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Emergence of directional bias in tau deposition from axonal transport dynamics.

ABSTRACT: Defects in axonal transport may partly underpin the differences between the observed pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and that of other non-amyloidogenic tauopathies. Particularly, pathological tau variants may have molecular properties that dysregulate motor proteins responsible for the anterograde-directed transport of tau in a disease-specific fashion. Here we develop the first computational model of tau-modified axonal transport that produces directional biases in the spread of tau pathology. We simulated the spatiotemporal profiles of soluble and insoluble tau species in a multicompartment, two-neuron system using biologically plausible parameters and time scales. Changes in the balance of tau transport feedback parameters can elicit anterograde and retrograde biases in the distributions of soluble and insoluble tau between compartments in the system. Aggregation and fragmentation parameters can also perturb this balance, suggesting a complex interplay between these distinct molecular processes. Critically, we show that the model faithfully recreates the characteristic network spread biases in both AD-like and non-AD-like mouse tauopathy models. Tau transport feedback may therefore help link microscopic differences in tau conformational states and the resulting variety in clinical presentations.

SUBMITTER: Torok J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8345857 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:UNLABELLED:Despite the demonstration that amyloid-? (A?) can trigger increased tau phosphorylation and neurofibrillary tangle (NFT) formation in vivo, the molecular link associating A? and tau pathologies remains ill defined. Here, we observed that exposure of cultured primary neurons to A? trimers isolated from brain tissue of subjects with Alzheimer's disease led to a specific conformational change of tau detected by the antibody Alz50. A similar association was supported by postmortem human brain analyses. To study the role of A? trimers in vivo, we created a novel bigenic Tg-A?+Tau mouse line by crossing Tg2576 (Tg-A?) and rTg4510 (Tg-Tau) mice. Before neurodegeneration and amyloidosis, apparent A? trimers were increased by ?2-fold in 3-month-old Tg-A? and Tg-A?+Tau mice compared with younger mice, whereas soluble monomeric A? levels were unchanged. Under these conditions, the expression of soluble Alz50-tau conformers rose by ?2.2-fold in the forebrains of Tg-A?+Tau mice compared with nontransgenic littermates. In parallel, APP accumulated intracellularly, suggestive of a putative dysfunction of anterograde axonal transport. We found that the protein abundance of the kinesin-1 light chain (KLC1) was reduced selectively in vivo and in vitro when soluble A? trimers/Alz50-tau were present. Importantly, the reduction in KLC1 was prevented by the intraneuronal delivery of Alz50 antibodies. Collectively, our findings reveal that specific soluble conformers of A? and tau cooperatively disrupt axonal transport independently from plaques and tangles. Finally, these results suggest that not all endogenous A? oligomers trigger the same deleterious changes and that the role of each assembly should be considered separately. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT:The mechanistic link between amyloid-? (A?) and tau, the two major proteins composing the neuropathological lesions detected in brain tissue of Alzheimer's disease subjects, remains unclear. Here, we report that the trimeric A? species induce a pathological modification of tau in cultured neurons and in bigenic mice expressing A? and human tau. This linkage was also observed in postmortem brain tissue from subjects with mild cognitive impairment, when A? trimers are abundant. Further, this modification of tau was associated with the intracellular accumulation of the precursor protein of A?, APP, as a result of the selective decrease in kinesin light chain 1 expression. Our findings suggest that A? trimers might cause axonal transport deficits in AD.

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Emergence of directional bias in tau deposition from axonal transport dynamics.

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