Figure 4. LRP1 endocytosis is required for Aβ42 uptake and accumulation in N2a cells.

A, clathrin heavy chain (CHC) knockdown increases cell surface levels of mLRP4. N2a-mLRP4 cells were infected with CHC shRNA lentivirus or pLKO, control lentivirus. The levels of cell surface and total pools of mLRP4 were determined by flow cytometric analyses with anti-HA antibody in non-permeabilized and saponin-treated cells, respectively. The surface-to-total ratio were calculated and plotted as fold-change to control-infected cells. Right panel, decreased CHC levels and normal mLRP4 levels in transduced N2a-mLRP4 cells were verified by Western blot from sister cultures. B, CHC knockdown decreases accumulation of Aβ42 in N2a-mLRP4 cells. N2a-mLRP4 cells infected with clathrin heavy chain lentivirus as in A) were treated with 500 nM of FAM-Aβ42 or the corresponding control, scrambled peptide for 48 h. The intracellular level of FAM-Aβ42 was determined by flow cytometric analyses of pronase-treated cells. C, deletion of LRP1 tail increases cell surface levels of mLRP4. The cell surface and total pools of the LRP1 minireceptor were determined by flow cytometric analyses with anti-HA antibody as in A in N2a-mLRP4 cells and in N2a cells stably transfected with a deletion variant lacking the cytoplasmic tail of mLRP4 (mLRP4-Tless). The surface-to-total ratios were then calculated and plotted as fold-change to N2a-mLRP4 cells. Right panel, HA blot showing the expression level of minireceptors in N2a stable cell lines. D, deletion of LRP1 tail decreased the mLRP4 endocytosis rate in N2a cells. N2a-mLRP4 and N2a-mLRP4-Tless cells were incubated with 5 nM ¹²⁵I-RAP at 4°C for 60 min, and then shifted to 37°C for the indicated times. At each time point, the amounts of ligand that is either internalized or that remains at the cell surface were determined and the ratios of internalized to total cell-associated ligand were plotted against time. Values are the average of triple determinations with the S.D. indicated by error bars. E, impaired LRP1 endocytosis rate decreases accumulation of Aβ42 in N2a-mLRP4 cells. N2a-pcDNA3, N2a-mLRP4 and N2a-mLRP4-Tless cells were treated with 500 nM of FAM-Aβ42 or the corresponding control, scrambled peptide for 48 h and the cell-associated (without pronase) and intracellular (with pronase) levels of Aβ42 were determined by flow cytometric analyses.