Expression of this peptide leads to amyloid deposits similar to those observed in the human brain.
Animals expressing the beta-amyloid peptide are unhealthy and show a progressive paralysis.
To investigate the relationships between the primary sequence of the beta peptide, the formation of beta-amyloid deposits, and cellular toxicity, we have generated a series of transgenic worms expressing single amino acid variants of the beta peptide. We have also generated a novel single chain dimer construct. Our current work is focusing on the characterization of mutations that suppress the paralysis observed in amyloid worms, and examining the effect of amyloid expression on global gene expression using DNA microarray analysis. Note movement is restricted to head region. Compare to the image below.