Amyloid beta acts synergistically as a pro-inflammatory cytokine.

ABSTRACT: The amyloid beta (Aβ) peptide is believed to play a central role in Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most common age-related neurodegenerative disorder. However, the natural, evolutionarily selected functions of Aβ are incompletely understood. Here, we report that nanomolar concentrations of Aβ act synergistically with known cytokines to promote pro-inflammatory activation in primary human astrocytes (a cell type increasingly implicated in brain aging and AD). Using transcriptomics (RNA-seq), we show that Aβ can directly substitute for the complement component C1q in a cytokine cocktail previously shown to induce astrocyte immune activation. Furthermore, we show that astrocytes synergistically activated by Aβ have a transcriptional signature similar to neurotoxic "A1" astrocytes known to accu

SUBMITTER: LaRocca TJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8502211 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature