Reduction of synaptojanin 1 accelerates Aß clearance and attenuates cognitive deterioration in an Alzheimer mouse model.

Recent studies link synaptojanin 1 (synj1), the main phosphoinositol (4,5)-biphosphate phosphatase (PI(4,5)P2-degrading enzyme) in the brain and synapses, to Alzheimer disease. Here we report a novel mechanism by which synj1 reversely regulates cellular clearance of amyloid-ß (Aß). Genetic down-regulation of synj1 reduces both extracellular and intracellular Aß levels in N2a cells stably expressing the Swedish mutant of amyloid precursor protein (APP). Moreover, synj1 haploinsufficiency in an Alzheimer disease transgenic mouse model expressing the Swedish mutant APP and the presenilin-1 mutant ΔE9 reduces amyloid plaque load, as well as Aß40 and Aß42 levels in hippocampus of 9-month-old animals. Reduced expression of synj1 attenuates cognitive deficits in these transgenic mice. However, reduction of synj1 does not affect levels of full-length APP and the C-terminal fragment, suggesting that Aß generation by ß- and γ-secretase cleavage is not affected. Instead, synj1 knockdown increases Aß uptake and cellular degradation through accelerated delivery to lysosomes. These effects are partially dependent upon elevated PI(4,5)P2 with synj1 down-regulation. In summary, our data suggest a novel mechanism by which reduction of a PI(4,5)P2-degrading enzyme, synj1, improves amyloid-induced neuropathology and behavior deficits through accelerating cellular Aß clearance.

ApoE Alzheimer's Disease Aß-amyloid plaque morphology varies according to APOE isotype.

Background: The apolipoprotein E (APOE, gene; apoE, protein) ε4 allele is the most common identified genetic risk factor for typical late-onset sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD). Each APOE ε4 allele roughly triples the relative risk for AD compared to that of the reference allele, APOE ε3. Methods: We have employed hyperspectral fluorescence imaging with an amyloidspecific, conformation-sensing probe, p-FTAA, to elucidate protein aggregate structure and morphology in fresh frozen prefrontal cortex samples from human postmortem AD brain tissue samples from patients homozygous for either APOE ε3 or APOE ε4. Results: As expected APOE ε4/ε4 tissues had significantly larger load of CAA than APOE ε3/ε3. APOE isoform-dependent morphological differences in amyloid plaques were also observed. Amyloid plaques in APOE ε3/ε3 tissue had small spherical cores and large corona while amyloid plaques in APOE ε4/ε4 tissues had large irregular and multilobulated plaques with relatively smaller corona. Despite the different morphologies of their cores, the p-FTAA stained APOE ε3/ε3 amyloid plaque cores had spectral properties identical to those of APOE ε4/ε4 plaque cores. Conclusions: These data support the hypothesis that one mechanism by which the APOE ε4 allele affects AD is by modulating the macrostructure of pathological protein deposits in brain. APOE ε4 is associated with a higher density of amyloid plaques (as compared to APOE ε3). We speculate that multilobulated APOE ε4-associated plaques arise from multiple initiation foci that coalesce as the plaques grow.

Evidence that an APOE ε4 'double whammy' increases risk for Alzheimer's disease.

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is associated with some of the same neuropathological features as those reported for early stages of typical Alzheimer's disease (AD). The APOE ε4 allele is associated with a gene-dose-dependent increase in AD risk and in the severity of amyloid-ß (Aß) pathology. In a study published in the current BMC Medicine, Sue Griffin and colleagues studied markers of brain resilience in the amputated temporal lobes of TLE patients. They discovered compelling evidence that the APOE ε3 isoform in TLE patients is apparently more neuroprotective from Aß toxicity than is the APOE ε4 isoform, as shown by the reduced levels of neuronal damage, glial activation, and expression of IL-1α in the APOE ε3/ε3 brains. This result points to a new property of APOE isoforms: not only are APOE ε4 alleles associated with increased brain amyloid plaque burden, but these alleles are also apparently inferior to APOE ε3 alleles in conveying resistance to Aß neurotoxicity. This 'double whammy' result opens up a new direction for studies aimed at elucidating the relevant neurobiological activities of APOE isoforms in the pathogenesis of AD.

Super-resolution microscopy reveals γ-secretase at both sides of the neuronal synapse.

The transmembrane protein assembly γ-secretase is a key protease in regulated intramembrane processing (RIP) of around 100 type-1 transmembrane proteins. Importantly, it has a pathological role in Alzheimer disease (AD) as it generates the neurotoxic amyloid ß-peptide from the amyloid precursor protein (APP). Studies on γ-secretase location are therefore crucial both from a biological and a therapeutic perspective. Despite several years of efforts in many laboratories, it is not clear where in the neuron γ-secretase exerts it's activities. Technical challenges include the fact that the active enzyme contains four protein components and that most subcellular compartments cannot be spatially resolved by traditional light microscopy. Here, we have used a powerful combination of the two nanoscopy techniques STORM and STED microscopy to visualize the location of γ-secretase in neurons using an active-site specific probe, with a focus on the synapse. We show that γ-secretase is present in both the pre-and postsynaptic compartments. We further show that the enzyme is enriched very close to the synaptic cleft in the postsynaptic membrane, as well as to NMDA receptors, demonstrating that γ-secretase is present in the postsynaptic plasma membrane. Importantly, the expression of γ-secretase increased in the pre- and postsynaptic compartments with the size of the synapse, suggesting a correlation between γ-secretase activity and synapse maturation. Thus, our data shows the synaptic location with high precision in three dimensions and settles the long-lasting debate on the synaptic location of γ-secretase.

Curcumin promotes A-beta fibrillation and reduces neurotoxicity in transgenic Drosophila.

The pathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by the presence of extracellular deposits of misfolded and aggregated amyloid-ß (Aß) peptide and intraneuronal accumulation of tangles comprised of hyperphosphorylated Tau protein. For several years, the natural compound curcumin has been proposed to be a candidate for enhanced clearance of toxic Aß amyloid. In this study we have studied the potency of feeding curcumin as a drug candidate to alleviate Aß toxicity in transgenic Drosophila. The longevity as well as the locomotor activity of five different AD model genotypes, measured relative to a control line, showed up to 75% improved lifespan and activity for curcumin fed flies. In contrast to the majority of studies of curcumin effects on amyloid we did not observe any decrease in the amount of Aß deposition following curcumin treatment. Conformation-dependent spectra from p-FTAA, a luminescent conjugated oligothiophene bound to Aß deposits in different Drosophila genotypes over time, indicated accelerated pre-fibrillar to fibril conversion of Aß(1-42) in curcumin treated flies. This finding was supported by in vitro fibrillation assays of recombinant Aß(1-42). Our study shows that curcumin promotes amyloid fibril conversion by reducing the pre-fibrillar/oligomeric species of Aß, resulting in a reduced neurotoxicity in Drosophila.