Amyloid Fibril Formation and Other Aggregate Species Formed by Human Serum Albumin Association

Under in vitro solution conditions where the native state is destabilized, many proteins present an abnormal structure and metabolism associated with a strong tendency to self-aggregation into a polymeric amyloid fibril structure, suggesting that this ability is a generic feature of the polypeptide chains. Such structures play a key role in different pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer, Parkinson, or Creutzfeldt-Jakob. Here, we report the formation of amyloid fibrils in the plasma protein human serum albumin under different in vitro conditions monitored using a combination of spectrophotometric and microscopic techniques. Amyloid fibril formation, therefore, is also allowed in a protein with a high degree of structural complexity. We also infer from experimental data the existence of other protein aggregated species than fibrils, some of which seem to be formed by a structural rearrangement of the proper fibrils.