The Journal of Neuroscience, 2001, 21:RC118:1-5
RAPID COMMUNICATION
Amyloid-
Peptides Are Cytotoxic to
Oligodendrocytes
Jan
Xu,
Shawei
Chen,
S. Hinan
Ahmed,
Hong
Chen,
Grace
Ku,
Mark P.
Goldberg, and
Chung Y.
Hsu
Department of Neurology and Center for the Study of Nervous System
Injury, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
63110
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease
characterized by progressive dementia. Amyloid-
peptide (A
), a
39-43 amino acid peptide derived from
-amyloid precursor protein,
forms insoluble fibrillar aggregates that have been linked to neuronal and vascular degeneration in AD and cerebral amyloid angiopathy. Here
we demonstrate that A
1-40 and a truncated fragment, A
25-35,
induced death of oligodendrocytes (OLGs) in vitro in a dose-dependent manner with similar potencies. A
-induced OLG death was accompanied by nuclear DNA fragmentation, mitochondrial
dysfunction, and cytoskeletal disintegration. A
activation of
redox-sensitive transcription factors NF-
B and AP-1 and antioxidant
prevention of A
-mediated OLG death suggest that oxidative injury
contributes to A
cytotoxicity in OLGs. Recent demonstration of A
deposition and white matter abnormalities in AD implies a potential
pathophysiological role for A
-mediated cytotoxicity of OLGs in this
neurodegenerative disease.
Key words:
Alzheimer's disease; apoptosis; cell death; mitochondrial DNA; oxidative stress; white matter
Copyright © 0000 Society for Neuroscience 0270-6474/00/$05.00/0