Mechanism of zinc(II)-promoted amyloid formation: zinc(II) binding facilitates the transition from the partially alpha-helical conformer to aggregates of amyloid beta protein(1-28).

The amyloidoses are a group of disorders characterized by aberrant protein folding and assembly, leading to the deposition of insoluble protein fibrils (amyloid), which provokes cell dysfunction and later cell death. One of the physiologically relevant environmental factors able to affect the conformation and hence the aggregation properties of amyloidogenic proteins/peptides is metal ions. Zn(II) promotes aggregation of most amyloidogenic peptides/proteins in vitro, including amyloid beta protein (Abeta), but the underlying mechanism is not known.