Actions of neurotoxic beta-amyloid on calcium homeostasis and viability of PC12 cells are blocked by antioxidants but not by calcium channel antagonists.

The fragment of beta-amyloid comprised of amino acids 25-35 induces a rapid, concentration-dependent increase in cytosolic free calcium levels in suspensions of PC12 neuronal cells. This action of beta-amyloid 25-35 is not altered by pretreatment with the calcium channel blockers nifedipine or cobalt, with the depleter of intracellular calcium stores cyclopiazonic acid, or with the phospholipase C inhibitor neomycin. However, the effects of beta-amyloid 25-35 on cytosolic free calcium are absent in calcium-free buffer and are blocked by the antioxidant lazaroid U-83836E and by vitamin E. beta-Amyloid 25-35 is also neurotoxic and produces a concentration-dependent reduction in the viability of PC12 cells in culture. The neurotoxic action of beta-amyloid is blocked by U-83836E and vitamin E but not by nifedipine or cobalt. These data indicate that both the disruption of calcium homeostasis and the reduction of cell viability produced by beta-amyloid in PC12 cells are mediated by free radical-based processes.