S Wuwongse

Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Induces Tau Pathology and Forms a Vicious Cycle: Implication in Alzheimer's Disease Pathogenesis

Accumulation of unfolded proteins can disturb the functions of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), leading to ER-stress or unfolded protein response (UPR). Recent data have shown that activation of UPR can be found in postmortem brains of Alzheimers disease (AD) patients; and biological markers for activation of UPR are abundant in neurons with diffuse phosphorylated tau. Although these observations suggest a linkage between ER-stress and tau pathology, little is known of their relationship. In this study, we found that high levels of phosphorylated PKR-like ER-resident kinase (p-PERK) and phosphorylated eukaryotic initiation factor 2 alpha (p-eIF2α) as markers for activation of UPR in the hippocampus of aged P301L mutant tau transgenic mice. The immunoreactivity of p-PERK was found to co-localize with that of phosphorylated tau. We then hypothesized that phosphorylation of tau could induce ER-stress and vice versa in promoting AD-like pathogenesis. By using the protein phosphatase 2A inhibitor okadaic acid (OA) as an inducer for phosphorylation of tau, we found that primary cultures of rat cortical neurons treated with OA triggered UPR as indicated by increased levels of p-PERK and p-eIF2α, splicing of mRNA for xbp-1 and elevated levels of mRNA for GADD153. On the other hand, thapsigargin as an ER-stress inducer stimulated phosphorylation of tau at Thr231, Ser262 and Ser396. Thapsigargin also induced activation of caspase-3 and cleavage of tau. These findings suggested that ER-stress and hyperphosphorylation of tau could be induced by each other to form a vicious cycle to propagate AD-like neurodegeneration.

Effects of corticosterone and amyloid-beta on proteins essential for synaptic function: Implications for depression and Alzheimer's disease

The relationship between Alzheimers disease (AD) and depression has been well established in terms of epidemiological and clinical observations. Depression has been considered to be both a symptom and risk factor of AD. Several genetic and neurobiological mechanisms have been described to underlie these two disorders. Despite the accumulating knowledge on this topic, the precise neuropathological mechanisms remain to be elucidated. In this study, we propose that synaptic degeneration plays an important role in the disease progression of depression and AD. Using primary culture of hippocampal neurons treated with oligomeric Aβ and corticosterone as model agents for AD and depression, respectively, we found significant changes in the pre-synaptic vesicle proteins synaptophysin and synaptotagmin. We further investigated whether the observed protein changes affected synaptic functions. By using FM(®)4-64 fluorescent probe, we showed that synaptic functions were compromised in treated neurons. Our findings led us to investigate the involvement of protein degradation mechanisms in mediating the observed synaptic protein abnormalities, namely, the ubiquitin-proteasome system and autophagy. We found up-regulation of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation, and the preferential signaling for the autophagic-lysosomal degradation pathway. Lastly, we investigated the neuroprotective role of different classes of antidepressants. Our findings demonstrated that the antidepressants Imipramine and Escitalopram were able to rescue the observed synaptic protein damage. In conclusion, our study shows that synaptic degeneration is an important common denominator underlying depression and AD, and alleviation of this pathology by antidepressants may be therapeutically beneficial.

Protective Effects of Testosterone on Presynaptic Terminals against Oligomeric β-Amyloid Peptide in Primary Culture of Hippocampal Neurons

Increasing lines of evidence support that testosterone may have neuroprotective effects. While observational studies reported an association between higher bioavailable testosterone or brain testosterone levels and reduced risk of Alzheimers disease (AD), there is limited understanding of the underlying neuroprotective mechanisms. Previous studies demonstrated that testosterone could alleviate neurotoxicity induced by β-amyloid (Aβ), but these findings mainly focused on neuronal apoptosis. Since synaptic dysfunction and degeneration are early events during the pathogenesis of AD, we aim to investigate the effects of testosterone on oligomeric Aβ-induced synaptic changes. Our data suggested that exposure of primary cultured hippocampal neurons to oligomeric Aβ could reduce the length of neurites and decrease the expression of presynaptic proteins including synaptophysin, synaptotagmin, and synapsin-1. Aβ also disrupted synaptic vesicle recycling and protein folding machinery. Testosterone preserved the integrity of neurites and the expression of presynaptic proteins. It also attenuated Aβ-induced impairment of synaptic exocytosis. By using letrozole as an aromatase antagonist, we further demonstrated that the effects of testosterone on exocytosis were unlikely to be mediated through the estrogen receptor pathway. Furthermore, we showed that testosterone could attenuate Aβ-induced reduction of HSP70, which suggests a novel mechanism that links testosterone and its protective function on Aβ-induced synaptic damage. Taken together, our data provide further evidence on the beneficial effects of testosterone, which may be useful for future drug development for AD.

A reciprocal relationship between reactive oxygen species and mitochondrial dynamics in neurodegeneration

Mitochondrial fragmentation due to fission/fusion imbalance has often been linked to mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis in neurodegeneration. Conventionally, it is believed that once mitochondrial morphology shifts away from its physiological tubular form, mitochondria become defective and downstream apoptotic signaling pathways are triggered. However, our study shows that beta-amyloid (Aβ) induces morphological changes in mitochondria where they become granular-shaped and are distinct from fragmented mitochondria in terms of both morphology and functions. Accumulation of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species triggers granular mitochondria formation, while mitoTEMPO (a mitochondria-targeted superoxide scavenger) restores tubular mitochondrial morphology within Aβ-treated neurons. Interestingly, modulations of mitochondria fission and fusion by genetic and pharmacological tools attenuated not only the induction of granular mitochondria, but also mitochondrial superoxide levels in Aβ−treated neurons. Our study shows a reciprocal relationship between mitochondrial dynamics and reactive oxygen species and provides a new potential therapeutic target at early stages of neurodegenerative disease pathogenesis.

Aggregation of the endoplasmic reticulum triggered by oligomeric beta-amyloid peptides could initiate autophagy

Background: Autophagic vacuoles have been demonstrated from postmortem humanAlzheimer’s brains. However, the underlyingmechanisms of initiating autophagic vacuoles or autophagosomes remain unclear. We have shown that oligomeric Abeta peptides trigger aggregation of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Following this event, the number of autophagosomes is increased. The aim of this study is to investigate the mechanisms of forming autophagosomes from the aggregated ER.Methods: Primary cultures of hippocampal neurons were treated with oligomeric Abeta. Neurons were then transfected with different DNA constructs to express GFP-DFCP1 for protein docking to Phosphatidylinositol phosphate (PI(3)K), DsRedKDEL for protein expressing in the ER, GFP/AsRed-Atg14L, mRFPVps34 and mCherryAmbra-1 for proteins involving in the nucleation of autophagosomes. Results:With the use of live cell imaging by multiphoton microscopy, we found that Atg14L was localized on the ER. Aggregation of the ER facilitated them to be clustered which can then attract Vps34 together with Beclin-1 to form a nucleation complex. Ambra-1 is not the protein to initiate the nucleation complex. Consequently, an intermediate form of vesicles called omegasomes was formed and will be furthered matured to be autophagosomes. All these initiation steps were not triggered by mTOR signaling pathway. Conclusions: Our results are among the first to demonstrate the initiation factors for formation of autophagosomes. Aggregation of the ER may be the starting point for forming autophagosomes. In addition, the initiation processes for formation of autophagosomes are different to other systems which are regulated by mTOR. The results can answer a long-term question of how autophagy is initiated.

P03-349 The potential effects of antidepressants in attenuating synaptic degeneration in depression and Alzheimer's disease

Depression is a highly prevalent psychiatric disorder. Furthermore, it is one of the most common neuropsychiatric presentations in Alzheimers disease (AD). Common underlying neuropathological processes appear to exist between these conditions. Synaptic degeneration has been implicated in AD pathogenesis, while its role in depression is not well understood. Objectives This study aims to investigate synaptic degeneration as a possible underlying mechanism for depression and whether antidepressants could alleviate the stated pathology. Methods Primary rodent hippocampal neurons treated with corticosterone were used as an in vitro model of depression. Toxicity of corticosterone was determined through the lactate dehydrogenase and caspase-3 activity assays. Immunocytochemical analysis of synaptic proteins was employed to investigate effects of corticosterone on synapses. Results Neurotoxicity was observed in hippocampal neurons after treatment with corticosterone (10μM) for 24 hours. Aggregations of synaptotagmin and synaptophysin were observed 24 hours after treatment with corticosterone (10μM). Similar effects were observed after sub-lethal treatments with corticosterone (0.5μM and 1μM) for 48 and 72 hours. Pre-treatment for 1 hour with imipramine and escitalopram (20μM and 40μM for both agents) were able to alleviate these toxic effects. Conclusions These results suggest the involvement of synaptic degeneration in corticosterone-induced toxicity and that commonly used antidepressants are able to alleviate synaptic derangements. Taken together, synaptic degeneration could be a common pathway for neuronal demise occurring in AD and depression, which can be attenuated by antidepressant administration. Future research to elucidate the precise mechanism for the synaptic protective effect of antidepressants is warranted.