title: A beta oligomers - a decade of discovery.
abstract: Converging lines of evidence suggest that progressive accumulation of the amyloid beta-protein (A beta) plays a central role in the genesis of Alzheimer's disease, but it was long assumed that A beta had to be assembled into extracellular amyloid fibrils to exert its cytotoxic effects. Over the past decade, data have emerged from the use of synthetic A beta peptides, cell culture models, beta-amyloid precursor protein transgenic mice and human brain to suggest that pre-fibrillar, diffusible assemblies of A beta are also deleterious. Although the precise molecular identity of these soluble toxins remains unsettled, accumulating evidence suggests that soluble forms of A beta are indeed the proximate effectors of synapse loss and neuronal injury. Here we review recent progress in understanding the role of soluble oligomers in Alzheimer's disease.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Neurodegenerative Research, The Conway Institute, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Republic of Ireland. dominic.walsh@ucd.ie
authors.forename: Dominic M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Walsh
authors.forename: Dennis J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Selkoe
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary
chemical_list: D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor