Processing of wild-type and mutant familial Alzheimer's disease-associated presenilin-1 in cultured neurons

Involvement of presenilin holoprotein upregulation in calcium dyshomeostasis of Alzheimer's disease

Mutations in presenilins (PS1 and PS2) account for the vast majority of early onset familial Alzheimer's disease cases. Beside the well investigated role of presenilins as the catalytic unit in γ-secretase complex, their involvement in regulation of intracellular calcium homeostasis has recently come into more focus of Alzheimer's disease research. Here we report that the overexpression of PS1 full-length holoprotein forms, in particular familial Alzheimer's disease-causing forms of PS1, result in significantly attenuated calcium release from thapsigargin- and bradykinin-sensitive stores. Interestingly, treatment of HEK293 cells with γ-secretase inhibitors also leads to decreased amount of calcium release from endoplasmic reticulum (ER) accompanying elevated PS1 holoprotein levels. Similarly, the knockdown of PEN-2 which is associated with deficient PS1 endoproteolysis and accumulation of its holoprotein form also leads to decreased ER calcium release. Notably, we detected enhanced PS1 holoprotein levels also in postmortem brains of patients carrying familial Alzheimer's disease PS1 mutations. Taken together, the conditions in which the amount of full length PS1 holoprotein is increased result in reduction of calcium release from ER. Based on these results, we propose that the disturbed ER calcium homeostasis mediated by the elevation of PS1 holoprotein levels may be a contributing factor to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease.

Microarray analysis on human neuroblastoma cells exposed to aluminum, β(1-42)-amyloid or the β(1-42)-amyloid aluminum complex

Background

A typical pathological feature of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the appearance in the brain of senile plaques made up of β-amyloid (Aβ) and neurofibrillary tangles. AD is also associated with an abnormal accumulation of some metal ions, and we have recently shown that one of these, aluminum (Al), plays a relevant role in affecting Aβ aggregation and neurotoxicity.

Methodology

In this study, employing a microarray analysis of 35,129 genes, we investigated the effects induced by the exposure to the Aβ_1–42-Al (Aβ-Al) complex on the gene expression profile of the neuronal-like cell line, SH-SY5Y.

Principal Findings

The microarray assay indicated that, compared to Aβ or Al alone, exposure to Aβ-Al complex produced selective changes in gene expression. Some of the genes selectively over or underexpressed are directly related to AD. A further evaluation performed with Ingenuity Pathway analysis revealed that these genes are nodes of networks and pathways that are involved in the modulation of Ca²⁺ homeostasis as well as in the regulation of glutamatergic transmission and synaptic plasticity.

Conclusions and Significance

Aβ-Al appears to be largely involved in the molecular machinery that regulates neuronal as well as synaptic dysfunction and loss. Aβ-Al seems critical in modulating key AD-related pathways such as glutamatergic transmission, Ca²⁺ homeostasis, oxidative stress, inflammation, and neuronal apoptosis.

Impaired neurogenesis is an early event in the etiology of familial Alzheimer's disease in transgenic mice

Formation of new neurons in the adult brain takes place in the subventricular zone and in the subgranule layer of the dentate gyrus throughout life. Neurogenesis is thought to play a role in hippocampus- and olfaction-dependent learning and memory. However, whether impairments in neurogenesis take place in learning and memory disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease, is yet to be established. Importantly, it remains to be elucidated whether neurogenic impairments play a role in the course of the disease or are the result of extensive neuropathology. We now report that transgenic mice harboring familial Alzheimer's disease-linked mutant APPswe/PS1DeltaE9 exhibit severe impairments in neurogenesis that are evident as early as 2 months of age. These mice exhibit a significant reduction in the proliferation of neural progenitor cells and their neuronal differentiation. Interestingly, levels of hyperphosphorylated tau, the cytotoxic precursor of the Alzheimer's disease hallmark neurofibrillary tangles, are particularly high in the neurogenic niches. Isolation of neural progenitor cells in culture reveals that APPswe/PS1DeltaE9-expressing neurospheres exhibit impaired proliferation and tau hyperphosphorylation compared with wildtype neurospheres isolated from nontransgenic littermates. This study suggests that impaired neurogenesis is an early critical event in the course of Alzheimer's disease that may underlie memory impairments, at least in part, and exacerbate neuronal vulnerability in the hippocampal formation and olfaction circuits. Furthermore, impaired neurogenesis is the result of both intrinsic pathology in neural progenitor cells and extrinsic neuropathology in the neurogenic niches. Finally, hyperphosphorylation of the microtubule-associated protein tau, a critical player in cell proliferation, neuronal maturation, and axonal transport, is a major contributor to impaired neurogenesis in Alzheimer's disease.

Morphological change by overexpression of D385A dominant negative presenilin 1 in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells

Presenilin 1 (PS1) is a multifunctional protein, and its mutations are highly related to familial Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this study, we examined the effects of PS1 overexpression on neuronal morphology using SH-SY5Y cells. Overexpression of dominant-negative D385A PS1 induced morphological change and impairment of neurite formation, while those of wild-type and pathogenic P117L mutant PS1 did not change cellular morphology compared with native cells. Moreover, filopodium-formation-related proteins were decreased only in cells overexpressing D385A PS1. Therefore, PS1 may be involved in neuritogenesis and morphological change in SH-SY5Y cells, and P117L mutation may linked to AD by different mechanisms.

Positional effects of presenilin-1 mutations on tau phosphorylation in cortical plaques

Mutations in presenilin-1 (PS-1) account for the majority of familial Alzheimer's disease (AD). While increasing Abeta42 is one mechanism whereby PS-1 mutations are thought to exert their pathogenic effect, little is known about the role of tau in PS-1 AD. This study compares staining (AT8 and tau-2), morphology and quantity of tau-immunoreactive cortical plaques in six PS-1 and five sporadic AD cases. The densities of tau-positive plaques differentiated PS-1 from sporadic AD cases. All PS-1 cases demonstrated a greater than 6-fold increase in tau-2-positive plaques. In PS-1 cases with mutations in exons 5 and 6, there was an increase in classical AD plaques containing hyperphosphorylated tau (AT8- and tau 2-positive). However, cases with exon 8 and 9 mutations had numerous cotton wool plaques containing nonhyperphosphorylated tau (tau-2-positive, AT8-negative). These findings suggest that PS-1 mutations increase tau deposition while mutation-specific cellular responses determine phosphorylation events and may influence cell death mechanisms.

Accumulation of proteolytic fragments of mutant presenilin 1 and accelerated amyloid deposition are co-regulated in transgenic mice

The activities of presenilin 1 (PS1) and 2 modulate the proteolytic processing of amyloid precursor proteins to produce Abeta1-42, and mutations in these proteins are associated with an accelerated rate of Abeta deposition. PS1 and PS2 themselves are subject to a highly-regulated endoproteolytic cleavage to generate stable 27 kDa N-terminal and 17 kDa C-terminal fragments. Here, we examined the relationship between the regulated cleavage of PS1 and the acceleration of Abeta deposition in transgenic mice that co-express Mo/Hu APPswe and varied levels mutant PS1 (A246E variant). The steady-state levels of the N- and C-terminal fragments of mutant PS1 in mice expressing low levels of mRNA were similar to that of mice expressing high levels of mRNA. Only mice expressing high levels of transgene mRNA accumulated uncleaved full-length protein. In mice co-expressing low levels of PS1A246E mRNA with Mo/Hu APPswe the age of appearance of Abeta deposits was similar to that of mice co-expressing expressing Mo/Hu APPswe with very high levels of mutant PS1. Our findings demonstrate that the levels of accumulated human PS1 N- and C-terminal fragments do not increase in proportion to the level of transgene mRNA and that similarly, the magnitude by which mutant PS1 accelerates the deposition of beta-amyloid is not proportional to the level of transgene expression.

Metabolism of presenilins

Understanding mechanisms involved in the production of Abeta has long been the central focus of cell biologists engaged in molecular AD research. The discovery of two genes that encode homologous polytopic membrane proteins termed Presenilins (PS), has lead to several exciting recent findings on the proteolytic processes responsible for generating the COOH-terminus of Abeta. What we now know is that PS proteins play an important role in Abeta production and are considered one of the therapeutic targets. Here I have reviewed the vast literature on the biology of PS, especially focusing on PS endoproteolysis and the accumulation of stable PS derivatives that are likely the functional units.

Mutant presenilin-1 induces apoptosis and downregulates Akt/PKB

Most early onset cases of familial Alzheimer's disease (AD) are caused by mutations in presenilin-1 (PS1) and presenilin-2 (PS2). These mutations lead to increased beta-amyloid formation and may induce apoptosis in some model systems. Using primary cultured hippocampal neurons (HNs) and rat pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells transiently transfected with replication-defective recombinant adenoviral vectors expressing wild-type or mutant PS1, we demonstrate that mutant PS1s induce apoptosis, downregulate the survival factor Akt/PKB, and affect several Akt/PKB downstream targets, including glycogen synthase kinase-3beta and beta-catenin. Expression of a constitutively active Akt/PKB rescues HNs from mutant PS1-induced neuronal cell death, suggesting a potential therapeutic target for AD. Downregulation of Akt/PKB may be a mechanism by which mutant PS1 induces apoptosis and may play a role in the pathogenesis of familial AD.