The amyloid fibrils deposited in Alzheimer's neuritic plaque cores and cerebral blood vessels are mainly composed of aggregated forms of a unique peptide, 39-42 amino acids long, named amyloid beta (A beta). A similar, although soluble, A beta ('sA beta') has been identified in cerebrospinal fluid, plasma and cell supernatants, indicating that it is normally produced by proteolytic processing o...