Ramser EM, Gan KJ, Decker H, Fan EY, Suzuki MM, Ferreira ST, Silverman MA. Amyloid-β oligomers induce tau-independent disruption of BDNF axonal transport via calcineurin activation in cultured hippocampal neurons.
Mol Biol Cell 2013;
24:2494-505. [PMID:
23783030 PMCID:
PMC3744947 DOI:
10.1091/mbc.e12-12-0858]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
The role of tau in axonal transport disruption during early-stage Alzheimer disease is controversial. The amyloid-β oligomers markedly impair BDNF transport in primary wild-type and tau-knockout neurons. This occurs by nonexcitotoxic activation of calcineurin, and inhibition of calcineurin rescues transport defects independent of tau.
Disruption of fast axonal transport (FAT) is an early pathological event in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Soluble amyloid-β oligomers (AβOs), increasingly recognized as proximal neurotoxins in AD, impair organelle transport in cultured neurons and transgenic mouse models. AβOs also stimulate hyperphosphorylation of the axonal microtubule-associated protein, tau. However, the role of tau in FAT disruption is controversial. Here we show that AβOs reduce vesicular transport of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in hippocampal neurons from both wild-type and tau-knockout mice, indicating that tau is not required for transport disruption. FAT inhibition is not accompanied by microtubule destabilization or neuronal death. Significantly, inhibition of calcineurin (CaN), a calcium-dependent phosphatase implicated in AD pathogenesis, rescues BDNF transport. Moreover, inhibition of protein phosphatase 1 and glycogen synthase kinase 3β, downstream targets of CaN, prevents BDNF transport defects induced by AβOs. We further show that AβOs induce CaN activation through nonexcitotoxic calcium signaling. Results implicate CaN in FAT regulation and demonstrate that tau is not required for AβO-induced BDNF transport disruption.
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