The NLRP3 inflammasome modulates tau pathology and neurodegeneration in a tauopathy model.

An active role of neuroinflammation and the NLRP3 inflammasome in Alzheimer's disease and related tauopathies is increasingly identified, supporting NLRP3 as an interesting therapeutic target. However, its effect on tau-associated neurodegeneration, a key-process in tauopathies, remains unknown. While tau pathology and neurodegeneration are closely correlated, different tau forms may act as culprits in both characteristics and NLRP3-dependent microglial processes may differently affect both processes, indicating the need to study the role of NLRP3 in both processes concomitantly. To study the role of NLRP3 on tau pathology, prion-like propagation and tau-associated neurodegeneration we generated crosses of NLRP3 deficient mice with tauP301S (PS19) transgenic mice. In this model we studied non-seeded tau pathology and hippocampal atrophy, reminiscent characteristics of tauopathies. Tau pathology in hippocampus and cortex was significantly decreased in tau.NLRP3-/- versus tau.NLRP3+/+ mice. Importantly, tau.NLRP3-/- mice also displayed significantly decreased hippocampal atrophy, indicating a role of NLRP3 in neurodegeneration. We furthermore assessed the effect of NLRP3 deficiency on tau propagation and associated hippocampal atrophy. NLRP3 deficiency significantly decreased prion-like seeding and propagation of tau pathology, reflected in decreased tau pathology in ipsi- and contralateral hippocampus and cortex in tau.NLRP3-/- following tau seeding. Most importantly, hippocampal atrophy was significantly less in tau-seeded tau.NLRP3-/- mice at 8 months. We here demonstrate for the first time that NLRP3 activation affects tau-associated neurodegeneration and seeded and non-seeded tau pathology, hence affecting key molecular processes in tauopathies. Our data thereby provide key-information in the validation of NLRP3 inflammasome as therapeutic target for AD and related tauopathies.

Blood-based Aß42 increases in the earliest pre-pathological stage before decreasing with progressive amyloid pathology in preclinical models and human subjects: opening new avenues for prevention.

Blood-based (BB) biomarkers for Aß and tau can indicate pathological processes in the brain, in the early pathological, even pre-symptomatic stages in Alzheimer's disease. However, the relation between BB biomarkers and AD-related processes in the brain in the earliest pre-pathology stage before amyloid pathology develops, and their relation with total brain concentrations of Aß and tau, is poorly understood. This stage presents a critical window for the earliest prevention of AD. Preclinical models with well-defined temporal progression to robust amyloid and tau pathology provide a unique opportunity to study this relation and were used here to study the link between BB biomarkers with AD-related processes in pre- and pathological stages. We performed a cross-sectional study at different ages assessing the link between BB concentrations and AD-related processes in the brain. This was complemented with a longitudinal analysis and with analysis of age-related changes in a small cohort of human subjects. We found that BB-tau concentrations increased in serum, correlating with progressive development of tau pathology and with increasing tau aggregates and p-tau concentrations in brain in TauP301S mice (PS19) developing tauopathy. BB-Aß42 concentrations in serum decreased between 4.5 and 9 months of age, correlating with the progressive development of robust amyloid pathology in APP/PS1 (5xFAD) mice, in line with previous findings. Most importantly, BB-Aß42 concentrations significantly increased between 1.5 and 4.5 months, i.e., in the earliest pre-pathological stage, before robust amyloid pathology develops in the brain, indicating biphasic BB-Aß42 dynamics. Furthermore, increasing BB-Aß42 in the pre-pathological phase, strongly correlated with increasing Aß42 concentrations in brain. Our subsequent longitudinal analysis of BB-Aß42 in 5xFAD mice, confirmed biphasic BB-Aß42, with an initial increase, before decreasing with progressive robust pathology. Furthermore, in human samples, BB-Aß42 concentrations were significantly higher in old (> 60 years) compared to young (< 50 years) subjects, as well as to age-matched AD patients, further supporting age-dependent increase of Aß42 concentrations in the earliest pre-pathological phase, before amyloid pathology. Also BB-Aß40 concentrations were found to increase in the earliest pre-pathological phase both in preclinical models and human subjects, while subsequent significantly decreasing concentrations in the pathological phase were characteristic for BB-Aß42. Together our data indicate that BB biomarkers reflect pathological processes in brain of preclinical models with amyloid and tau pathology, both in the pathological and pre-pathological phase. Our data indicate a biphasic pattern of BB-Aß42 in preclinical models and a human cohort. And most importantly, we here show that BB-Aß increased and correlated with increasing concentrations of Aß in the brain, in the earliest pre-pathological stage in a preclinical model. Our data thereby identify a novel critical window for prevention, using BB-Aß as marker for accumulating Aß in the brain, in the earliest pre-pathological stage, opening new avenues for personalized early preventive strategies against AD, even before amyloid pathology develops.

CSF1R inhibition rescues tau pathology and neurodegeneration in an A/T/N model with combined AD pathologies, while preserving plaque associated microglia.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by a sequential progression of amyloid plaques (A), neurofibrillary tangles (T) and neurodegeneration (N), constituting ATN pathology. While microglia are considered key contributors to AD pathogenesis, their contribution in the combined presence of ATN pathologies remains incompletely understood. As sensors of the brain microenvironment, microglial phenotypes and contributions are importantly defined by the pathologies in the brain, indicating the need for their analysis in preclinical models that recapitulate combined ATN pathologies, besides their role in A and T models only. Here, we report a new tau-seed model in which amyloid pathology facilitates bilateral tau propagation associated with brain atrophy, thereby recapitulating robust ATN pathology. Single-cell RNA sequencing revealed that ATN pathology exacerbated microglial activation towards disease-associated microglia states, with a significant upregulation of Apoe as compared to amyloid-only models (A). Importantly, Colony-Stimulating Factor 1 Receptor inhibition preferentially eliminated non-plaque-associated versus plaque associated microglia. The preferential depletion of non-plaque-associated microglia significantly attenuated tau pathology and neuronal atrophy, indicating their detrimental role during ATN progression. Together, our data reveal the intricacies of microglial activation and their contributions to pathology in a model that recapitulates the combined ATN pathologies of AD. Our data may provide a basis for microglia-targeting therapies selectively targeting detrimental microglial populations, while conserving protective populations.