Elucidating the Structures of Amyloid Oligomers with Macrocyclic β-Hairpin Peptides: Insights into Alzheimer's Disease and Other Amyloid Diseases.

ABSTRACT: In the more than a century since its identification, Alzheimer's disease has become the archetype of amyloid diseases. The first glimpses of the chemical basis of Alzheimer's disease began with the identification of "amyloid" plaques in the brain in 1892 and extended to the identification of proteinaceous fibrils with "cross-β" structure in 1968. Further efforts led to the discovery of the β-amyloid peptide, Aβ, as a 40- or 42-amino acid peptide that is responsible for the plaques and fibrils. At this point, a three-decade-long marathon began to elucidate the structure of the fibrils and identify the molecular basis of Alzheimer's disease. Along the way, an alternative model began to emerge in which small aggregates of Aβ, called "oligomers", rather than fibrils, are the culprits that lead

SUBMITTER: Kreutzer AG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5911177 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature