Aβ42 Peptide Promotes Proliferation and Gliogenesis in Human Neural Stem Cells

Amyloid-β 42 [Aβ1-42 (Aβ42)] is one of the main Aβ peptide isoforms found in amyloid plaques of brains with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although Aβ42 is associated with neurotoxicity, it might mediate several normal physiological processes during embryonic brain development and in the adult brain...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Bernabeu-Zornoza, Adela, Coronel Lopez, Raquel, Palmer, Charlotte, Calero, Miguel, Martínez-Serrano, A, Cano, Eva, Zambrano, Alberto, Liste-Noya, Isabel
Format: article
Publication Date:2019
Country:España
Institution:Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII)
Repository:Repisalud
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:repisalud.isciii.es:20.500.12105/17354
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12105/17354
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Amyloid beta-Peptides
Apoptosis
Cell Differentiation
Cell Line
Cell Lineage
Cell Proliferation
Humans
Neural Stem Cells
Neurogenesis
Neuroglia
Peptide Fragments
Pyridines
Pyrimidines
Signal Transduction
Description
Summary:Amyloid-β 42 [Aβ1-42 (Aβ42)] is one of the main Aβ peptide isoforms found in amyloid plaques of brains with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although Aβ42 is associated with neurotoxicity, it might mediate several normal physiological processes during embryonic brain development and in the adult brain. However, due to the controversy that exists in the field, relatively little is known about its physiological function. In the present work, we have analyzed the effects of different concentrations of monomeric Aβ42 on cell death, proliferation, and cell fate specification of human neural stem cells (hNSCs), specifically the hNS1 cell line, undergoing differentiation. Our results demonstrate that at higher concentrations (1 μM), Aβ42 increases apoptotic cell death and DNA damage, indicating that prolonged exposure of hNS1 cells to higher concentrations of Aβ42 is neurotoxic. However, at lower concentrations, Aβ42 significantly promotes cell proliferation and glial cell specification of hNS1 cells by increasing the pool of proliferating glial precursors, without affecting neuronal differentiation, in a concentration-dependent manner. At the molecular level, these effects could be mediated, at least in part, by GSK3β, whose expression is increased by treatment with Aβ42 and whose inhibition prevents the glial specification induced by Aβ42. Since the cellular and molecular effects are known to appear decades before the first clinical symptoms, these types of studies are important in discovering the underlying pathophysiological processes involved in the development of AD. This knowledge could then be used in diagnosing the disease at early stages and be applied to the development of new treatment options.