Amyloid plaques are one of the central manifestations of Alzheimer’s disease pathology. Aggregation of the amyloid beta (Aβ) protein from amorphous oligomeric species to mature fibrils has been extensively studied. However, structural heterogeneities in prefibrillar species, and how that affects the structure of later-stage aggregates are not yet well understood. The integration of infrared spectroscopy with atomic force microscopy (AFM-IR) allows for identifying the signatures of individual nanoscale aggregates by spatially resolving spectra. We use AFM-IR to demonstrate that amyloid oligomers exhibit significant structural variations as evidenced in their infrared spectra. This heterogeneity is transmitted to and retained in protofibrils and fibrils. We show that amyloid fibrils do not always conform to their putative ordered structure and structurally different domains exist in the same fibril. We further demonstrate that these structural heterogeneities manifest themselves as a lack of β sheet structure in amyloid plaques in Alzheimer’s tissue using infrared imaging.

Amyloid plaques, composed of aggregates of the amyloid beta (Aβ) protein, are one of the central manifestations of Alzheimer’s disease pathology. Aggregation of Aβ from amorphous oligomeric species to mature fibrils has been extensively studied. However, significantly less in known about early-stage aggregates compared to fibrils. In particular, structural heterogeneities in prefibrillar species, and how that affects the structure of later stage aggregates are not yet well understood. Conventional spectroscopies cannot attribute structural facets to specific aggregates due to lack of spatial resolution, and hence aggregates at any stage of aggregation must be viewed as having the same average structure. The integration of infrared spectroscopy with Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM-IR) allows for identifying the signatures of individual nanoscale aggregates by spatially resolving spectra. In this report, we use AFM-IR to demonstrate that amyloid oligomers exhibit significant structural variations as evidenced in their infrared spectra, ranging from ordered beta structure to disordered conformations with predominant random coil and beta turns. This heterogeneity is transmitted to and retained in protofibrils and fibrils. We show for the first time that amyloid fibrils do not always conform to their putative ordered structure and structurally different domains can exist in the same fibril. We further show the implications of these results in amyloid plaques in Alzheimer’s tissue using infrared imaging, where these structural heterogeneities manifest themselves as lack of expected beta sheet structure.