<unk>  <unk>  or<unk>  denotes peptides of 36–43 amino acids that are the main component of the<unk>  plaques found in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease. The peptides derive from the<unk>  precursor protein (APP), which is cleaved by<unk>  secretase and gamma secretase to yield<unk>  in a cholesterol-dependent process and substrate presentation.<unk>  molecules can aggregate to form flexible soluble oligomers which may exist in several forms. It is now believed that certain misfolded oligomers (known as "seeds") can induce other<unk>  molecules to also take the misfolded oligomeric form, leading to a chain reaction akin to a prion infection. The oligomers are toxic to nerve cells. The other protein implicated in Alzheimer's disease, tau protein, also forms such prion-like misfolded oligomers, and there is some evidence that misfolded<unk>  can induce tau to misfold. A study has suggested that APP and its<unk>  potential is of ancient origins, dating as far back as early deuterostomes.
Amyloid beta
Alpha-synuclein
Wild-type transthyretin amyloid
Cellulite
Mirificin
Cerebrolysin
Neurofilament light polypeptide
Ketone bodies