Aβ42 and Aβ40 oligomers form transient and persistent pores with different time evolutions and toxicities

Abstract

In Alzheimers disease (AD), formation of harmful self-gating pores formed by the insertion of amyloid beta oligomers (A{beta}Os) into the plasma membrane have been shown to cause disruption of Ca2+ homeostasis, leading to neuronal malfunctioning and degeneration. Among different isoforms, the most studied A{beta}40 and A{beta}42 are also believed to be the most toxic ones. Using single channel imaging, we show that both isoforms can form functionally distinct populations of Ca2+ permeable pores, we named transient and persistent pores. The transient pores could be seen only for a few tens of milliseconds, while persistent pores can be observed for more than an hour. However, while the Ca2+-toxicity of pores formed by A{beta}42Os tend to increase over time by displaying higher open probability and larger Ca2+ permeability, pores formed by A{beta}40Os show opposite time dependent behavior. We conclude that although both isoforms can form Ca2+ permeable pores in the cells plasma membrane, pores due to A{beta}42Os display worsening Ca2+ toxicity over time.