APP Deletion Accounts for Age-Dependent Changes in the Bioenergetic Metabolism and in Hyperphosphorylated CaMKII at Stimulated Hippocampal Presynaptic Active Zones

Fornix white matter glia damage causes hippocampal gray matter damage during age-dependent limbic decline

Aging leads to gray and white matter decline but their causation remains unclear. We explored two classes of models of age and dementia risk related brain changes. The first class of models emphasises the importance of gray matter: age and risk-related processes cause neurodegeneration and this causes damage in associated white matter tracts. The second class of models reverses the direction of causation: aging and risk factors cause white matter damage and this leads to gray matter damage. We compared these models with linear mediation analysis and quantitative MRI indices (from diffusion, quantitative magnetization transfer and relaxometry imaging) of tissue properties in two limbic structures implicated in age-related memory decline: the hippocampus and the fornix in 166 asymptomatic individuals (aged 38–71 years). Aging was associated with apparent glia but not neurite density damage in the fornix and the hippocampus. Mediation analysis supported white matter damage causing gray matter decline; controlling for fornix glia damage, the correlations between age and hippocampal damage disappear, but not vice versa. Fornix and hippocampal differences were both associated with reductions in episodic memory performance. These results suggest that fornix white matter glia damage may cause hippocampal gray matter damage during age-dependent limbic decline.

Aβ42 oligomers impair the bioenergetic activity in hippocampal synaptosomes derived from APP-KO mice

Employing hippocampal synaptosomes from amyloid precursor protein (APP)-deleted mice we analyzed the immediate effects of amyloid beta peptide 42 (Aβ42) peptide in its oligomeric or fibrillar assembly or of soluble amyloid precursor protein alpha (sAPPα) protein on their bioenergetic activity. Upon administration of oligomeric Aβ42 peptide for 30 min we observed a robust decrease both in mitochondrial activity and in mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP). In contrast the respective fibrillary or scrambled peptides showed no effect, indicating that inhibition strictly depends on the oligomerization status of the peptide. Hippocampal synaptosomes from old APP-KO mice revealed a further reduction of their already impaired bioenergetic activity upon incubation with 10 μm Aβ42 peptide. In addition we evaluated the influence of the sAPPα protein on mitochondrial activity of hippocampal synaptosomes derived from young or old APP-KO animals. In neither case 20 nm nor 200 nm sAPPα protein had an effect on mitochondrial metabolic activity. Our findings demonstrate that hippocampal synaptosomes derived from APP-KO mice are a most suitable model system to evaluate the impact of Aβ42 peptide on its bioenergetic activity and to further elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying the impairments by oligomeric Aβ42 on mitochondrial function. Our data demonstrate that extracellular Aβ42 peptide is taken up into synaptosomes where it immediately attenuates mitochondrial activity.

APP-A Novel Player within the Presynaptic Active Zone Proteome

The amyloid precursor protein (APP) was discovered in the 1980s as the precursor protein of the amyloid A4 peptide. The amyloid A4 peptide, also known as A-beta (Aβ), is the main constituent of senile plaques implicated in Alzheimer's disease (AD). In association with the amyloid deposits, increasing impairments in learning and memory as well as the degeneration of neurons especially in the hippocampus formation are hallmarks of the pathogenesis of AD. Within the last decades much effort has been expended into understanding the pathogenesis of AD. However, little is known about the physiological role of APP within the central nervous system (CNS). Allocating APP to the proteome of the highly dynamic presynaptic active zone (PAZ) identified APP as a novel player within this neuronal communication and signaling network. The analysis of the hippocampal PAZ proteome derived from APP-mutant mice demonstrates that APP is tightly embedded in the underlying protein network. Strikingly, APP deletion accounts for major dysregulation within the PAZ proteome network. Ca²⁺-homeostasis, neurotransmitter release and mitochondrial function are affected and resemble the outcome during the pathogenesis of AD. The observed changes in protein abundance that occur in the absence of APP as well as in AD suggest that APP is a structural and functional regulator within the hippocampal PAZ proteome. Within this review article, we intend to introduce APP as an important player within the hippocampal PAZ proteome and to outline the impact of APP deletion on individual PAZ proteome subcommunities.