RESUMO
Expansion of CAG trinucleotide repeats in ATXN1 causes spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1), a neurodegenerative disease that impairs coordination and cognition. While ATXN1 is associated with increased Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk, CAG repeat number in AD patients is not changed. Here, we investigated the consequences of ataxin-1 loss of function and discovered that knockout of Atxn1 reduced CIC-ETV4/5-mediated inhibition of Bace1 transcription, leading to increased BACE1 levels and enhanced amyloidogenic cleavage of APP, selectively in AD-vulnerable brain regions. Elevated BACE1 expression exacerbated Aß deposition and gliosis in AD mouse models and impaired hippocampal neurogenesis and olfactory axonal targeting. In SCA1 mice, polyglutamine-expanded mutant ataxin-1 led to the increase of BACE1 post-transcriptionally, both in cerebrum and cerebellum, and caused axonal-targeting deficit and neurodegeneration in the hippocampal CA2 region. These findings suggest that loss of ataxin-1 elevates BACE1 expression and Aß pathology, rendering it a potential contributor to AD risk and pathogenesis.
Assuntos
Doença de Alzheimer/patologia , Secretases da Proteína Precursora do Amiloide/metabolismo , Ataxina-1/metabolismo , Encéfalo/metabolismo , Doença de Alzheimer/metabolismo , Secretases da Proteína Precursora do Amiloide/genética , Precursor de Proteína beta-Amiloide/metabolismo , Animais , Ataxina-1/deficiência , Ataxina-1/genética , Encéfalo/patologia , Região CA2 Hipocampal/metabolismo , Região CA2 Hipocampal/patologia , Proteínas de Ligação a DNA/genética , Proteínas de Ligação a DNA/metabolismo , Modelos Animais de Doenças , Feminino , Frequência do Gene , Humanos , Masculino , Camundongos , Camundongos Transgênicos , Neurogênese , Proteínas Proto-Oncogênicas c-ets/genética , Proteínas Proto-Oncogênicas c-ets/metabolismo , Fatores de Transcrição/genética , Fatores de Transcrição/metabolismo , Transcrição Gênica , Repetições de Trinucleotídeos/genética , Regulação para CimaRESUMO
Utilization of live animals for mechanistic study is challenging yet pivotal to elucidate pathogenesis of neurological diseases. Here, we present a protocol that employs cultured brain slices derived from adult mice to examine mRNA metabolism. We describe the preparation of acute brain slices and the treatments of RNA synthesis inhibitor and nucleotide analog to examine the effects of ataxin-1 loss-of-function on Bace1 mRNA stability and transcription in cortex. This protocol also includes electrophysiological recording of spontaneous neuronal activity in hippocampus. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Suh et al. (2019).