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Ultrastructural Analysis of Beta-Amyloid Production in Monocytes, Astrocytes, Epithelial, and Endothelial Cells Infected with Chlamydia Pneumoniae Isolated from Alzheimer Brains

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2020

C.S. Little
Affiliation:
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia, PA19131
A. Maclntyre
Affiliation:
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia, PA19131
C. Hammond
Affiliation:
Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia, PA19131
E. Venuti
Affiliation:
Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia, PA19131
B.J. Bromke
Affiliation:
Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia, PA19131
B.J. Balin
Affiliation:
Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia, PA19131
D.M. Appelt
Affiliation:
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia, PA19131
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Extract

Previously, we uncovered evidence of an infectious agent, Chlamydia pneumoniae, associated with sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD). We demonstrated that C. pneumoniae was present in 90% of brain materials examined from AD patients, compared with 5% in age-matched, non-AD patients. We further showed that microglia and astroglia in the CNS are host cells for the bacterium. RT-PCR analyses indicated that the bacterium is metabolically-active in the brain and could be cultured in a human monocyte cell line (THP-1). Importantly, we showed that the organism is concentrated in areas of AD-neuropathology also containing tau and beta-amyloid. The present study was designed to investigate the effects of C. pneumoniae infection on beta amyloid production in human monocytes (THP-1), astroglial (CCF-STTG1), epithelial (Hep 2), and endothelial (HBMEC) cell lines. We investigated the host pathogen relationship with C. pneumoniae and whether entities characteristic of AD neuropathology such as betaamyloid are associated directly with this infectious agent.

Type
Microorganisms: The Good, The Bad, The Unusual
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America

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References

References:

1.Balin, B.J. et al., Medical Microbiology and Immunology (Berlin)87( 1977)23.Google Scholar
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3. Funding supported in part by NIH AI44055, Foundation for Research Into Diseases of Aging (FRIDA), and National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID).Google Scholar