β-Secretase inhibitor increases amyloid-β precursor protein level in rat brain cortical primary neur

Background Senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) represent two of the major histopathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The plaques are primarily composed of aggregated amyloid β (Aβ) peptides. The processing of amyloid-β precursor protein (AβPP) in okadaic acid (OA)-induced tau phosphorylation primary neurons was studied.Methods Primary cultures of rat brain cortical neurons were treated with OA and β-secretase inhibitor. Neurons' viability was measured. AβPP processing was examined by immunocytochemistry and Western blotting with specific antibodies against the AβPP-N-terminus (NT) and AβPP-C-terminus (CT).Results Ten nrnol/L OA had a time-dependent suppression effect on primary neurons' viability. The suppression effect was alleviated markedly by pretreatment with β-secretase inhibitor. After OA treatment, both AβPP and β-C-terminal fragment (βCTF) were significantly increased in neurons. AβPP level was increased further in neurons pretreated with β-secretase inhibitor.Conclusions In OA-induced tau phosphorylation cell model, inhibition of β-secretase may protect neurons from death induced by OA. Because of increased accumulation of AβPP in neurons after OA treatment, more AβPP turns to be cleaved by β-secretase, producing neurotoxic βCTF. As a potential effective therapeutic target, β-secretase is worth investigating further.