Alzheimer’sAb fused togreen£uorescent protein induces growth stress anda heat shock response

The 42 amino acid Alzheimer’s Ab peptide is involved in the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Here we describe the effects of intracellular Ab, produced through its attachment to either end of a green fluorescent protein, in yeast. Cells producing Ab exhibited a lower growth yield and a heat shock response, showing that Ab fusions promote stress in cells and supporting the notion that intracellular Ab is a toxic molecule. These studies have relevance in understanding the role of Ab in the death of neuronal cells, and indicate that yeast may be a new tractable model system for the screening for inhibitors of the stress caused by Ab.