Amyloid beta (Aβ), the hallmark of Alzheimer's Disease (AD), now appears to be deleterious in its low number aggregate form as opposed to the macroscopic Aβ fibers historically seen postmortem. While Alzheimer targets, such as the tau protein, amyloid precursor protein (APP) processing, and immune system activation continue to be investigated, the recent discovery that amyloid beta aggregates at lipid rafts and likely forms neurotoxic pores has led to a new paradigm regarding why past therapeutics may have failed and how to design the next round of compounds for clinical trials. An atomic resolution understanding of Aβ aggregates, which appear to exist in multiple conformations, is most desirable for future therapeutic development. The investigative difficulties, structures of these small Aβ aggregates, and current therapeutics are summarized in this review.
Keywords: APBA; Alzheimer; Amyloid; ApoE; Aß; Mint; amyloid precursor protein; amyloid-beta; cholesterol; dementia; ganglioside; lipid raft; perforin; plaque; pore; presenilin; secretase; ß-barrel; ß-secretase; ß-strand; γ-secretase.