Fig. 1: Hypothetical depiction of Aβ40 self-assembly.
From: Early events in amyloid-β self-assembly probed by time-resolved solid state NMR and light scattering
After a rapid change from solvent conditions that favor the monomeric state to conditions that favor self-assembly, Aβ40 monomers that are initially conformationally disordered form oligomers with progressively larger sizes (a), possibly with increasingly ordered molecular and supramolecular structures. Within minutes, metastable nonfibrillar oligomers (b) and protofibrillar assemblies (c) are readily apparent in negative-stain TEM images. After longer incubation periods, thermodynamically stable amyloid fibrils (d) become the predominant self-assembled state. Images in b–d are representative examples from sets of 19, 32, and 18 micrographs, respectively.
