Figure 1.

Aβ induces CD3+/CD4+ cells transmigration through an in vitro blood-brain barrier (BBB) model. Endothelial/astrocytes co-cultures were exposed to Aβ (2.5 μM) for 18 h and the number of PBMCs migrating through the barrier was evaluated after an additional 18 h. PBMCs migration represents the ratio of migrated cells through the barrier, given a constant input, expressed as a percentage of migration in control conditions (A). Protein expression of ICAM-1 in endothelial cells co-cultured with astrocytes and exposed to Aβ (2.5 μM) for 18 h was evaluated by western blot analysis. Densitometric analyses of the two isoform bands (85 and 75 kDa) and a representative blot are reported (B). PBMCs migrated through the in vitro BBB were immunostained for the T cell co-receptor CD3 (C) and CD4 (D) and processed through flow cytometry analysis. Boxplots for total cells (input), cells migrated under control conditions (M_ctr), and cells migrated after treatment of astrocytes/endothelial cells with Aβ (2.5 μM) for 18 h (M_Aβ) are shown. Data are mean ± SEM of four (A) to six (B–D) independent experiments. *p < 0.05 vs. control, ctr (A) and input (C). Significance was assessed by Student’s t-test (A,B) and by one-way ANOVA followed by Newman–Keuls test (C,D).