Copper(II) Coordination to Amyloid β: Murine versus Human Peptide

Abstract

Be wary of mice: At physiological pH values, CuII binding to the human and murine amyloid β peptides differs significantly. The key mutation R5G in the murine CuII species results in coordination of the amidyl nitrogen atom of the Gly5His6 bond (see scheme). The higher binding affinity observed for the murine peptide limits the relevance of transgenic mice (in which both peptides coexist) as models for Alzheimer's disease. Detailed facts of importance to specialist readers are published as ”Supporting Information”. Such documents are peer-reviewed, but not copy-edited or typeset. They are made available as submitted by the authors. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.