Amyloid fibril main peptide chains Amyloid fibril monomers Amyloid precursor proteins form ordered fibrils Amyloid fibril formation is associated with a wide range of diseases (Chiti & Dobson 2006), thoughthe accumulation and deposition of fibrillar material does not correlate well with disease pathogenesis and it is now widely believed that oligomeric amyloid forms are largely responsible for the cytotoxic effects of amyloid (Glabe 2009). Fibrils have been described as more like crystalline polymer structures than the protein monomers they are derived from (Wetzel et al. 2007). Fibril formation is usually preceded by the association of monomers into oligomeric structures (Kodali & Wetzel 2007). For Beta-amyloid, these are spherical structures with around 12 units (Bernstein et al. 2005). Larger structures called protofibrils are also observed, non-spherical filamentous structures lacking a periodic substructure (Goldsbury 2005). Authored: Jupe, S, 2010-10-15 Edited: Jupe, S, 2011-04-08 Pubmed10391242 Pubmed10411933 Pubmed11401442 Pubmed11467836 Pubmed1270801 Pubmed15713083 Pubmed15962837 Pubmed16095615 Pubmed16756495 Pubmed17198370 Pubmed17251001 Pubmed1837051 Pubmed18449172 Pubmed18484335 Pubmed1849145 Pubmed2118650 Pubmed2195544 Pubmed279930 Pubmed2900981 Pubmed3035556 Pubmed3053705 Pubmed3080684 Pubmed3094007 Pubmed3142462 Pubmed8097946 Pubmed8159701 Pubmed8464497 Pubmed8490014 Pubmed8870004 Pubmed9006323 Pubmed9054935 Pubmed9862427 Reactome Database ID Release 43977136 Reactome, http://www.reactome.org ReactomeREACT_75876 Reviewed: Perry, G, 2011-04-08