Interaction between a MAPT variant causing frontotemporal dementia and mutant APP affects axonal transport.

In Alzheimer's disease, many indicators point to a central role for poor axonal transport, but the potential for stimulating axonal transport to alleviate the disease remains largely untested. Previously, we reported enhanced anterograde axonal transport of mitochondria in 8- to 11-month-old MAPTP301L knockin mice, a genetic model of frontotemporal dementia with parkinsonism-17T. In this study, we further characterized the axonal transport of mitochondria in younger MAPTP301L mice crossed with the familial Alzheimer's disease model, TgCRND8, aiming to test whether boosting axonal transport in young TgCRND8 mice can alleviate axonal swelling. We successfully replicated the enhancement of anterograde axonal transport in young MAPTP301L/P301L knockin animals. Surprisingly, we found that in the presence of the amyloid precursor protein mutations, MAPTP301L/P3101L impaired anterograde axonal transport. The numbers of plaque-associated axonal swellings or amyloid plaques in TgCRND8 brains were unaltered. These findings suggest that amyloid-β promotes an action of mutant tau that impairs axonal transport. As amyloid-β levels increase with age even without amyloid precursor protein mutation, we suggest that this rise could contribute to age-related decline in frontotemporal dementia.This work was supported by Alzheimer’s Research UK (ART/PG2009/2 to R.A.), MRC project grant (MR/L003813/1 to R.A., S.G.), Medical Research Council studentship (S.M.), Alzheimer’s Research UK studentship (ARUKPhD2013-13 to C.D.), Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council Institute Strategic Programme Grant (M.P.C.), the Foundation for Alzheimer Research (FRA/SAO) (JPB) and the Belgian F.N.R.S. (K.A and JPB)

Etude de l'expression, de la fonction et du rôle de l'Ins(1,4,5)P3 3-kinase B dans le cerveau et dans la maladie d'Alzheimer

L’isoforme B de l’inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate 3-kinase (Itpkb) génère de l’inositol 1,3,4,5-tetrakisphosphate (IP4) à partir d’inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate. Une étude microarray de 2006 a montré que le taux d’ARNm d’Itpkb était augmenté dans le cerveau de patients atteints de la maladie d’Alzheimer (MA). La MA est la forme la plus courante de démence et est caractérisée par deux types de lésions histopathologiques :les dégénérescences neurofibrillaires intracellulaires, composées d’agrégats de protéines tau hyperphosphorylées, et les plaques séniles, composées d’agrégats de peptides Aβ extracellulaires et entourées de neurites dystrophiques. Durant ce travail, nous avons étudié l’expression et la fonction d’Itpkb dans le cerveau normal et le cerveau de patients atteints de la MA. Premièrement, nous avons montré qu’Itpkb était exprimée de manière physiologique dans les neurones et dans les astrocytes. Nous avons confirmé la surexpression d’Itpkb au niveau protéique dans le cerveau de patients atteints de la MA. L’immunoréactivité anti-Itpkb était surtout localisée au niveau des neurites dystrophiques entourant les plaques amyloïdes. Des résultats identiques furent obtenus sur un modèle murin de la forme familiale de la MA, le modèle 5xFAD, reproduisant la pathologie amyloïde. La surexpression d’Itpkb dans des cellules Neuro-2a (cellules murines de neuroblastome) mène à une induction d’apoptose, à une activité β-sécrétase augmentée et à une surproduction de peptides Aβ. L’inhibition in vitro des Mitogen-activated kinase kinases 1/2 abolit complètement la surproduction de peptides Aβ. Des analyses complémentaires ont permis de montrer que le site catalytique ainsi que la partie N-terminale (responsable du targeting membranaire) de la protéine Itpkb étaient nécessaire à l’augmentation de production des peptides Aβ. Chez des animaux transgéniques pour Itpkb, la surexpression neuronale de la protéine Itpkb n’est pas suffisante pour induire la formation de plaques amyloïdes ou pour induire une hyperphosphorylation de tau. Cependant, ces souris transgéniques développent une astrogiose marquée et présentent des neurites dégénératifs au niveau de l’hippocampe. Chez des souris transgéniques 5xFAD surexprimant Itpkb dans les neurones, l’activation des Extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2 (ERK 1/2) et l’activité β-sécrétase sont drastiquement augmentés, ce qui exacerbe la pathologie Alzheimer, confirmée par une astrogliose plus importante chez ces animaux, une surproduction de peptides Aβ 40 et une hyperphosphorylation de tau. Aucun impact sur la pathologie Alzheimer ne fut observé lorsqu’un mutant catalytique inactif d’Itpkb fut surexprimé. En conclusion, nos résultats soutiennent que la voie de signalisation Itpkb / IP4 / ERK 1/2 est une voie régulatrice de l’apoptose neuronale, du processing du précurseur de la protéine amyloïde et de la phosphorylation de tau au cours de la maladie d’Alzheimer. Nos résultats ouvrent également des perspectives thérapeutiques pour les patients Alzheimer arborant une surexpression corticale d’Itpkb, chez qui Itpkb pourrait être une cible permettant de diminuer la pathologie amyloide.Doctorat en Sciences biomédicales et pharmaceutiquesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublishe

ABNORMAL PROCESSING AND MISFOLDING OF TAU IS MODULATED BY ENDOGENOUS TAU AND MUTANT APP/PS1 BUT NOT BY ENDOGENOUS APP IN TAU TRANSGENIC MICE

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Amyloid precursor protein reduction enhances the formation of neurofibrillary tangles in a mutant tau transgenic mouse model.

Alzheimer's disease is characterized by the presence of 2 neuropathological lesions: neurofibrillary tangles, composed of tau proteins which are highly phosphorylated and phosphorylated on uncommon sites, and amyloid plaques, containing the Aß peptides generated from the amyloid precursor protein (APP). Reduction of some APP proteolytic derivatives in Alzheimer's disease such as sAPPα fragment has been reported and sAPPα has been shown to affect tau phosphorylation. To investigate in vivo the effect of absence of APP protein and its fragments on tau phosphorylation and the formation of neurofibrillary tangles, we have generated mice deleted for APP gene and overexpressing a human mutant tau protein and developing neurofibrillary tangles (APPKOTg30 mice). These APPKOTg30 mice showed more severe motor and cognitive deficits, increased tau phosphorylation, increased load of neurofibrillary tangles, and increased p25/35 ratio in the brain, compared with Tg30 mice. These data suggest that APP and/or its proteolytic derivatives interfere with the formation of neurofibrillary tangles in a transgenic mouse model that will be useful for investigating the relationship between APP and tau.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Tauopathy induced by low level expression of a human brain-derived tau fragment in mice is rescued by phenylbutyrate

Human neurodegenerative tauopathies exhibit pathological tau aggregates in the brain along with diverse clinical features including cognitive and motor dysfunction. Post-translational modifications including phosphorylation, ubiquitination and truncation, are characteristic features of tau present in the brain in human tauopathy. We have previously reported an N-terminally truncated form of tau in human brain that is associated with the development of tauopathy and is highly phosphorylated. We have generated a new mouse model of tauopathy in which this human brain-derived, 35 kDa tau fragment (Tau35) is expressed in the absence of any mutation and under the control of the human tau promoter. Most existing mouse models of tauopathy overexpress mutant tau at levels that do not occur in human neurodegenerative disease, whereas Tau35 transgene expression is equivalent to less than 10% of that of endogenous mouse tau. Tau35 mice recapitulate key features of human tauopathies, including aggregated and abnormally phosphorylated tau, progressive cognitive and motor deficits, autophagic/lysosomal dysfunction, loss of synaptic protein, and reduced life-span. Importantly, we found that sodium 4-phenylbutyrate (Buphenyl®), a drug used to treat urea cycle disorders and currently in clinical trials for a range of neurodegenerative diseases, reverses the observed abnormalities in tau and autophagy, behavioural deficits, and loss of synapsin 1 in Tau35 mice. Our results show for the first time that, unlike other tau transgenic mouse models, minimal expression of a human disease-associated tau fragment in Tau35 mice causes a profound and progressive tauopathy and cognitive changes, which are rescued by pharmacological intervention using a clinically approved drug. These novel Tau35 mice therefore represent a highly disease-relevant animal model in which to investigate molecular mechanisms and to develop novel treatments for human tauopathies.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Vaccination with Sarkosyl Insoluble PHF-Tau Decrease Neurofibrillary Tangles Formation in Aged Tau Transgenic Mouse Model: A Pilot Study.

Active immunization using tau phospho-peptides in tauopathy mouse models has been observed to reduce tau pathology, especially when given prior to the onset of pathology. Since tau aggregates in these models and in human tauopathies are composed of full-length tau with many post-translational modifications, and are composed of several tau isoforms in many of them, pathological tau proteins bearing all these post-translational modifications might prove to be optimal tau conformers to use as immunogens, especially in models with advanced tau pathology. To this aim, we immunized aged wild-type and mutant tau mice with preparations containing human paired helical filaments (PHF) emulsified in Alum-adjuvant. This immunization protocol with fibrillar PHF-tau was well tolerated and did not induce an inflammatory reaction in the brain or adverse effect in these aged mice. Mice immunized with four repeated injections developed anti-PHF-tau antibodies with rising titers that labeled human neurofibrillary tangles in situ. Immunized mutant tau mice had a lower density of hippocampal Gallyas-positive neurons. Brain levels of Sarkosyl-insoluble tau were also reduced in immunized mice. These results indicate that an immunization protocol using fibrillar PHF-tau proteins is an efficient and tolerated approach to reduce tau pathology in an aged tauopathy animal model.Journal ArticleSCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Vaccination with Sarkosyl insoluble PHF-tau decrease NFTs formation in aged tau transgenic mouse model: a pilot study.

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ALZHEIMER RISK FACTOR PICALM IS INVOLVED IN TAU PATHOLOGY IN ALZHEIMER AND OTHER TAUOPATHIES

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Inositol trisphosphate 3-kinase B is increased in human Alzheimer brain and exacerbates mouse Alzheimer pathology

S. Schurmans and J.-P. Brion contributed equally to this work Corresponding author: S. Schurmans, Laboratoire de Génétique Fonctionnelle, GIGA-Research Centre, Building 34, Université de Liège, rue de l’Hôpital 1, 4000-Liège, Belgium. Abstract: Inositol (1,4,5) trisphosphate 3-kinase B phosphorylates inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate into inositol 1,3,4,5-tetrakisphosphate and controls signal transduction in various hematopoietic cells. Surprisingly, it has been reported that Inositol (1,4,5) trisphosphate 3-kinase B mRNA level is significantly increased in the cerebral cortex of Alzheimer patients, compared to control subjects. Since Extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2 activation is increased in Alzheimer brain and since Inositol (1,4,5) trisphosphate 3-kinase B is a regulator of Extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2 activation in some hematopoietic cells, we tested whether this increased activation in Alzheimer’s disease might be related to an increased activity of Inositol (1,4,5) trisphosphate 3-kinase B. We show here that Inositol (1,4,5) trisphosphate 3-kinase B protein level was 3 fold increased in the cerebral cortex of most Alzheimer patients, compared to control subjects, and accumulated in dystrophic neurites associated to amyloid plaques. In mouse Neuro-2a neuroblastoma cells, Inositol (1,4,5) trisphosphate 3-kinase B overexpression was associated with increased cell apoptosis and increased β-secretase 1 activity leading to amyloid-β peptides overproduction. In this cellular model, an inhibitor of Mitogen-activated kinase kinases 1/2 completely prevented amyloid-β peptides overproduction. Transgenic overexpression of Inositol (1,4,5) trisphosphate 3-kinase B in mouse forebrain neurons was not sufficient to induce amyloid plaques formation or TAU hyperphosphorylation. However, in the 5X Familial Alzheimer’s Disease mouse model, neuronal Inositol (1,4,5) trisphosphate 3-kinase B overexpression significantly increased Extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2 activation and β-secretase 1 activity, resulting in exacerbated Alzheimer pathology as shown by increased astrogliosis, amyloid-β40 peptide production and TAU hyperphosphorylation. No impact on pathology was observed in the 5X Familial Alzheimer’s Disease mouse model when a catalytically inactive Inositol (1,4,5) trisphosphate 3-kinase B protein was overexpressed. Together, our results point to the Inositol (1,4,5) trisphosphate 3-kinase B /Inositol 1,3,4,5-tetrakisphosphate/Extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2 signaling pathway as an important regulator of neuronal cell apoptosis, Amyloid precursor protein processing and TAU phosphorylation in Alzheimer’s disease, and suggest that Inositol (1,4,5) trisphosphate 3-kinase B could represent a new target for reducing pathology in human AD patients with increased cortical Inositol (1,4,5) trisphosphate 3-kinase B expression