title: Unraveling the early events of amyloid-β protein (Aβ) aggregation: techniques for the determination of Aβ aggregate size.
abstract: The aggregation of proteins into insoluble amyloid fibrils coincides with the onset of numerous diseases. An array of techniques is available to study the different stages of the amyloid aggregation process. Recently, emphasis has been placed upon the analysis of oligomeric amyloid species, which have been hypothesized to play a key role in disease progression. This paper reviews techniques utilized to study aggregation of the amyloid-β protein (Aβ) associated with Alzheimer's disease. In particular, the review focuses on techniques that provide information about the size or quantity of oligomeric Aβ species formed during the early stages of aggregation, including native-PAGE, SDS-PAGE, Western blotting, capillary electrophoresis, mass spectrometry, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, light scattering, size exclusion chromatography, centrifugation, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and dot blotting.
authors.affiliation: Ralph E. Martin Department of Chemical Engineering, 3202 Bell Engineering Center, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA.
authors.forename: N Elizabeth
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Pryor
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, 2C02 Swearingen Engineering Center, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA.
authors.forename: Melissa A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Moss
authors.affiliation: Ralph E. Martin Department of Chemical Engineering, 3202 Bell Engineering Center, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA.
authors.forename: Christa N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Hestekin
mesh_terms: D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism*; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002850:Chromatography, Gel; D018450:Disease Progression; D019075:Electrophoresis, Capillary; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D006801:Humans; D010316:Particle Size; D066329:Protein Aggregates; D066263:Protein Aggregation, Pathological; D055503:Protein Multimerization; D020836:Protein Structure, Quaternary; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization
chemical_list: D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D066329:Protein Aggregates