Beta Amyloid toxicity in a Caenorhabditis elegans model of Alzheimer's disease

Transgenic animals were engineered to express human amyloid peptide controlled by a muscle-specific, heat-inducible promoter. At low temperatures (16°C) Abeta expression is minimal, while at higher temperatures (20-25°C) Abeta accummulates in large quantities and causes paralysis. GFP- and GFP::degron (a toxic aggregating GFP mutant)-expressing animals were used as controls. Animals were grown at 16°C till early 3rd larval stage and then upshifted to 25°C. Animals were harvested at the time of upshift (T0), and every 4 hours later until 20 hours postupshift (T4-T20).