Insulin inhibits amyloid β-induced cell death in cultured human brain pericytes

Amyloid-β (Aβ) deposition in the cerebral arterial and capillary walls is one of the characteristics of Alzheimer’s disease and hereditary cerebral hemorrhage with amyloidosis-Dutch type. In vitro, Aβ1–40, carrying the “Dutch” mutation (DAβ1–40), induced reproducible degeneration of cultured human brain pericytes (HBP), by forming fibrils at the cell surface. Thus, this culture system provides an useful model to study the vascular pathology seen in Alzheimer’s disease. In this study, we used this model to investigate the effects of insulin on Aβ-induced degeneration of HBP, as it has been mentioned previously that insulin is able to protect neurons against Aβ-induced cell-death.