The temporal balance between self-renewal and differentiation of human neural stem cells requires the amyloid precursor protein

Metabolic mechanisms of species-specific developmental tempo

Development consists of a highly ordered suite of steps and transitions, like choreography. Although these sequences are often evolutionarily conserved, they can display species variations in duration and speed, thereby modifying final organ size or function. Despite their evolutionary significance, the mechanisms underlying species-specific scaling of developmental tempo have remained unclear. Here, we will review recent findings that implicate global cellular mechanisms, particularly intermediary and protein metabolism, as species-specific modifiers of developmental tempo. In various systems, from somitic cell oscillations to neuronal development, metabolic pathways display species differences. These have been linked to mitochondrial metabolism, which can influence the species-specific speed of developmental transitions. Thus, intermediary metabolic pathways regulate developmental tempo together with other global processes, including proteostasis and chromatin remodeling. By linking metabolism and the evolution of developmental trajectories, these findings provide opportunities to decipher how species-specific cellular timing can influence organism fitness.

Timing neurogenesis: a clock or an algorithm?

Emerging evidence supports the existence of dedicated molecular mechanisms under evolutionary selection to control time during neurogenesis. Here, we briefly review these mechanisms and discuss a potentially useful conceptual framework inspired by computer science to think about how these biological mechanisms operate during brain development and evolution.

Lower levels of soluble β-amyloid precursor protein, but not β-amyloid, in the frontal cortex in schizophrenia

We identified a sub-group (25%) of people with schizophrenia (muscarinic receptor deficit schizophrenia (MRDS)) that are characterised because of markedly lower levels of cortical muscarinic M1 receptors (CHRM1) compared to most people with the disorder (non-MRDS). Notably, bioinformatic analyses of our cortical gene expression data shows a disturbance in the homeostasis of a biochemical pathway that regulates levels of CHRM1. A step in this pathway is the processing of β-amyloid precursor protein (APP) and therefore we postulated there would be altered levels of APP in the frontal cortex from people with MRDS. Here we measure levels of CHRM1 using [3H]pirenzepine binding, soluble APP (sAPP) using Western blotting and amyloid beta peptides (Aβ1-40 and Aβ1-42) using ELISA in the frontal cortex (Brodmann's area 6: BA 6; MRDS = 14, non-MRDS = 14, controls = 14). We confirmed the MRDS cohort in this study had the expected low levels of [3H]pirenzepine binding. In addition, we showed that people with schizophrenia, independent of their sub-group status, had lower levels of sAPP compared to controls but did not have altered levels of Aβ1-40 or Aβ1-42. In conclusion, whilst changes in sAPP are not restricted to MRDS our data could indicate a role of APP, which is important in axonal and synaptic pruning, in the molecular pathology of the syndrome of schizophrenia.

Low Levels of Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP) Promote Neurogenesis and Decrease Gliogenesis in Human Neural Stem Cells

Amyloid precursor protein (APP) has been widely studied due to its association with Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the physiological functions of APP are still largely unexplored. APP is a transmembrane glycoprotein whose expression in humans is abundant in the central nervous system. Specifically, several studies have revealed the high expression of APP during brain development. Previous studies in our laboratory revealed that a transient increase in APP expression induces early cell cycle exit of human neural stem cells (hNSCs) and directs their differentiation towards glial cells (gliogenesis) while decreasing their differentiation towards neurons (neurogenesis). In the present study, we have evaluated the intrinsic cellular effects of APP down-expression (using siRNA) on cell death, cell proliferation, and cell fate specification of hNSCs. Our data indicate that APP silencing causes cellular effects opposite to those obtained in previous APP overexpression assays, inducing cell proliferation in hNS1 cells (a model line of hNSCs) and favoring neurogenesis instead of gliogenesis in these cells. In addition, we have analyzed the gene and protein expression levels of β-Catenin as a possible molecule involved in these cellular effects. These data could help to understand the biological role of APP, which is necessary to deepen the knowledge of AD.