Amyloid-beta (Aβ) is a hallmark component of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which induces secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines from retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). Previous studies have shown that p50/RelA (p65), a member of NF-κB family, is an essential pro-inflammatory transcription factor responding to Aβ1-40 stimulation, but few focused on the other two Rel transcription facto...

Contradictory results have been reported on the interaction of beta-amyloid (Aβ) with cholinergic receptors. The present paper investigates the modulatory effect of Aβ1-40 on the neurotransmitter release evoked by nicotinic (nAChRs) and muscarinic (mAChRs) receptors. Aβ1-40 inhibits both nicotinic and muscarinic-evoked [(3)H]DA overflow from rat nerve endings. Added to perfusion medium, Aβ1-40 ...

Centella asiatica ( léi gōng gēn) is a traditional medicinal herb with high antioxidant activity, which decreases amyloid-β (Aβ) deposition in the brain. At the same time, aggregated Aβ-induced oxidative stress is the trigger in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here, we investigated the ability of C. asiatica ethanol extract (CAE) to protect PC12 and IMR32 cells from Aβ1-40-induced...

Dementia occurs often in late stages of Parkinson's disease (PD) but its cause is unknown. Likewise there is little information about the interaction between proteins that produce PD and those implicated in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here we have investigated the interactions between parkin protein and the amyloid-β (Aβ)1-42 peptide. We examined the effects of oligomeric Aβ1-42 peptide on the su...

β-amyloid1-42 (Aβ1-42) is a major endogenous pathogen underlying the aetiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Recent evidence indicates that soluble Aβ oligomers, rather than plaques, are the major cause of synaptic dysfunction and neurodegeneration. Small molecules that suppress Aβ aggregation, reduce oligomer stability or promote off-pathway non-toxic oligomerization represent a promising alter...

Small proteins like amyloid beta (Aβ) monomers are related to neurodegenerative disorders by aggregation to insoluble fibrils. Small angle neutron scattering (SANS) is a nondestructive method to observe the aggregation process in solution. We show that SANS is able to resolve monomers of small molecular weight like Aβ for aggregation studies. We examine Aβ monomers after prolonged storing in d-...

How anti-Alzheimer's drug candidates that reduce amyloid 1-42 peptide fibrillization interact with the most neurotoxic species is far from being understood. We report herein the capacity of sugar-based peptidomimetics to inhibit both Aβ1-42 early oligomerization and fibrillization. A wide range of bio- and physicochemical techniques, such as a new capillary electrophoresis method, nuclear magne...

Phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitors are currently under evaluation as agents that may facilitate the improvement of cognitive impairment associated with Alzheimer's disease. Our aim was to determine whether inhibitors of PDEs 4, 5 and 9 could alleviate the cytotoxic effects of amyloid beta 1-42 (Aβ1-42) via a mechanism involving the small heatshock protein HSP20. We show that inhibition of PDEs ...

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease among the elderly and accounts for 60-80% of all cases of dementia. Currently, the diagnosis of AD is based on cognitive tests and mental state exams, but the peptide amyloid-beta (Aβ) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is increasingly used in clinical trials and settings. As for most protein and peptide biomarkers, quantification ...