Monitoring phagocytic uptake of amyloid β into glial cell lysosomes in real time.

Phagocytosis by glial cells is essential to regulate brain function during health and disease. Therapies for Alzheimer's disease (AD) have primarily focused on targeting antibodies to amyloid β (Aβ) or inhibitng enzymes that make it, and while removal of Aβ by phagocytosis is protective early in AD it remains poorly understood. Impaired phagocytic function of glial cells during later stages of AD likely contributes to worsened disease outcome, but the underlying mechanisms of how this occurs remain unknown.