Does aluminium bind to histidine? An NMR investigation of amyloid β12 and amyloid β16 fragments.

Aluminium and zinc are known to be the major triggering agents for aggregation of amyloid peptides leading to plaque formation in Alzheimer's disease. While zinc binding to histidine in Aβ (amyloid β) fragments has been implicated as responsible for aggregation, not much information is available on the interaction of aluminium with histidine. In the NMR study of the N-terminal Aβ fragments, DAEFRHDSGYEV (Aβ12) and DAEFRHDSGYEVHHQK (Aβ16) presented here, the interactions of the fragments with aluminium have been investigated.