Peroxiredoxins (Prxs) are a ubiquitously expressed family of thiol peroxidases that reduce hydrogen peroxide, peroxynitrite, and hydroperoxides using a highly conserved cysteine. There is substantial evidence that oxidative stress elicited by amyloid  (A) accumulation is a causative factor in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease (AD). Here we show that A-resistant PC12 cell lines exhibit increased expression of multiple Prx isoforms with reduced cysteine oxidation. A-resistant PC12 cells also display higher levels of thioredoxin and thioredoxin reductase, two enzymes critical for maintaining Prx activity. PC12 cells and rat primary hippocampal neurons transfected with wild type Prx1 exhibit increased A resistance, whereas mutant Prx1, lacking a catalytic cysteine, confers no protection. Using an antibody that specifically recognizes sulfinylated and sulfonylated Prxs, it is demonstrated that primary rat cortical nerve cells exposed to A display a time-dependent increase in cysteine oxidation of the catalytic site of Prxs that can be blocked by the addition of the thiol-antioxidant N-acetylcysteine. In support of previous findings, expression of Prx1 is higher in post-mortem human AD cortex tissues than in age-matched controls. In addition, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry analysis revealed that Prx2 exists in a more oxidized state in AD brains than in control brains. These findings suggest that increased Prx expression and resistance to sulfhydryl oxidation in A-resistant nerve cells is a compensatory response to the oxidative stress initiated by chronic pro-oxidant A exposure.A wide body of evidence has implicated oxidative damage in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease (AD) 3 (1). AD, the most common form of dementia in the elderly, is characterized by extracellular neuritic plaques containing the amyloid beta (A) peptide 1-42 and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles composed mainly of hyperphosphorylated tau protein. Several studies have shown that A exposure increases levels of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ), lipid peroxidation, and protein oxidation (carbonylation) in cultured neurons (2-4). Increased oxidative damage to lipids, DNA, and proteins is also found in AD brains (1). Because the exogenous addition of antioxidants or catalase protects cultured nerve cells from A toxicity (2, 5), it is likely that free radicals play a critical role in A cytotoxicity. Therefore, cellular mechanisms that either prevent or remove reactive oxygen species (ROS) or reverse damage to cellular components after ROS exposure may play a key role in blocking A toxicity. Although widespread nerve cell death occurs in the brains of AD patients, some neurons are spared, indicating that certain populations of cells survive the same conditions that kill neighboring cells. Early studies had shown that low concentrations of A can actually rescue neurons from stressful conditions (6). However, the mechanism of A resistance is only poorly understood. Previously, a series of A-resistant clones w...