Pyro-Glu Abeta

A major component of neuritic plaques in Alzheimer's disease

General Information

Amyloid deposits, also called plaques, of Alzheimer's patients consist of several protein components like the amyloid beta-peptides (Abeta) 1-40/42 and additional N- and C-terminally modified fragments of Abeta. Very abundant are the isoaspartate (isoAsp)-Abeta and pyroglutamyl (pGlu)-Abeta peptides. The latter is formed by cyclization of the N-terminal glutamate at position 3 catalyzed by glutaminyl cyclase (QC) resulting in a very amyloidogenic variant of Abeta. Recently QC inhibitors have been shown to reduce plaque formation in transgenic mouse models.