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Udeochu JC, Amin S, Huang Y, Fan L, Torres ERS, Carling GK, Liu B, McGurran H, Coronas-Samano G, Kauwe G, Mousa GA, Wong MY, Ye P, Nagiri RK, Lo I, Holtzman J, Corona C, Yarahmady A, Gill MT, Raju RM, Mok SA, Gong S, Luo W, Zhao M, Tracy TE, Ratan RR, Tsai LH, Sinha SC, Gan L. Tau activation of microglial cGAS-IFN reduces MEF2C-mediated cognitive resilience. Nat Neurosci 2023; 26:737-750. [PMID: 37095396 PMCID: PMC10166855 DOI: 10.1038/s41593-023-01315-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 35.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2022] [Accepted: 03/20/2023] [Indexed: 04/26/2023]
Abstract
Pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD) precede clinical symptoms by years, indicating a period of cognitive resilience before the onset of dementia. Here, we report that activation of cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS) diminishes cognitive resilience by decreasing the neuronal transcriptional network of myocyte enhancer factor 2c (MEF2C) through type I interferon (IFN-I) signaling. Pathogenic tau activates cGAS and IFN-I responses in microglia, in part mediated by cytosolic leakage of mitochondrial DNA. Genetic ablation of Cgas in mice with tauopathy diminished the microglial IFN-I response, preserved synapse integrity and plasticity and protected against cognitive impairment without affecting the pathogenic tau load. cGAS ablation increased, while activation of IFN-I decreased, the neuronal MEF2C expression network linked to cognitive resilience in AD. Pharmacological inhibition of cGAS in mice with tauopathy enhanced the neuronal MEF2C transcriptional network and restored synaptic integrity, plasticity and memory, supporting the therapeutic potential of targeting the cGAS-IFN-MEF2C axis to improve resilience against AD-related pathological insults.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joe C Udeochu
- Helen and Robert Appel Alzheimer's Disease Research Institute, Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Sadaf Amin
- Helen and Robert Appel Alzheimer's Disease Research Institute, Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Yige Huang
- Helen and Robert Appel Alzheimer's Disease Research Institute, Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Li Fan
- Helen and Robert Appel Alzheimer's Disease Research Institute, Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Eileen Ruth S Torres
- Helen and Robert Appel Alzheimer's Disease Research Institute, Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Gillian K Carling
- Helen and Robert Appel Alzheimer's Disease Research Institute, Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Bangyan Liu
- Helen and Robert Appel Alzheimer's Disease Research Institute, Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Hugo McGurran
- The Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Guillermo Coronas-Samano
- Helen and Robert Appel Alzheimer's Disease Research Institute, Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Grant Kauwe
- Buck Institute for Research on Aging, Novato, CA, USA
| | - Gergey Alzaem Mousa
- Helen and Robert Appel Alzheimer's Disease Research Institute, Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Man Ying Wong
- Helen and Robert Appel Alzheimer's Disease Research Institute, Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Pearly Ye
- Helen and Robert Appel Alzheimer's Disease Research Institute, Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Ravi Kumar Nagiri
- Helen and Robert Appel Alzheimer's Disease Research Institute, Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Iris Lo
- The Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Julia Holtzman
- The Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Carlo Corona
- Burke Neurological Institute at Weill Cornell Medicine, White Plains, NY, USA
| | - Allan Yarahmady
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Michael T Gill
- The Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Ravikiran M Raju
- The Picower Institute of Learning and Memory, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Sue-Ann Mok
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Shiaoching Gong
- Helen and Robert Appel Alzheimer's Disease Research Institute, Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Wenjie Luo
- Helen and Robert Appel Alzheimer's Disease Research Institute, Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Mingrui Zhao
- Helen and Robert Appel Alzheimer's Disease Research Institute, Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Tara E Tracy
- Buck Institute for Research on Aging, Novato, CA, USA
| | - Rajiv R Ratan
- Burke Neurological Institute at Weill Cornell Medicine, White Plains, NY, USA
| | - Li-Huei Tsai
- The Picower Institute of Learning and Memory, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Subhash C Sinha
- Helen and Robert Appel Alzheimer's Disease Research Institute, Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Li Gan
- Helen and Robert Appel Alzheimer's Disease Research Institute, Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
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