At 3?h, nearly all internalized FITC A42 was associated with early endosomes (Rab-11). diluted 1:50 in serum-free media [26]. The AD, YC, and OC sera (one from each group) used for these studies were selected Notoginsenoside R1 after analyzing and comparing their autoantibody profiles using immunoblotting and Human Protein Microarrays as described previously [26C31]. In these previous studies, we have analyzed the IgG autoantibody signatures of over 100 AD sera and a similar number of control (young and old) sera. Based on these profiles, we selected a single sample from each subject group that best reflected the group. Approval to use these sera was obtained from the University of Medicine and Dentistry-Stratford (now Rowan University) Institutional Review Board. Human sera were heated to 56C for 25?min to inactivate complement for certain experiments. Immunocytochemistry (ICC) Differentiated SH-SY5Y cells were washed in cation-free 1x Hanks Balanced Salt Solution (HBSS, without calcium or magnesium; Invitrogen, UK) three times prior to experimental protocol, and later were fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde (PFA). If the cell surface membrane was to be stripped so as to not include surface-bound, non-internalized peptide for A42 internalization assays, immediately prior to fixation, three acid washes (0.1?M Glycine, pH 2.5) of 2?min each were performed, followed by two more HBSS washes to remove any residual acid. After fixation, cells were treated with 3% BSA in PBS with Tween (PBS-T) (for removal of cell surface membranes) or PBS alone (for intact cell surface membrane assays) and then probed with primary antibody overnight at 4C followed by secondary antibodies for 1?h at room temperature. For detection of serum IgG bound to SH-SY5Y cells, anti-human IgG conjugated to an Alexa-fluor 594 (Cy3) fluorophore was used as secondary antibody. Nuclei were counterstained with Hoechst. Confocal microscopy (Nikon) and epifluorescence optics were used to capture images, and NIS-Elements software was used to perform image analysis and quantification of signal intensities. Peptides and antibodies For IHC, anti-A42 antibodies were obtained from Millipore International (Temecula, CA) (polyclonal, Cat. No. AB5078 P, dilution 1:50) and Pharmingen (San Diego, CA) (polyclonal Cat. No. 4767, dilution 1:50); biotinylated anti-human IgG antibodies were obtained from Vector Laboratories (Burlingame, CA) (host: goat, Notoginsenoside R1 Cat. No. PK-6103 and BA-3000, dilution 1:100); mouse anti-GluR2 was obtained from Santa Cruz Biotechnology (Santa Cruz, CA) (polyclonal N19, SC-7611) and Zymed Laboratories (Cat. No. 32-0300); Cathepsin D was obtained from Upstate Biotechnology (Lake Placid, NY) (Cat. No Notoginsenoside R1 06-467). For ICC experiments, exogenous A42 (beta-amyloid 1C42, HiLyteTM fluor 488 (FITC); AnaSpec, Inc., San Jose, CA, USA; AS-60479-01) was used for internalization assays. A42 monomers were prepared by reconstituting 0.1?mg lyophilized powder Notoginsenoside R1 in 50 l of 1% NaOH. Samples were diluted to 1 1?mg/ml in PBS and stored at C20C in 5 l aliquots. Cells were treated with 100?nM A42 in serum-free medium prepared immediately prior to use. Medium was added to peptide-treated cells to avoid binding in serum prior to administration. Fresh aliquots were used for each experiment to avoid repeated freeze-thaw cycles that could trigger potential aggregate formation and precipitation/fibrillization. Notoginsenoside R1 Human serum samples were obtained from Analytical Biological Services Inc. (Wilmington, DE). Samples were numerically coded and included the following information: age, gender, the presence or absence of a detectable neurological disease, an indication of disease severity via a Mini-Mental Status Exam score (MMSE), and postmortem interval. Use of these samples was approved by the UMDNJ-Stratford IRB (now Rowan University). Primary antibodies for ICC included: anti-synaptic vesicle (SV) 2 (Developmental Studies Hybridoma Bank, dilution 1:1000); anti-Tau6 (Sigma, St. Louis, MO, USA; Cat. No. T8201, dilution Nid1 1:500); anti-LAMP1 (Sigma, St. Louis, MO, USA; Cat. No. L1418, dilution 1:200); anti-Rab-11 (Sigma, St. Louis, MO, USA, Cat..