Beta-amyloid peptides enhance the proliferative response of activated CD4CD28 lymphocytes from Alzheimer disease patients and from healthy elderly

PLoS One. 2012;7(3):e33276. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0033276. Epub 2012 Mar 12.

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most frequent form of dementia among elderly. Despite the vast amount of literature on non-specific immune mechanisms in AD there is still little information about the potential antigen-specific immune response in this pathology. It is known that early stages of AD include β-amyloid (Aβ)- reactive antibodies production and inflammatory response. Despite some evidence gathered proving cellular immune response background in AD pathology, the specific reactions of CD4(+) and CD8(+) cells remain unknown as the previous investigations yielded conflicting results. Here we investigated the CD4(+)CD28(+) population of human peripheral blood T cells and showed that soluble β-amyloids alone were unable to stimulate these cells to proliferate significantly, resulting only in minor, probably antigen-specific, proliferative response. On the other hand, the exposure of in vitro pre-stimulated lymphocytes to soluble Aβ peptides significantly enhanced the proliferative response of these cells which had also lead to increased levels of TNF, IL-10 and IL-6. We also proved that Aβ peptide-enhanced proliferative response of CD4(+)CD28(+) cells is autonomous and independent from disease status while being associated with the initial, ex vivo activation status of the CD4(+) cells. In conclusion, we suggest that the effect of Aβ peptides on the immune system of AD patients does not depend on the specific reactivity to Aβ epitope(s), but is rather a consequence of an unspecific modulation of the cell cycle dynamics and cytokine production by T cells, occurring simultaneously in a huge proportion of Aβ peptide-exposed T lymphocytes and affecting the immune system performance.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Alzheimer Disease / immunology*
  • Amyloid beta-Peptides / immunology*
  • Amyloid beta-Peptides / pharmacology
  • CD28 Antigens / metabolism
  • CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / immunology*
  • CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / metabolism
  • Cell Proliferation / drug effects*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • In Vitro Techniques
  • Interleukin-10 / immunology
  • Interleukin-6 / immunology
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Statistics, Nonparametric
  • Tumor Necrosis Factors / immunology

Substances

  • Amyloid beta-Peptides
  • CD28 Antigens
  • Interleukin-6
  • Tumor Necrosis Factors
  • Interleukin-10