Truncated and modified amyloid-beta species

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease pathology is closely connected to the processing of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) resulting in the formation of a variety of amyloid-beta (Aβ) peptides. They are found as insoluble aggregates in senile plaques, the histopathological hallmark of the disease. These peptides are also found in soluble, mostly monomeric and dimeric, forms in the interstitial and cerebrospinal fluid. Due to the combination of several enzymatic activities during APP processing, Aβ peptides exist in multiple isoforms possessing different N-termini and C-termini. These peptides include, to a certain extent, part of the juxtamembrane and transmembrane domain of APP. Besides differences in size, post-translational modifications of Aβ - including oxidation, phosphorylation, nitration, racemization, isomerization, pyroglutamylation, and glycosylation - generate a plethora of peptides with different physiological and pathological properties that may modulate disease progression. © 2014 Kummer and Heneka; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.