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Fractionation and characterization of oligomeric, protofibrillar and fibrillar forms of beta-amyloid peptide.

ABSTRACT: The beta-amyloid (Abeta) peptide, a major component of senile plaques in Alzheimer's disease brain, has been shown previously to undergo a process of polymerization to produce neurotoxic forms of amyloid. Recent literature has attempted to define precisely the form of Abeta responsible for its neurodegenerative properties. In the present study we describe a novel density-gradient centrifugation method for the isolation and characterization of structurally distinct polymerized forms of Abeta peptide. Fractions containing protofibrils, fibrils, sheet structures and low molecular mass oligomers were prepared. The fractionated forms of Abeta were characterized structurally by transmission electron microscopy. The effects on cell viability of these fractions was determined in the B12 neuronal cell line and hippocampal neurons. Marked effects on cell viability in the cells were found to correspond to the presence of protofibrillar and fibrillar structures, but not to monomeric peptide or sheet-like structures of polymerized Abeta. Biological activity correlated with a positive reaction in an immunoassay that specifically detects protofibrillar and fibrillar Abeta; those fractions that were immunoassay negative had no effect on cell viability. These data suggest that the effect of Abeta on cell viability is not confined to a single conformational form but that both fibrillar and protofibrillar species have the potential to be active in this assay.

SUBMITTER: Ward RV

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1221046 | biostudies-other | 2000 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Project description:BackgroundReactive microglia are associated with ?-amyloid (A?) deposit and clearance in Alzhiemer's Disease (AD). Paradoxically, entocranial resident microglia fail to trigger an effective phagocytic response to clear A? deposits although they mainly exist in an "activated" state. Oligomeric A? (oA?), a recent target in the pathogenesis of AD, can induce more potent neurotoxicity when compared with fibrillar A? (fA?). However, the role of the different A? forms in microglial phagocytosis, induction of inflammation and oxidation, and subsequent regulation of phagocytic receptor system, remain unclear.ResultsWe demonstrated that A?(1-42) fibrils, not A?(1-42) oligomers, increased the microglial phagocytosis. Intriguingly, the pretreatment of microglia with oA?(1-42) not only attenuated fA?(1-42)-triggered classical phagocytic response to fluorescent microspheres but also significantly inhibited phagocytosis of fluorescent labeled fA?(1-42). Compared with the fA?(1-42) treatment, the oA?(1-42) treatment resulted in a rapid and transient increase in interleukin 1? (IL-1?) level and produced higher levels of tumor necrosis factor-? (TNF-?), nitric oxide (NO), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and intracellular superoxide anion (SOA). The further results demonstrated that microglial phagocytosis was negatively correlated with inflammatory mediators in this process and that the capacity of phagocytosis in fA?(1-42)-induced microglia was decreased by IL-1?, lippolysaccharide (LPS) and tert-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BHP). The decreased phagocytosis could be relieved by pyrrolidone dithiocarbamate (PDTC), a nuclear factor-?B (NF-?B) inhibitor, and N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC), a free radical scavenger. These results suggest that the oA?-impaired phagocytosis is mediated through inflammation and oxidative stress-mediated mechanism in microglial cells. Furthermore, oA?(1-42) stimulation reduced the mRNA expression of CD36, integrin ?1 (Itgb1), and Ig receptor Fc?RIII, and significantly increased that of formyl peptide receptor 2 (FPR2) and scavenger receptor class B1 (SRB1), compared with the basal level. Interestingly, the pre-stimulation with oA?(1-42) or the inflammatory and oxidative milieu (IL-1?, LPS or t-BHP) significantly downregulated the fA?(1-42)-induced mRNA over-expression of CD36, CD47 and Itgb1 receptors in microglial cells.ConclusionThese results imply that A? oligomers induce a potent inflammatory response and subsequently disturb microglial phagocytosis and clearance of A? fibrils, thereby contributing to an initial neurodegenerative characteristic of AD. Antiinflammatory and antioxidative therapies may indeed prove beneficial to delay the progression of AD.

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Fractionation and characterization of oligomeric, protofibrillar and fibrillar forms of beta-amyloid peptide.

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