Project description:The rare APOE3-Christchurch (APOE3Ch) variant is linked to resistance against PSEN1 p.E280A-driven autosomal dominant Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Recent studies in AD mouse models have demonstrated an effect of APOE3Ch in reducing tau pathology and tau propagation, yet its effects on amyloid pathology and related toxicity are not fully understood. While prior studies have reported reduced amyloid pathology with APOE3Ch, we extended this knowledge by investigating how astrocyte-specific expression of APOE3Ch impacts amyloid pathology and related responses in 5xFAD mice, an amyloid mouse model. Using adeno-associated virus (AAV)-mediated gene delivery, we overexpressed APOE3 or APOE3Ch in astrocytes of 5xFAD mice at the neonatal stage, then analyzed their effects during the advanced stage of amyloid pathology. Astrocytic APOE expression significantly reduced amyloid burden, neuritic dystrophy, and gliosis compared to GFP controls. Notably, astrocytic APOE3Ch expression, relative to APOE3, markedly lowered oligomeric Ab levels and promoted the formation of more compact, fibrillar plaques, suggesting a shift toward a less toxic aggregation profile. Transcriptomic profiling of cortical tissue revealed broad downregulation of immune-related and proteostatic pathways. These findings indicate that astrocytic APOE3Ch sufficiently attenuates Ab pathology and related toxicity, supporting its potential as a therapeutic modifier for AD.
Project description:The abnormal regulation of amyloid-b (Ab) metabolism (e.g., production, cleavage, clearance) plays a central role in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Among endogenous factors believed to participate in AD progression are the small regulatory non-coding microRNAs (miRs). In particular, the miR-132/212 cluster is severely reduced in the AD brain. In previous studies we have shown that miR-132/212 deficiency in mice leads to impaired memory and enhanced Tau pathology as seen in AD patients. Here we demonstrate that the genetic deletion of miR-132/212 promotes Ab deposition and amyloid (senile) plaque formation in triple transgenic AD (3xTg-AD) mice. Using RNA-Seq and bioinformatics, we identified genes of the miR-132/212 network with documented roles in the regulation of Ab metabolism, including Tau, Mapk, and Sirt1.
Project description:The abnormal regulation of amyloid-b (Ab) metabolism (e.g., production, cleavage, clearance) plays a central role in Alzheimerâs disease (AD). Among endogenous factors believed to participate in AD progression are the small regulatory non-coding microRNAs (miRs). In particular, the miR-132/212 cluster is severely reduced in the AD brain. In previous studies we have shown that miR-132/212 deficiency in mice leads to impaired memory and enhanced Tau pathology as seen in AD patients. Here we demonstrate that the genetic deletion of miR-132/212 promotes Ab deposition and amyloid (senile) plaque formation in triple transgenic AD (3xTg-AD) mice. Using RNA-Seq and bioinformatics, we identified genes of the miR-132/212 network with documented roles in the regulation of Ab metabolism, including Tau, Mapk, and Sirt1. We used RNA-Seq to analyse the hippocampus of 3xTg-AD mice lacking the miR-132/212 cluster as well as Neuro2a cells overexpressing miR-132 mimics.
Project description:To understand how glia may be altered in frontotemporal degeneration with tau pathology (FTD-tau), we used a NanoString glial profiling panel to measure 770 transcripts related to glial biology in human control (n = 8), Alzheimer’s disease (AD) (n = 8), and FTD-tau (n = 8) dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Compared to control, 43 genes were upregulated and 86 genes were downregulated in the FTD-tau samples. Only 3 genes were upregulated and 2 were downregulated in AD. Pathway analysis revealed many astrocyte-, microglia-, and oligodendrocyte-related pathway scores increased in FTD-tau, while neuron-related pathway scores decreased. We compared these results to a previously published proteomic dataset containing many of the same samples and found that the targeted panel approach obtained measurements for genes whose proteins were not measured in the proteomics. Our results point to the utility of multi-omic approaches and marked dysregulation of glia in FTD-tau.
Project description:Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by memory loss and neuropsychiatric symptoms associated with cerebral accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ) and tau, but how memory and emotional neural circuits are disrupted by AD pathology remains unclear. Here, we investigated the transcriptional vulnerability of memory and emotional circuits to concomitant Aβ and tau pathologies in transgenic mice expressing mutant human amyloid precursor protein (APP) and Tau (APP/Tau mice) in excitatory neurons. At 9 months, we detected common and region-specific transcriptional responses in the hippocampus and basolateral amygdala (BLA) of APP/Tau mice, including astrocytic, microglia and 63 AD-associated genes. These findings suggest that Aβ and tau pathologies disrupt region-specific gene expression programs underlying vulnerability of memory and emotional circuits to AD neuropathology.
Project description:Pathological deposition of hyperphosphorylated tau in the brain closely correlates with the course of Alzheimer´s disease (AD). Tau pathology occurs first in axons of affected neurons and tau removal from axons might thus be an early intervention strategy. We report that the RNA-binding protein hnRNP R facilitates the axonal localization of the Mapt mRNA encoding tau. Mapt mRNA and tau protein were reduced in axons but not cell bodies of primary neurons cultured from hnRNP R knockout mice. Brains of 5xFAD mice deficient for hnRNP R contained less phospho-tau aggregates and amyloid-β plaques in cortex and hippocampus. Treatment of neurons with antisense oligonucleotides (MAPT-ASOs) to block hnRNP R binding to Mapt similarly reduced axonal tau levels, and intracerebroventricular injection of a MAPT-ASO ameliorated the phospho-tau and plaque load in 5xFAD mice. Lowering of tau selectively in axons thus represents an innovative therapeutic perspective for treatment of AD and other tauopathies.
Project description:Glial profiling of human tauopathy brain demonstrates enrichment of astrocytic transcripts in tau-related frontotemporal degeneration