Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Alzheimer disease

Host immune defence, amyloid-β peptide and Alzheimer disease

A recent study demonstrates that amyloid-β (Aβ) can function as an antimicrobial peptide, and additional data show that bacteria and yeast can seed Aβ deposition into amyloid. These data suggest a complex interplay between the normal function of Aβ, its accumulation in the brain, and host immune defence.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Antimicrobial peptide activity of amyloid-β.

References

  1. Kumar, D. K. et al. Amyloid-β peptide protects against microbial infection in mouse and worm models of Alzheimer's disease. Sci. Transl. Med. 8, 340ra372 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Golde, T. E. The pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease and the role of Aβ42. CNS Spectr. 12 (Suppl. 1), 4–6 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. De Strooper, B., Vassar, R. & Golde, T. The secretases: enzymes with therapeutic potential in Alzheimer disease. Nat. Rev. Neurol. 6, 99–107 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Soscia, S. J. et al. The Alzheimer's disease-associated amyloid β-protein is an antimicrobial peptide. PLoS ONE 5, e9505 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Kagan, B. L. et al. Antimicrobial properties of amyloid peptides. Mol. Pharm. 9, 708–717 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Xu, G. et al. Murine Aβ over-production produces diffuse and compact Alzheimer-type amyloid deposits. Acta Neuropathol. Commun. 3, 72 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Jucker, M. & Walker, L. C. Pathogenic protein seeding in Alzheimer disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. Ann. Neurol. 70, 532–540 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Itzhaki, R. F. et al. Microbes and Alzheimer's disease. J. Alzheimers Dis. 51, 979–984 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Heneka, M. T., Golenbock, D. T. & Latz, E. Innate immunity in Alzheimer's disease. Nat. Immunol. 16, 229–236 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Jones, B. Alzheimer disease: TREM2 linked to late-onset AD. Nat. Rev. Neurol. 9, 5 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Todd E. Golde.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing financial interests.

PowerPoint slides

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Golde, T. Host immune defence, amyloid-β peptide and Alzheimer disease. Nat Rev Neurol 12, 433–434 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2016.105

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2016.105

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing