Employing hippocampal synaptosomes from amyloid precursor protein (APP)-deleted mice we analyzed the immediate effects of amyloid beta peptide 42 (Aβ42) peptide in its oligomeric or fibrillar assembly or of soluble amyloid precursor protein alpha (sAPPα) protein on their bioenergetic activity. Upon administration of oligomeric Aβ42 peptide for 30 min we observed a robust decrease both in mitochondrial activity and in mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP). In contrast the respective fibrillary or scrambled peptides showed no effect, indicating that inhibition strictly depends on the oligomerization status of the peptide. Hippocampal synaptosomes from old APP-KO mice revealed a further reduction of their already impaired bioenergetic activity upon incubation with 10 μm Aβ42 peptide. In addition we evaluated the influence of the sAPPα protein on mitochondrial activity of hippocampal synaptosomes derived from young or old APP-KO animals. In neither case 20 nm nor 200 nm sAPPα protein had an effect on mitochondrial metabolic activity. Our findings demonstrate that hippocampal synaptosomes derived from APP-KO mice are a most suitable model system to evaluate the impact of Aβ42 peptide on its bioenergetic activity and to further elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying the impairments by oligomeric Aβ42 on mitochondrial function. Our data demonstrate that extracellular Aβ42 peptide is taken up into synaptosomes where it immediately attenuates mitochondrial activity.
Keywords: amyloid precursor protein; amyloid-β; bioenergetic activity; hippocampal synaptosomes; mitochondrial membrane potential.