Accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides (predominantly Aβ40, 42) and their aggregation into plaques in the brain are thought to be the one of the major causes of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Originally discovered in our Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line stably expressing human wild-type amyloid precursor protein (APP) (CHO/APPwt) cultures devoid of Aβ production, we found that Mycoplasma selectively degrades soluble Aβ in a time and dose (colony forming unit) dependent manner. Moreover, we fully characterized the Mycoplasma species as Mycoplasma hyorhinis (M. hyorhinis) by genetic and colony morphological analyses by light microscopy. Most interestingly, we attenuated the pathogenicity of M. hyorhinis by γ irradiation (3.5 Gy), and found that its ability to degrade Aβ was retained. On the other hand, heated and sonicated M. hyorhinis failed to retain this ability to degrade Aβ, suggesting that this degradation requires viable cells and likely a biologically active signaling pathway. In addition, we found that M. hyorhinis can degrade Aβ produced in AD model mice (PSAPP mice) ex vivo. Finally, we found that irradiated (non-pathogenic) M. hyorhinis also can degrade Aβ produced in PSAPP mice in vivo. These studies suggest that irradiated (non-pathogenic) M. hyorhinis can be a novel and alternative biological strategy for AD treatment.
Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; Mycoplasma; amyloid precursor protein; amyloid-β peptide.