Internalisation and toxicity of amyloid-ß 1-42 are influenced by its conformation and assembly state rather than size

Amyloid fibrils found in plaques in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) brains are composed of amyloid-ß peptides. Oligomeric amyloid-ß 1-42 (Aß42) is thought to play a critical role in neurodegeneration in AD. Here, we determine how size and conformation affect neurotoxicity and internalisation of Aß42 assemblies using biophysical methods, immunoblotting, toxicity assays and live-cell imaging. We report significant cytotoxicity of Aß42 oligomers and their internalisation into neurons. In contrast, Aß42 fibrils show reduced internalisation and no toxicity. Sonicating Aß42 fibrils generates species similar in size to oligomers but remains nontoxic. The results suggest that Aß42 oligomers have unique properties that underlie their neurotoxic potential. Furthermore, we show that incubating cells with Aß42 oligomers for 24 h is sufficient to trigger irreversible neurotoxicity.