The influence of lysozyme and oligothiophenes on amyloid-β toxicity in models of Alzheimer’s disease

Abstract: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the most common cause of dementia worldwide. Apart from dominantly inherited mutations, age is the major risk factor and as life expectancy increases the prevalence for AD escalates dramatically. AD causes substantial problems for the affected persons and their families, and the society suffers economically. To date the available treatments only temporarily relieve the symptoms, wherefore the development of a cure is of utmost importance. The etiology of AD is still inconclusive but many believe that small aggregates (oligomers) of the protein amyloid-β (Aβ) are central for the onset of AD.The aims of this thesis were to investigate how different molecules affect the aggregation and toxicity of Aβ. In paper I and II, two oligothiophenes were studied; p-FTAA and h-FTAA and in paper III and IV the inflammatory protein lysozyme was explored. Differentiated neuroblastoma cells and Drosophila melanogaster were used as models of AD to address the issue.The results show that p-FTAA rescues neuroblastoma cells from Aβ toxicity when Aβ is coaggregated with lysozyme. Various biophysical studies show that the co-aggregation increases the formation of fibrillar Aβ structures rich in β-sheets. Noteworthy, these Aβ fibrils were more resistant to both degradation and denaturation, and less prone to propagate seeding from Aβ monomers. Furthermore, h-FTAA, but not p-FTAA, was able to protect neuroblastoma cell toxicity when exposed to Aβ with the Arctic mutation (AβArc), which probably reflects the weaker binding of AβArc to p-FTAA, compared to h-FTAA.Lysozyme levels were increased in CSF from patients that were both biochemically and clinically diagnosed with AD. In mice models of AD it was revealed that the mRNA increase in lysozyme correlates to increased Aβ pathology, but not to tau pathology, indicating that Aβ could drive the expression of lysozyme. To evaluate the effect for increased expression of lysozyme, co-expression of lysozyme was achieved in flies that expressed Aβ in the retina of the eyes, or in flies that expressed AβArc in the central nervous system. In all AD fly models, co-expression of lysozyme protected the cells from the Aβ induced toxicity. Of note, flies that expressed the toxic AβArc in the CNS of the flies showed an improvement in both lifespan and activity. Finally, we demonstrate that Aβ aggregating in the presence of lysozyme inhibits the cellular uptake of Aβ and also the cytotoxic effect of Aβ.The work included in this thesis demonstrates that the oligothiophenes p-FTAA and h-FTAA, and also lysozyme have the potential to be used as treatment strategies for sporadic AD, but remarkable, also in familial AD with the highly toxic Arctic mutation. The protective mechanism of p-FTAA seems to be attributed to the ability to generate stable Aβ fibrils with reduced seeding capacity, and that lysozyme inhibits the neuronal uptake of Aβ, which could prevent both the intracellular toxicity and cell-to-cell transmission of Aβ.