Fig. 4

The effect of Aβ1–42 on the normalized mean lifespan of different microscopic species. To investigate the universality of the ability to catabolise 3 h–aggregated Aβ1–42 in one-housed entities, we tested 6 Bdelloids (a-f), 10 Monogonants (g-p), and 6 non-Rotifers (q-v). The data were normalized in percent, where the mean survival of the untreated starved group of the respective species were regarded as 100%. Only bdelloids demonstrated significantly longer lifespan compared to their starved controls after Aβ1–42 treatment. For monogonant rotifers, Aβ1–42 was either toxic (g-o) or ineffective (p) compared to their untreated controls. A similar effect was detected in non-rotifer species, where the aggregated peptide likewise either had no effect (q and r) or was toxic (s-v). The number in the bottom left corner of the images represents the measured real mean survival lifespan (in days) of the untreated starved control individuals. The concentration of Aβ1–42 was 100 μg/mL n = 30 one-housed individuals per group. For statistical analysis, one-way ANOVA was used followed by the Bonferroni post hoc test, and the levels of significance were p** ≤ 0.01 and p*** ≤ 0.001 (*- significant difference from the untreated starved control). Scale bars represent 50 μm