A Multimodal Spectroscopic Imaging Method To Characterize the Metal and Macromolecular Content of Proteinaceous Aggregates ("Amyloid Plaques").

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a major international health and economic concern. A key pathological feature of AD is so-called "amyloid-β-plaques", or "Aβ-plaques", which are deposits of aggregated protein, enriched with the Aβ fragment of amyloid precursor protein. Despite their name, the deposits are not pure Aβ and have a heterogeneous, chemically complex composition that can include multiple proteins, lipids, and metal ions (Fe, Cu, or Zn).