Pyroglutamation of amyloid-βx-42 (Aβx-42) followed by Aβ1–40 deposition underlies plaque polymorphism in progressing Alzheimer’s disease pathology

Amyloid- (A) pathology in Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by the formation of polymorphic deposits comprising diffuse and cored plaques. Because diffuse plaques are predominantly observed in cognitively unaffected, amyloid-positive (CU-AP) individuals, pathogenic conversion into cored plaques appears to be critical to AD pathogenesis. Herein, we identified the distinct A species associated with amyloid polymorphism in brain tissue from individuals with sporadic AD (s-AD) and CU-AP. To this end, we interrogated A polymorphism with amyloid conformation-sensitive dyes and a novel in situ MS paradigm for chemical characterization of hyperspectrally delineated plaque morphotypes. We found that maturation of diffuse into cored plaques correlated with increased A1-40 deposition. Using spatial in situ delineation with imaging MS (IMS), we show that A1-40 aggregates at the core structure of mature plaques, whereas A1-42 localizes to diffuse amyloid aggregates. Moreover, we observed that diffuse plaques have increased pyroglutamated Ax-42 levels in s-AD but not CU-AP, suggesting an AD pathology-related, hydrophobic functionalization of diffuse plaques facilitating A1-40 deposition. Experiments in tgAPP(Swe) mice verified that, similar to what has been observed in human brain pathology, diffuse deposits display higher levels of A1-42 and that A plaque maturation over time is associated with increases in A1-40. Finally, we found that A1-40 deposition is characteristic for cerebral amyloid angiopathy deposition and maturation in both humans and mice. These results indicate that N-terminal Ax-42 pyroglutamation and A1-40 deposition are critical events in priming and maturation of pathogenic A from diffuse into cored plaques, underlying neurotoxic plaque development in AD.