Alzheimer-like phosphorylation of tau and neurofilament induced by cocaine in vivo.

AIM: To explore the relationship between cocaine-induced cyclin-dependent kinase-5 (CDK5) overexpression or overactivation and Alzheimer-like hyperphosphorylation of cytoskeletal protein. METHODS: Cocaine was injected (ip, 20 mg/kg/d) into rats and the phosphorylation of neuronal cytoskeletal proteins was measured by Western blotting. RESULTS: The levels of phosphorylated tau at PHF-1 epitope and phosphorylated neurofilament determined by SMI31 were elevated in rat brain hippocampus, cortex, and caudatoputamen on d 8 and d 16 after the injection of cocaine, when compared with saline control rat at the same brain regions. On the other hand, the levels of tau non-phosphorylated at tau-1 site and non-phosphorylated neurofilament determined by SMI32 were decreased in same brain regions at the same time points examined. No significant difference of phosphorylated tau and neurofilament at those epitopes was seen on d 4. Although cocaine injection could induce significant hyperphosphorylation of neuronal cytoskeletal proteins, the overexpression of CDK5 and p35 was not detected. CONCLUSION: Peritoneal injection of cocaine induces Alzheimer-like hyperphosphorylation of tau and neurofilament in rat brain, and the effect may be not relevant to an increase in overexpression or overactivation of CDK5.

Overactivation of glycogen synthase kinase-3 by inhibition of phosphoinositol-3 kinase and protein kinase C leads to hyperphosphorylation of tau and impairment of spatial memory.

Neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) consisting of the hyperphosphorylated microtubule-associated protein tau are a defining pathological characteristic of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Hyperphosphorylation of tau is hypothesized to impair the microtubule stabilizing function of tau, leading to the formation of paired helical filaments and neuronal death. Glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) has been shown to be one of several kinases that mediate tau hyperphosphorylation in vitro. However, molecular mechanisms underlying overactivation of GSK-3 and its potential linkage to AD-like pathologies in vivo remain unclear. Here, we demonstrate that injection of wortmannin (a specific inhibitor of phosphoinositol-3 kinase) or GF-109203X (a specific inhibitor of protein kinase C) into the left ventricle of rat brains leads to overactivation of GSK-3, hyperphosphorylation of tau at Ser 396/404/199/202 and, most significantly, impaired spatial memory. The effects of wortmannin and GF-109203X are additive. Significantly, specific inhibition of GSK-3 activity by LiCl prevents hyperphosphorylation of tau, and spatial memory impairment resulting from PI3K and PKC inhibition. These results indicate that in vivo inhibition of phosphoinositol-3 kinase and protein kinase C results in overactivation of GSK-3 and tau hyperphosphorylation and support a direct role of GSK-3 in the formation of AD-like cognitive deficits.

Tau becomes a more favorable substrate for GSK-3 when it is prephosphorylated by PKA in rat brain.

Microtubule-associated protein tau is abnormally hyperphosphorylated in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other tauopathies and is believed to lead to neurodegeneration in this family of diseases. Here we show that infusion of forskolin, a specific cAMP-dependent protein kinase A (PKA) activator, into the lateral ventricle of brain in adult rats induced activation of PKA by severalfold and concurrently enhanced the phosphorylation of tau at Ser-214, Ser-198, Ser-199, and or Ser-202 (Tau-1 site) and Ser-396 and or Ser-404 (PHF-1 site), which are among the major abnormally hyperphosphorylated sites seen in AD. PKA activation positively correlated to the extent of tau phosphorylation at these sites. Infusion of forskolin together with PKA inhibitor or glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) inhibitor revealed that the phosphorylation of tau at Ser-214 was catalyzed by PKA and that the phosphorylation at both the Tau-1 and the PHF-1 sites is induced by basal level of GSK-3, because forskolin activated PKA and not GSK-3 and inhibition of the latter inhibited the phosphorylation at Tau-1 and PHF-1 sites. Inhibition of cdc2, cdk5, or MAPK had no significant effect on the forskolin-induced hyperphosphorylation of tau. Forskolin inhibited spatial memory in a dose-dependent manner in the absence but not in the presence of R(p)-adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphorothioate triethyl ammonium salt, a PKA inhibitor. These results demonstrate for the first time that phosphorylation of tau by PKA primes it for phosphorylation by GSK-3 at the Tau-1 and the PHF-1 sites and that an associated loss in spatial memory is inhibited by inhibition of the hyperphosphorylation of tau. These data provide a novel mechanism of the hyperphosphorylation of tau and identify both PKA and GSK-3 as promising therapeutic targets for AD and other tauopathies.