2. Materials and methods
2.1. Chemicals Ai(1­40), Ai(1­-42), Ai(25-­35), Ai(1-­28), hu-
man amylin and rat amylin were purchased from Bachem (Torrance, CA, USA). They were dissolved in distilled water at a concentration of 1 mM and stored at - 20°C. The stock solution was diluted to desired concentrations immediately before use. MTT, 3-nitropropionic acid (3-NP), cholesterol, lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) and propidium iodide were purchased from Sigma (St. Louis, MO, USA).