ArticleNeurobiology of disease2021
Amyloid beta acts synergistically as a pro-inflammatory cytokine.
Article in Neurobiology of disease, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 49 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
49 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 70 citations in OpenAlex.
- Integrated meta-analysis of human astrocytes transcriptomes reveals a candidate recurrent inflammatory signature in response to inflammatory and immune stimuli.Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Evaluation of Cell-Specific Alterations in Alzheimer's Disease and Relevance of In Vitro Models.Genes · 2023Pooled it
- Roles of neuropathology-associated reactive astrocytes: a systematic review.Acta neuropathologica communications · 2023Pooled it
- The mitochondrial epigenome and noncoding genome in aging and brain diseases.Trends in neurosciences · 2026Review
- Early amyloid pathology in mice synergistically worsens post-sepsis behavioral impairment and microglial synaptic phagocytosis.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2026Article
- Dissecting Alzheimer's proteomic landscape through NULISA profiling of brain cell-specific extracellular vesicles.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
- TREM2 in neurodegeneration and diseases.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Review
- BDNF Protects Against Neuronal Damage Induced by TNF and β-Amyloid Peptides by Targeting JNK Activation.Neurochemical research · 2026Article
- Overproduction of 42 Amino Acids Long Amyloid Beta Leads to Activation of Secretory Autophagy and Development of Drusen-Like Structures Originating From Retinal Pigment Epithelium.FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology · 2026Article
- Electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve improves amyloid pathology in delirium superimposed on dementia.Bioelectronic medicine · 2026Article
- Mitochondria as a Therapeutic Target in Neurodegeneration: Strategies for Restoring Cellular Homeostasis.Current neuropharmacology · 2026Review
- Increased neurotoxic gliosis and blood-brain barrier dysregulation in canine cognitive dysfunction syndrome (CCD).Frontiers in aging · 2026Article
- Longitudinal MRI Characterization of TNMR in biomedicine · 2026Article
- Inflammatory microglia signals drive A1-like polarization of astrocytes even in the presence of HIV-1 Tat.Molecular neurobiology · 2025Article
- Targeted Proteomics upon Treatment with Tofersen Identifies Novel Response Markers for Superoxide Dismutase 1-Linked Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.Annals of neurology · 2025Article
- Glymphatic System Dysregulation as a Key Contributor to Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Decoding the anti-inflammatory properties of sesquiterpene coumarins from the active fractions of Ferula assa-foetida through integrated experimental and in silico analyses.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Alzheimer's disease PSEN-2 N141I mutation reveals altered and shear-sensitive brain endothelial cell-like phenotype in human iPSC-derived models.Acta neuropathologica communications · 2025Article
- N-acetyl L-cysteine and Growth Factors Impede Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Inflammatory Responses in Astrocytes to Amyloid-β in Serum-free Culture.Annals of neurosciences · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The amyloid beta (Aβ) peptide is believed to play a central role in Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most common age-related neurodegenerative disorder. However, the natural, evolutionarily selected functions of Aβ are incompletely understood. Here, we report that nanomolar concentrations of Aβ act synergistically with known cytokines to promote pro-inflammatory activation in primary human astrocytes (a cell type increasingly implicated in brain aging and AD). Using transcriptomics (RNA-seq), we show that Aβ can directly substitute for the complement component C1q in a cytokine cocktail previously shown to induce astrocyte immune activation. Furthermore, we show that astrocytes synergistically activated by Aβ have a transcriptional signature similar to neurotoxic "A1" astrocytes known to accumulate with age and in AD. Interestingly, we find that this biological action of Aβ at low concentrations is distinct from the transcriptome changes induced by the high/supraphysiological doses of Aβ often used in in vitro studies. Collectively, our results suggest an important, cytokine-like function for Aβ and a novel mechanism by which it may directly contribute to the neuroinflammation associated with brain aging and AD.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.