Reduced presynaptic vesicle stores mediate cellular and network plasticity defects in an early-stage mouse model of Alzheimer's disease

Background

Identifying effective strategies to prevent memory loss in AD has eluded researchers to date, and likely reflects insufficient understanding of early pathogenic mechanisms directly affecting memory encoding. As synaptic loss best correlates with memory loss in AD, refocusing efforts to identify factors driving synaptic impairments may provide the critical insight needed to advance the field. In this study, we reveal a previously undescribed cascade of events underlying pre and postsynaptic hippocampal signaling deficits linked to cognitive decline in AD. These profound alterations in synaptic plasticity, intracellular Ca²⁺ signaling, and network propagation are observed in 3–4 month old 3xTg-AD mice, an age which does not yet show overt histopathology or major behavioral deficits.

Methods

In this study, we examined hippocampal synaptic structure and function from the ultrastructural level to the network level using a range of techniques including electron microscopy (EM), patch clamp and field potential electrophysiology, synaptic immunolabeling, spine morphology analyses, 2-photon Ca²⁺ imaging, and voltage-sensitive dye-based imaging of hippocampal network function in 3–4 month old 3xTg-AD and age/background strain control mice.

Results

In 3xTg-AD mice, short-term plasticity at the CA1-CA3 Schaffer collateral synapse is profoundly impaired; this has broader implications for setting long-term plasticity thresholds. Alterations in spontaneous vesicle release and paired-pulse facilitation implicated presynaptic signaling abnormalities, and EM analysis revealed a reduction in the ready-releasable and reserve pools of presynaptic vesicles in CA3 terminals; this is an entirely new finding in the field. Concurrently, increased synaptically-evoked Ca²⁺ in CA1 spines triggered by LTP-inducing tetani is further enhanced during PTP and E-LTP epochs, and is accompanied by impaired synaptic structure and spine morphology. Notably, vesicle stores, synaptic structure and short-term plasticity are restored by normalizing intracellular Ca²⁺ signaling in the AD mice.

Conclusions

These findings suggest the Ca²⁺ dyshomeostasis within synaptic compartments has an early and fundamental role in driving synaptic pathophysiology in early stages of AD, and may thus reflect a foundational disease feature driving later cognitive impairment. The overall significance is the identification of previously unidentified defects in pre and postsynaptic compartments affecting synaptic vesicle stores, synaptic plasticity, and network propagation, which directly impact memory encoding.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s13024-019-0307-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Abstract 3199: Miniaturized, multiplexed, highly sensitive protein NanoArray assay for measuring biomarkers in dried blood spot (DBS) samples

As the utility of new biomarkers for diagnosis and treatment of disease become better understood, physicians and researchers are faced with increasingly critical decisions regarding how to best distribute their valuable patient samples. While simply taking more blood would seem a reasonable solution, a recent publication in the Archives of Internal Medicine (Salisbury, et.al., Arch Intern Med. 2011;171(18):1646-1653) addresses the very real problem of hospital-acquired anemia (HAA) brought on by blood loss resulting from blood drawn for clinical assays. Also in many resource constrained countries, the lack of adequate infrastructure such as hospitals, laboratories, transportation systems as well as qualified personnel pose major obstacles for patient access to clinical testing. This has revived interest in collecting dried blood spots (DBS) for clinical testing. DBS samples provide a number of benefits when compared with drawing venous blood: they require minimal blood volume (usually 50µl per spot), they can easily be collected from infants and children, and they can be used to collect blood samples where collection and storage of serum or plasma is not feasible. However for DBS samples to be a viable solution for clinical assay, the assay method must be sensitive and yet require very small sample volumes. NanoInk, Inc. has developed a highly sensitive assay based on dip-pen nanolithography (DPN™) using the NanoArrayer3000™. Utilizing a 48 subarray slide platform printed with a nano-scale antibody array we have created a miniaturized multiplexed sandwich ELISA with sensitivities as low as the 100's of femtograms/ml while using sample volumes that range from 2-4µl/well. Using our proprietary elution protocol, we are able to elute biomarkers from a standard 3.2mm DBS card punch sufficient to provide triplicate assay values while still keeping the samples concentrated enough to measure lower concentration biomarkers. Our NanoInk DBS cytokine assay has been validated using eluted blood standards and QC samples and shows good well-to-well and slide-to-slide variability. NanoInk's multiplexed assay format can also be customized to include a wide array of biomarkers. This multiplex capability, in combination with our proprietary sample and standard elution protocol, now allows clinicians to accurately measure the concentration of multiple biomarkers using convenient small-volume DBS samples. The results of an ongoing study for measuring biomarker levels in patient samples using our 5-cytokine DBS assay will be presented.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3199. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-3199

In vitro pharmacological characterization of a novel selective alpha7 neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist ABT-107

Enhancement of alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) activity is considered a therapeutic approach for ameliorating cognitive deficits present in Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia. In this study, we describe the in vitro profile of a novel selective alpha7 nAChR agonist, 5-(6-[(3R)-1-azabicyclo[2,2,2]oct-3-yloxy]pyridazin-3-yl)-1H-indole (ABT-107). ABT-107 displayed high affinity binding to alpha7 nAChRs [rat or human cortex, [(3)H](1S,4S)-2,2-dimethyl-5-(6-phenylpyridazin-3-yl)-5-aza-2-azoniabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane (A-585539), K(i) = 0.2-0.6 nM or [(3)H]methyllycaconitine (MLA), 7 nM] that was at least 100-fold selective versus non-alpha7 nAChRs and other receptors. Functionally, ABT-107 did not evoke detectible currents in Xenopus oocytes expressing human or nonhuman alpha3beta4, chimeric (alpha6/alpha3)beta4, or 5-HT(3A) receptors, and weak or negligible Ca(2+) responses in human neuroblastoma IMR-32 cells (alpha3* function) and human alpha4beta2 and alpha4beta4 nAChRs expressed in human embryonic kidney 293 cells. ABT-107 potently evoked human and rat alpha7 nAChR current responses in oocytes (EC(50), 50-90 nM total charge, approximately 80% normalized to acetylcholine) that were enhanced by the positive allosteric modulator (PAM) 4-[5-(4-chloro-phenyl)-2-methyl-3-propionyl-pyrrol-1-yl]-benzenesulfonamide (A-867744). In rat hippocampus, ABT-107 alone evoked alpha7-like currents, which were inhibited by the alpha7 antagonist MLA. In dentate gyrus granule cells, ABT-107 enhanced spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic current activity when coapplied with A-867744. In the presence of an alpha7 PAM [A-867744 or N-[(3R)-1-azabicyclo[2.2.2]oct-3-yl]-4-chlorobenzamide hydrochloride (PNU-120596)], the addition of ABT-107 elicited MLA-sensitive alpha7 nAChR-mediated Ca(2+) signals in IMR-32 cells and rat cortical cultures and enhanced extracellular signal-regulated kinase phosphorylation in differentiated PC-12 cells. ABT-107 was also effective in protecting rat cortical cultures against glutamate-induced toxicity. In summary, ABT-107 is a selective high affinity alpha7 nAChR agonist suitable for characterizing the roles of this subtype in pharmacological studies.

Identification and characterization of novel antagonists of the CCR3 receptor

Eotaxin, an inducer of eosinophil migration and activation, exerts its activity by binding to CCR3, the C-C chemokine receptor 3. An inhibitor of the eotaxin-CCR3 binding interaction may have potential as an anti-inflammatory drug for treatment of asthma, parasitic infections, and allergic disorders. A radioligand binding assay was developed using HEK cells transfected with CCR3, with (125)I eotaxin as the ligand. Whole cells grown on polylysine-coated plates were used as the receptor source for the screen. Screening of more than 200,000 compounds with this assay yielded a number of screening hits, and of these, 2 active novel antagonists were identified. These compounds showed inhibitory effects on eosinophil chemotaxis in both in vitro and in vivo assays.

X-ray crystallographic structure of ABT-378 (lopinavir) bound to HIV-1 protease

The crystal structure of ABT-378 (lopinavir), bound to the active site of HIV-1 protease is described. A comparison with crystal structures of ritonavir, A-78791, and BILA-2450 shows some analogous features with previous reported compounds. A cyclic urea unit in the P(2) position of ABT-378 is novel and makes two bidentate hydrogen bonds with Asp 29 of HIV-1 protease. In addition, a previously unreported shift in the Gly 48 carbonyl position is observed. A discussion of the structural features responsible for its high potency against wild-type HIV protease is given along with an analysis of the effect of active site mutations on potency in in vitro assays.

1H, 13C and 15N backbone assignments of cyclophilin when bound to cyclosporin A (CsA) and preliminary structural characterization of the CsA binding site

The backbone 1H, 13C and 15N chemical shifts of cyclophilin (CyP) when bound to cyclosporin A (CsA) have been assigned from heteronuclear two- and three-dimensional NMR experiments involving selectively 15N- and uniformly 15N- and 15N,13C-labeled cyclophilin. From an analysis of the 1H and 15N chemical shifts of CyP that change upon binding to CsA and from CyP/CsA NOEs, we have determined the regions of cyclophilin involved in binding to CsA.

Preliminary characterization of a cloned neutral isoelectric form of the human peptidyl prolyl isomerase cyclophilin

We report the cloning of a neutral isoelectric form of the human peptidyl prolyl isomerase, cyclophilin, its expression in Escherichia coli, and its purification and comparison to bovine thymus cyclophilin. The cloned protein exhibited a pI of approximately 7.8 and formed a simple 1:1 complex with cyclosporin A. This cloned form had a pI similar to that observed for the neutral isoform (pI approximately 7.4) of human splenocyte cyclophilin. The bovine thymus proteins exhibited anomalous behavior on CM-cellulose chromatography but were resolved into alkaline (pI approximately 9.3) isoforms and a new neutral (pI approximately 7.8) isoform by isoelectric focusing gel electrophoresis and ultimately into at least four discrete isoforms by capillary electrophoresis. For cyclosporin A binding we observe a Kd of approximately 160 nM for an electrophoretically heterogeneous preparation of the natural bovine protein and approximately 360 nM for the more homogeneous preparation of the cloned human neutral isoform. Stopped-flow measurements of the activation energies for peptidyl-prolyl isomerase activity indicate the recombinant human protein has an activation enthalpy of 3.67 kcal/mol and an activation entropy of -47.3 cal/K-mol for cis----trans isomerization.

Isotope-edited NMR of cyclosporin A bound to cyclophilin: evidence for a trans 9,10 amide bond

The binding of a 13C-labeled cyclosporin A (CsA) analog to cyclophilin (peptidyl prolyl isomerase) was examined by means of isotope-edited nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques. A trans 9,10 peptide bond was adopted when CsA was bound to cyclophilin, in contrast to the cis 9,10 peptide bond found in the crystalline and solution conformations of CsA. Furthermore, nuclear Overhauser effects (NOEs) were observed between the zeta 3 and epsilon 3 protons of the methylleucine (MeLeu) residue at position 9 of CsA and tryptophan121 (Trp121) and phenylalanine (Phe) protons of cyclophilin, suggesting that the MeLeu9 residue of CsA interacts with cyclophilin. These results illustrate the power of isotope-edited NMR techniques for rapidly providing useful information about the conformations and active site environment of inhibitors bound to their target enzymes.