Folia Neuropathologica

Abstract

4/2016 vol. 54
Original paper

Alzheimer’s amyloid-β peptide disturbs P2X7 receptor-mediated circadian oscillations of intracellular calcium

  1. Neurobiology Laboratory for Brain Aging and Mental Health, Transfaculty Research Platform, Molecular and Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland,
  2. Psychiatric University Clinics, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
  3. Mossakowski Medical Research Center, Polish Academy of Sciences, Department of Cellular Signaling, Warsaw, Poland
Folia Neuropathol 2016; 54 (4): 360-368
Online publish date: 2016/12/27
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Recent data indicate that Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is associated with disturbances of the circadian rhythm in patients. We examined the effect of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide, the main component of the senile plaques playing a critical role in the deregulation of calcium (Ca2+) homeostasis in AD, on the circadian oscillation of cytosolic calcium (Ca2+) levels in vitro. The experiments we carried out in human primary skin fibroblasts. This cell line was previously shown to exhibit circadian rhythms of clock genes. Moreover, the basic clock properties of these peripheral cells closely mimic those measured physiologically and behaviorally in human and do not change during aging. In this study we showed that i) cytosolic Ca2+ oscillations depend on the activation of purinergic P2X7 receptors; and ii) these oscillations are abolished in the presence of Aβ. In total, our new findings may help to deepen our understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in AD-related circadian alterations.
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