title: Aggregation and disaggregation of senile plaques in Alzheimer disease.
abstract: We quantitatively analyzed, using laser scanning confocal microscopy, the three-dimensional structure of individual senile plaques in Alzheimer disease. We carried out the quantitative analysis using statistical methods to gain insights about the processes that govern Abeta peptide deposition. Our results show that plaques are complex porous structures with characteristic pore sizes. We interpret plaque morphology in the context of a new dynamical model based on competing aggregation and disaggregation processes in kinetic steady-state equilibrium with an additional diffusion process allowing Abeta deposits to diffuse over the surface of plaques.
authors.affiliation: Center for Polymer Studies and Department of Physics, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cruz
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Urbanc
authors.forename: S V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Buldyrev
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Christie
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gómez-Isla
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Havlin
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McNamara
authors.forename: H E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Stanley
authors.forename: B T
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Hyman
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000473:pathology*; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006801:Humans; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal