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Molecular mechanisms of Alzheimer disease protection by the A673T allele of amyloid precursor protein.

ABSTRACT: Pathogenic mutations in the amyloid precursor protein (APP) gene have been described as causing early onset familial Alzheimer disease (AD). We recently identified a rare APP variant encoding an alanine-to-threonine substitution at residue 673 (A673T) that confers protection against development of AD (Jonsson, T., Atwal, J. K., Steinberg, S., Snaedal, J., Jonsson, P. V., Bjornsson, S., Stefansson, H., Sulem, P., Gudbjartsson, D., Maloney, J., Hoyte, K., Gustafson, A., Liu, Y., Lu, Y., Bhangale, T., Graham, R. R., Huttenlocher, J., Bjornsdottir, G., Andreassen, O. A., Jönsson, E. G., Palotie, A., Behrens, T. W., Magnusson, O. T., Kong, A., Thorsteinsdottir, U., Watts, R. J., and Stefansson, K. (2012) Nature 488, 96-99). The Ala-673 residue lies within the ?-secretase recognition sequence and is part of the amyloid-? (A?) peptide cleavage product (position 2 of A?). We previously demonstrated that the A673T substitution makes APP a less favorable substrate for cleavage by BACE1. In follow-up studies, we confirm that A673T APP shows reduced cleavage by BACE1 in transfected mouse primary neurons and in isogenic human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neurons. Using a biochemical approach, we show that the A673T substitution modulates the catalytic turnover rate (V(max)) of APP by the BACE1 enzyme, without affecting the affinity (K(m)) of the APP substrate for BACE1. We also show a reduced level of A?(1-42) aggregation with A2T A? peptides, an observation not conserved in A?(1-40) peptides. When combined in a ratio of 1:9 A?(1-42)/A?(1-40) to mimic physiologically relevant mixtures, A2T retains a trend toward slowed aggregation kinetics. Microglial uptake of the mutant A?(1-42) peptides correlated with their aggregation level. Cytotoxicity of the mutant A? peptides was not dramatically altered. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that A673T, a protective allele of APP, reproducibly reduces amyloidogenic processing of APP and also mildly decreases A? aggregation. These effects could together have an additive or even synergistic impact on the risk of developing AD.

SUBMITTER: Maloney JA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4223305 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Molecular mechanisms of Alzheimer disease protection by the A673T allele of amyloid precursor protein.

Maloney Janice A JA Bainbridge Travis T Gustafson Amy A Zhang Shuo S Kyauk Roxanne R Steiner Pascal P van der Brug Marcel M Liu Yichin Y Ernst James A JA Watts Ryan J RJ Atwal Jasvinder K JK

The Journal of biological chemistry 20140924 45

Pathogenic mutations in the amyloid precursor protein (APP) gene have been described as causing early onset familial Alzheimer disease (AD). We recently identified a rare APP variant encoding an alanine-to-threonine substitution at residue 673 (A673T) that confers protection against development of AD (Jonsson, T., Atwal, J. K., Steinberg, S., Snaedal, J., Jonsson, P. V., Bjornsson, S., Stefansson, H., Sulem, P., Gudbjartsson, D., Maloney, J., Hoyte, K., Gustafson, A., Liu, Y., Lu, Y., Bhangale, ...[more]

PMID: 25253696

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Project description:IMPORTANCE:Recently, a rare variant in the amyloid precursor protein gene (APP) was described in a population from Iceland. This variant, in which alanine is replaced by threonine at position 673 (A673T), appears to protect against late-onset Alzheimer disease (AD). We evaluated the frequency of this variant in AD cases and cognitively normal controls to determine whether this variant will significantly contribute to risk assessment in individuals in the United States. OBJECTIVE:To determine the frequency of the APP A673T variant in a large group of elderly cognitively normal controls and AD cases from the United States and in 2 case-control cohorts from Sweden. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS:Case-control association analysis of variant APP A673T in US and Swedish white individuals comparing AD cases with cognitively intact elderly controls. Participants were ascertained at multiple university-associated medical centers and clinics across the United States and Sweden by study-specific sampling methods. They were from case-control studies, community-based prospective cohort studies, and studies that ascertained multiplex families from multiple sources. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES:Genotypes for the APP A673T variant were determined using the Infinium HumanExome V1 Beadchip (Illumina, Inc) and by TaqMan genotyping (Life Technologies). RESULTS:The A673T variant genotypes were evaluated in 8943 US AD cases, 10?480 US cognitively normal controls, 862 Swedish AD cases, and 707 Swedish cognitively normal controls. We identified 3 US individuals heterozygous for A673T, including 1 AD case (age at onset, 89 years) and 2 controls (age at last examination, 82 and 77 years). The remaining US samples were homozygous for the alanine (A673) allele. In the Swedish samples, 3 controls were heterozygous for A673T and all AD cases were homozygous for the A673 allele. We also genotyped a US family previously reported to harbor the A673T variant and found a mother-daughter pair, both cognitively normal at ages 72 and 84 years, respectively, who were both heterozygous for A673T; however, all individuals with AD in the family were homozygous for A673. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE:The A673T variant is extremely rare in US cohorts and does not play a substantial role in risk for AD in this population. This variant may be primarily restricted to Icelandic and Scandinavian populations.

Dataset Information

Molecular mechanisms of Alzheimer disease protection by the A673T allele of amyloid precursor protein.

Publications

Molecular mechanisms of Alzheimer disease protection by the A673T allele of amyloid precursor protein.

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