Amyloid-beta peptide neurotoxicity in human neuronal cells is associated with modulation of insulin-like growth factor transport, lysosomal machinery and extracellular matrix receptor interactions

Extracellular deposits of the amyloid-beta peptide (Aβ) are known as the main pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. In Alzheimer's disease, neurons are injured and die throughout the brain, a process in which Aβ neurotoxicity is considered to play an important role. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying Aβ toxicity that lead to neurodegeneration are not clearly established. Here we have elucidated the molecular pathways and networks which are impacted by Aβ in neurons using SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells as a model. These cells were treated with Aβ_1-42 peptides to study changes in biochemical networks using tandem mass tag labeled quantitative proteomic technique followed by computational analysis of the data. The molecular impacts of Aβ on cells were evident in a time- and dose-dependent manner, albeit the duration of treatment induced greater differential changes in cellular proteome compared to the effects of concentration. Aβ induced early changes in proteins associated with lysosomes, collagen chain trimerization and extracellular matrix receptor interaction, complement and coagulation cascade, oxidative stress induced senescence, ribosome biogenesis, regulation of insulin-like growth factor transport and uptake by insulin-like growth factor-binding protein. These novel findings provide molecular insights on the effects of Aβ on neurons, with implications for better understanding the impacts of Aβ on early neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease pathology.