Development and Technical Validation of an Immunoassay for the Detection of APP669-711 (Aß-3-40) in Biological Samples.

The ratio of amyloid precursor protein (APP)669-711 (Aß-3-40)/Aß1-42 in blood plasma was reported to represent a novel Alzheimer's disease biomarker. Here, we describe the characterization of two antibodies against the N-terminus of Aß-3-x and the development and "fit-for-purpose" technical validation of a sandwich immunoassay for the measurement of Aß-3-40. Antibody selectivity was assessed by capillary isoelectric focusing immunoassay, Western blot analysis, and immunohistochemistry. The analytical validation addressed assay range, repeatability, specificity, between-run variability, impact of pre-analytical sample handling procedures, assay interference, and analytical spike recoveries. Blood plasma was analyzed after Aß immunoprecipitation by a two-step immunoassay procedure. Both monoclonal antibodies detected Aß-3-40 with no appreciable cross reactivity with Aß1-40 or N-terminally truncated Aß variants. However, the amyloid precursor protein was also recognized. The immunoassay showed high selectivity for Aß-3-40 with a quantitative assay range of 22 pg/mL-7.5 ng/mL. Acceptable intermediate imprecision of the complete two-step immunoassay was reached after normalization. In a small clinical sample, the measured Aß42/Aß-3-40 and Aß42/Aß40 ratios were lower in patients with dementia of the Alzheimer's type than in other dementias. In summary, the methodological groundwork for further optimization and future studies addressing the Aß42/Aß-3-40 ratio as a novel biomarker candidate for Alzheimer's disease has been set.

A Specific Reduction in Aß1-42 vs. a Universal Loss of Aß Peptides in CSF Differentiates Alzheimer's Disease From Meningitis and Multiple Sclerosis.

A reduced concentration of Aß1-42 in CSF is one of the established biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease. Reduced CSF concentrations of Aß1-42 have also been shown in multiple sclerosis, viral encephalitis and bacterial meningitis. As neuroinflammation is one of the neuropathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease, an infectious origin of the disease has been proposed. According to this hypothesis, amyloid pathology is a consequence of a microbial infection and the resulting immune defense. Accordingly, changes in CSF levels of amyloid-ß peptides should be similar in AD and inflammatory brain diseases. Aß1-42 and Aß1-40 levels were measured in cerebrospinal fluid by ELISA and Western blotting in 34 patients with bacterial meningitis (n = 9), multiple sclerosis (n = 5) or Alzheimer's disease (n = 9) and in suitable controls (n = 11). Reduced concentrations of Aß1-42 were detected in patients with bacterial meningitis, multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease. However, due to a concurrent reduction in Aß1-40 in multiple sclerosis and meningitis patients, the ratio of Aß1-42/Aß1-40 was reduced only in the CSF of Alzheimer's disease patients. Urea-SDS-PAGE followed by Western blotting revealed that all Aß peptide variants are reduced in bacterial meningitis, whereas in Alzheimer's disease, only Aß1-42 is reduced. These results have two implications. First, they confirm the discriminatory diagnostic power of the Aß1-42/Aß1-40 ratio. Second, the differential pattern of Aß peptide reductions suggests that the amyloid pathology in meningitis and multiple sclerosis differs from that in AD and does not support the notion of AD as an infection-triggered immunopathology.

N-truncated Aß4-x peptides in sporadic Alzheimer's disease cases and transgenic Alzheimer mouse models.

BACKGROUND: The deposition of neurotoxic amyloid-ß (Aß) peptides in plaques in the brain parenchyma and in cerebral blood vessels is considered to be a key event in Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis. Although the presence and impact of full-length Aß peptides such as Aß1-40 and Aß1-42 have been analyzed extensively, the deposition of N-terminally truncated Aß peptide species has received much less attention, largely because of the lack of specific antibodies. METHODS: This paper describes the generation and characterization of novel antibodies selective for Aß4-x peptides and provides immunohistochemical evidence of Aß4-x in the human brain and its distribution in the APP/PS1KI and 5XFAD transgenic mouse models. RESULTS: The Aß4-x staining pattern was restricted mainly to amyloid plaque cores and cerebral amyloid angiopathy in AD and Down syndrome cases and in both AD mouse models. In contrast, diffuse amyloid deposits were largely negative for Aß4-x immunoreactivity. No overt intraneuronal staining was observed. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study are consistent with previous reports demonstrating a high aggregation propensity of Aß4-x peptides and suggest an important role of these N-truncated Aß species in the process of amyloidogenesis and plaque core formation.