Amyloid-beta (25-35) peptide induces the release of pro-matrix metalloprotease 9 (pro-MMP-9) from human neutrophils.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a degenerative process of the brain, leading to increasing impairment of cognitive functions, and is associated with accumulation in the brain of several amyloid-beta (Aβ) peptides (as amyloid plaques), including Aβ25-35. Neutrophils, the most abundant immune cell type infiltrated in the brain of AD patients, accumulate behind amyloid plaques. Aβ peptides can trigger activation of chemotaxis and oxidative burst in neutrophils, suggesting a role in modulating the neuroinflammation process. We have shown that Aβ25-35 can induce the release from human neutrophils of pro-MMP-9, a metalloprotease involved in the onset of inflammation, corroborating the hypothesis of the involvement of infiltrated neutrophils in the inflammatory processes, which occur in the AD brain.