The elusive nature and diagnostics of misfolded Aβ oligomers.

ABSTRACT: Amyloid-beta (Aβ) peptide oligomers are believed to be the causative agents of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Though post-mortem examination shows that insoluble fibrils are deposited in the brains of AD patients in the form of intracellular (tangles) and extracellular (plaques) deposits, it has been observed that cognitive impairment is linked to synaptic dysfunction in the stages of the illness well before the appearance of these mature deposits. Increasing evidence suggests that the most toxic forms of Aβ are soluble low-oligomer ligands whose amounts better correlate with the extent of cognitive loss in patients than the amounts of fibrillar insoluble forms. Therefore, these ligands hold the key to a better understanding of AD prompting the search for clearer correlations between their stru

SUBMITTER: Cerasoli E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4365737 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature