FIBRILS FROM SYNTHETIC AMYLOID-RELATED PEPTIDES ENHANCE DEVELOPMENT OF EXPERIMENTAL AA-AMYLOIDOSIS IN MICE

Amyloid enhancing factor is an incompletely characterized activity of extracts from many amyloid-containing tissues and which greatly shortens the preamyloidotic phase during experimental induction of AA-amyloidosis. In this communication we show that amyloid-like fibrils made in vitro from synthetic peptides, corresponding to segments of amyloid fibril proteins, have amyloid enhancing factor-like activity. Thus, there is a possibility that amyloid enhancing factor activity depends on small fibrils serving as nucleation centers for fibril elongation. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.