Bradykinin-induced amyloid precursor protein secretion: a protein kinase C-independent mechanism that is not altered in fibroblasts from patients with sporadic Alzheimer's disease.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Racchi M
PROVIDER: S-EPMC1219272 | biostudies-other | 1998 Mar
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
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Project description:The present review analyzes the results of recent clinical trials of β secretase inhibition in sporadic Alzheimer's disease (SAD), considers the striking dichotomy between successes in tests of β-site Amyloid Precursor Protein-Cleaving Enzyme (BACE) inhibitors in healthy subjects and familial Alzheimer's disease (FAD) models versus persistent failures of clinical trials and interprets it as a confirmation of key predictions for a mechanism of amyloid precursor protein (APP)-independent, β secretase inhibition-resistant production of β amyloid in SAD, previously proposed by us. In light of this concept, FAD and SAD should be regarded as distinctly different diseases as far as β-amyloid generation mechanisms are concerned, and whereas β secretase inhibition would be neither applicable nor effective in the treatment of SAD, the β-site APP-Cleaving Enzyme (BACE) inhibitor(s) deemed failed in SAD trials could be perfectly suitable for the treatment of FAD. Moreover, targeting the aspects of Alzheimer's disease (AD) other than cleavages of the APP by β and α secretases should have analogous impacts in both FAD and SAD.
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Project description:BACKGROUND:The amyloid precursor protein (APP) is a transmembrane glycoprotein that undergoes alternative proteolytic processing. Its processing through the amyloidogenic pathway originates a large sAPP? ectodomain fragment and the ?-amyloid peptide, while non-amyloidogenic processing generates sAPP? and shorter non-fibrillar fragments. Hence, measuring sAPP? and sAPP? has been proposed as a means to identify imbalances between the amyloidogenic/non-amyloidogenic pathways in the brain of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. However, to date, no consistent changes in these proteolytic fragments have been identified in either the brain or cerebrospinal fluid of AD individuals. METHODS:In frontal cortex homogenates from AD patients (n?=?7) and non-demented controls (NDC; n?=?7), the expression of total APP mRNA and that of the APP isoforms generated by alternative splicing, APP695 and APP containing the Kunitz protease inhibitor (KPI), was analyzed by qRT-PCR using TaqMan and SYBR Green probes. The balance between the amyloidogenic/non-amyloidogenic pathways was examined in western blots estimating the sAPP? and sAPP? fragments and their membrane-tethered C-terminal fragments CTF? and CTF?. CHO-PS70 cells, stably over-expressing wild-type human APP, served to evaluate whether A?42 peptide treatment results in altered APP glycosylation. We determined the glycosylation pattern of sAPP? and sAPP? in brain extracts and CHO-PS70 culture media by lectin-binding assays. RESULTS:In the cortex of AD patients, we detected an increase in total APP mRNA relative to the controls, due to an increase in both the APP695 and APP-KPI variants. However, the sAPP? or sAPP? protein levels remained unchanged, as did those of CTF? and CTF?. We studied the glycosylation of the brain sAPP? and sAPP? using lectins and pan-specific antibodies to discriminate between the fragments originated from neuronal APP695 and glial/KPI variants. Lectin binding identified differences in the glycosylation of sAPP? species derived from the APP695 and APP-KPI variants, probably reflecting their distinct cellular origin. Moreover, the lectin-binding pattern differed in the sAPP? and sAPP? originated from all the variants. Finally, when the lectin-binding pattern was compared between AD and NDC groups, significant differences were evident in sAPP? glycosylation. Lectin binding of the soluble sAPP? and sAPP? from CHO-PS70 cells were also altered in cells treated with the A? peptide. CONCLUSION:Our analysis of the lectin binding to sAPP? and sAPP? suggests that glycosylation dictates the proteolytic pathway for APP processing. Differences between the demented and controls indicate that changes in glycosylation may influence the generation of the different APP fragments and, consequently, the pathological progression of AD.
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Project description:Early-onset Alzheimer's disease (EOAD) can be familial (FAD) or sporadic EOAD (sEOAD); both have a disease onset ?65 years of age. A total of 451 sEOAD samples were screened for known causative mutations in exons 16 and 17 of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) gene. Four samples were shown to be heterozygous for 1 of 3 known causative mutations: p.A713T, p.V717I, and p.V717G; this highlights the importance of screening EOAD patients for causative mutations. Additionally, we document an intronic 6 base pair (bp) deletion located 83 bp downstream of exon 17 (rs367709245, IVS17 83-88delAAGTAT), which has a nonsignificantly increased minor allele frequency in our sEOAD cohort (0.006) compared to LOAD (0.002) and controls (0.002). To assess the effect of the 6-bp deletion on splicing, COS-7 and BE(2)-C cells were transfected with a minigene vector encompassing exon 17. There was no change in splicing of exon 17 from constructs containing either wild type or deletion inserts. Sequencing of cDNA generated from cerebellum and temporal cortex of a patient harboring the deletion found no evidence of transcripts with exon 17 removed.
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Project description:The identification of an early biomarker to diagnose Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains a challenge. Neuropathological studies in animal and AD patients have shown that mitochondrial dysfunction is a hallmark of the development of the disease. Current studies suggest the use of peripheral tissues, like skin fibroblasts as a possibility to detect the early pathological alterations present in the AD brain. In this context, we studied mitochondrial function properties (bioenergetics and morphology) in cultured fibroblasts obtained from AD, aged-match and young healthy patients. We observed that AD fibroblasts presented a significant reduction in mitochondrial length with important changes in the expression of proteins that control mitochondrial fusion. Moreover, AD fibroblasts showed a distinct alteration in proteolytic processing of OPA1, a master regulator of mitochondrial fusion, compared to control fibroblasts. Complementary to these changes AD fibroblasts showed a dysfunctional mitochondrial bioenergetics profile that differentiates these cells from aged-matched and young patient fibroblasts. Our findings suggest that the human skin fibroblasts obtained from AD patients could replicate mitochondrial impairment observed in the AD brain. These promising observations suggest that the analysis of mitochondrial bioenergetics could represent a promising strategy to develop new diagnostic methods in peripheral tissues of AD patients.
| S-EPMC5635042 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Previous reports have shown that individual neurons of the brain can display somatic genomic mosaicism of unknown function. In this study, we report altered genomic mosaicism in single, sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD) neurons characterized by increases in DNA content and amyloid precursor protein (APP) gene copy number. AD cortical nuclei displayed large variability with average DNA content increases of ~8% over non-diseased controls that were unrelated to trisomy 21. Two independent single-cell copy number analyses identified amplifications at the APP locus. The use of single-cell qPCR identified up to 12 copies of APP in sampled neurons. Peptide nucleic acid (PNA) probes targeting APP, combined with super-resolution microscopy detected primarily single fluorescent signals of variable intensity that paralleled single-cell qPCR analyses. These data identify somatic genomic changes in single neurons, affecting known and unknown loci, which are increased in sporadic AD, and further indicate functionality for genomic mosaicism in the CNS.
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Project description:Alzheimer's disease is the fourth biggest killer in developed countries. Amyloid precursor protein (APP) plays a central role in the development of the disease, through the generation of a peptide called A beta by proteolysis of the precursor protein. APP can function as a metalloprotein and modulate copper transport via its extracellular copper binding domain (CuBD). Copper binding to this domain has been shown to reduce A beta levels and hence a molecular understanding of the interaction between metal and protein could lead to the development of novel therapeutics to treat the disease. We have recently determined the three-dimensional structures of apo and copper bound forms of CuBD. The structures provide a mechanism by which CuBD could readily transfer copper ions to other proteins. Importantly, the lack of significant conformational changes to CuBD on copper binding suggests a model in which copper binding affects the dimerisation state of APP leading to reduction in A beta production. We thus predict that disruption of APP dimers may be a novel therapeutic approach to treat Alzheimer's disease.
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Project description:Altered proteolysis of amyloid precursor protein is an important determinant of pathology development in Alzheimer's disease. Here, we describe the detection of two novel fragments of amyloid precursor protein in H4 neuroglioma cells undergoing apoptosis. Immunoreactivity of these 25-35 kDa fragments to two different amyloid precursor protein antibodies suggests that they contain the amyloid-? region and an epitope near the C-terminus of amyloid precursor protein. Generation of these fragments is associated with cleavage of caspase-3 and caspase-7, suggesting activation of these caspases. Studies in neurons undergoing DNA damage-induced apoptosis also showed similar results. Inclusion of caspase inhibitors prevented the generation of these novel fragments, suggesting that they are generated by a caspase-dependent mechanism. Molecular weight prediction and immunoreactivity of the fragments generated suggested that such fragments could not be generated by cleavage at any previously identified caspase, secretase, or calpain site on amyloid precursor protein. Bioinformatic analysis of the amino acid sequence of amyloid precursor protein revealed that fragments fitting the observed size and immunoreactivity could be generated by either cleavage at a novel, hitherto unidentified, caspase site or at a previously identified matrix metalloproteinase site in the extracellular domain. Proteolytic cleavage at any of these sites leads to a decrease in the generation of ?-secretase cleaved secreted APP, which has both anti-apoptotic and neuroprotective properties, and thus may contribute to neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease.
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Project description:Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia among older people, and the prevalence of this disease is estimated to rise quickly in the upcoming years. Unfortunately, almost all of the drug candidates tested for AD until now have failed to exhibit any efficacy. Henceforth, there is an increased necessity to avert and/or slow down the advancement of AD. It is known that one of the major pathological characteristics of AD is the presence of senile plaques (SPs) in the brain. These SPs are composed of aggregated amyloid beta (A?), derived from the amyloid precursor protein (APP). Pharmaceutical companies have conducted a number of studies in order to identify safe and effective anti-A? drugs to combat AD. It is known that ?-, ?-, and ?-secretases are the three proteases that are involved in APP processing. Furthermore, there is a growing interest in these proteases, as they have a contribution to the modulation and production of A?. It has been observed that small compounds can be used to target these important proteases. Indeed, these compounds must satisfy the common strict requirements of a drug candidate targeted for brain penetration and selectivity toward different proteases. In this article, we have focused on the auspicious molecules which are under development for targeting APP-processing enzymes. We have also presented several anti-AD molecules targeting A? accumulation and phosphorylation signaling in APP processing. This review highlights the structure-activity relationship and other physicochemical features of several pharmacological candidates in order to successfully develop new anti-AD drugs.
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Project description:Overexpression of amyloid precursor protein (APP), as well as mutations in the APP and presenilin genes, causes rare forms of Alzheimer's disease (AD). These genetic changes have been proposed to cause AD by elevating levels of amyloid-beta peptides (Abeta), which are thought to be neurotoxic. Since overexpression of APP also causes defects in axonal transport, we tested whether defects in axonal transport were the result of Abeta poisoning of the axonal transport machinery. Because directly varying APP levels also alters APP domains in addition to Abeta, we perturbed Abeta generation selectively by combining APP transgenes in Drosophila and mice with presenilin-1 (PS1) transgenes harboring mutations that cause familial AD (FAD). We found that combining FAD mutant PS1 with FAD mutant APP increased Abeta42/Abeta40 ratios and enhanced amyloid deposition as previously reported. Surprisingly, however, this combination suppressed rather than increased APP-induced axonal transport defects in both Drosophila and mice. In addition, neuronal apoptosis induced by expression of FAD mutant human APP in Drosophila was suppressed by co-expressing FAD mutant PS1. We also observed that directly elevating Abeta with fusions to the Familial British and Danish Dementia-related BRI protein did not enhance axonal transport phenotypes in APP transgenic mice. Finally, we observed that perturbing Abeta ratios in the mouse by combining FAD mutant PS1 with FAD mutant APP did not enhance APP-induced behavioral defects. A potential mechanism to explain these findings was suggested by direct analysis of axonal transport in the mouse, which revealed that axonal transport or entry of APP into axons is reduced by FAD mutant PS1. Thus, we suggest that APP-induced axonal defects are not caused by Abeta.
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Project description:Amyloid precursor protein (APP) and its extracellular domain, soluble APP alpha (sAPP?) play important physiological and neuroprotective roles. However, rare forms of familial Alzheimer's disease are associated with mutations in APP that increase toxic amyloidogenic cleavage of APP and produce amyloid beta (A?) at the expense of sAPP? and other non-amyloidogenic fragments. Although mitochondrial dysfunction has become an established hallmark of neurotoxicity, the link between A? and mitochondrial function is unclear. In this study we investigated the effects of increased levels of neuronal APP or A? on mitochondrial metabolism and gene expression, in human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells. Increased non-amyloidogenic processing of APP, but not A?, profoundly decreased respiration and enhanced glycolysis, while mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) transcripts were decreased, without detrimental effects to cell growth. These effects cannot be ascribed to A? toxicity, since higher levels of endogenous A? in our models do not cause oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) perturbations. Similarly, chemical inhibition of ?-secretase decreased mitochondrial respiration, suggesting that non-amyloidogenic processing of APP may be responsible for mitochondrial changes. Our results have two important implications, the need for caution in the interpretation of mitochondrial perturbations in models where APP is overexpressed, and a potential role of sAPP? or other non-amyloid APP fragments as acute modulators of mitochondrial metabolism.
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