Seeding 'one-dimensional crystallization' of amyloid: a pathogenic mechanism in Alzheimer's disease and scrapie?

Alzheimer's disease (AD), a neurodegenerative disease, is characterized by the accumulation of amyloid protein (beta protein) which is similar to processes involving ordered protein aggregation. Scrapie, a human prion disease, is characterized by the aggregation of a normal cellular protein, prion protein (Pr P), and is analogous to AD. The transmission of scrapie and the initiation of AD involve the seeding of amyloid formation. AD and prion diseases can be treated by retarding the rate of amyloid formation.