. rer. nat.)eingereicht beimFachbereich Chemie der Technische Universit˜at Dortmundvorgelegt vonM.Sc. (Bioinfo) Raghunadha Reddy BurriGuntur, IndiaDortmund, 2008Erstgutachter: Prof. Dr. A. GeigerZweitgutachter: Prof. Dr. R. WinterTag der mundlic˜ hen Prufung:˜I dedicate this dissertation to my wonderful, awesome and precious parentsBurri Srinivasa Reddy and Burri Venkataramma.IAcknowledgementIt is a great pleasure for me to acknowledge all the people who helped me to accom-plish this dissertation. First and foremost, I wish to express my deep felt gratitudetowards my supervisor, Prof. Dr. Alfons Geiger, for giving me an opportunity towork in their group. I am indebted for his advice, encouragement, easy accessibilityand freedom for work which helped me to explore new ideas and to complete thework. I also thank Prof. Dr. Roland Winter for his helpful suggestions and nicediscussions in group meetings. Thank you for being wonderful teachers!I am grateful to my coworkers, who ensured a technically stimulating, creative andpleasant working environment and helped in technical and non-technical matters.My special thanks to Dr. Ivan Brovchenko for his erudite assistance, which was inthe completion of my work. Thank you very much Ivan!