Tg2576 Cortical Neurons That Express Human Ab Are Susceptible to Extracellular A beta-Induced, K Efflux Dependent Neurodegeneration

Abstract

BACKGROUND: One of the key pathological features of AD is the formation of insoluble amyloid plaques. The major constituent of these extracellular plaques is the beta-amyloid peptide (Aβ), although Aβ is also found to accumulate intraneuronally in AD. Due to the slowly progressive nature of the disease, it is likely that neurons are exposed to sublethal concentrations of both intracellular and extracellular Aβ for extended periods of time. RESULTS: In this study, we report that daily exposure to a sublethal concentration of Aβ(1-40) (1 µM) for six days induces substantial apoptosis of cortical neurons cultured from Tg2576 mice (which express substantial but sublethal levels of intracellular ..