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Updated: Sep 15, 2026

Imaging the Intracellular Trafficking of APP with Photoactivatable GFP
Published on: October 17, 2015
Characterization of stable complexes involving apolipoprotein E and the amyloid beta peptide in Alzheimer's disease
J Näslund1, J Thyberg, L O Tjernberg
1Laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Section of Experimental Alcohol and Drug Addiction Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Medical Nobel Institute, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
Abstract:
Genetic evidence suggests a role for apolipoprotein E (apoE) in Alzheimer's disease (AD) amyloidogenesis. Here, amyloid-associated apoE from 32 AD patients was purified and characterized. We found that brain amyloid-associated apoE apparently exists not as free molecules but as complexes with polymers of the amyloid beta peptide (A beta). Brain A beta-apoE complexes were detected irrespective of the apoE genotype, and similar complexes could be mimicked in vitro. The fine structure of purified A beta-apoE complexes was fibrillar, and immunogold labeling revealed apoE immunoreactivity along the fibrils. Thus, we conclude that A beta-apoE complexes are principal components of AD-associated brain amyloid and that the data presented here support a role for apoE in the pathogenesis of AD.
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