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Updated: Jun 6, 2026

Enrichment of Detergent-insoluble Protein Aggregates from Human Postmortem Brain
Published on: October 24, 2017
Minimal Zn(2+) binding site of amyloid-β
Philipp O Tsvetkov1, Alexandra A Kulikova, Andrey V Golovin
1Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.
Abstract:
Zinc-induced aggregation of amyloid-β peptide (Aβ) is a hallmark molecular feature of Alzheimer's disease. Here we provide direct thermodynamic evidence that elucidates the role of the Aβ region 6-14 as the minimal Zn(2+) binding site wherein the ion is coordinated by His(6), Glu(11), His(13), and His(14). With the help of isothermal titration calorimetry and quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics simulations, the region 11-14 was determined as the primary zinc recognition site and considered an important drug-target candidate to prevent Zn(2+)-induced aggregation of Aβ.
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