Progressive accumulation of amyloid-beta oligomers in Alzheimer's disease and in amyloid precursor protein transgenic mice is accompanied by selective alterations in synaptic scaffold proteins.

Abstract

The cognitive impairment in patients with Alzheimer's disease is closely associated with synaptic loss in the neocortex and limbic system. Although the neurotoxic effects of aggregated amyloid-beta oligomers in Alzheimer's disease have been studied extensively in experimental models, less is known about the characteristics of these aggregates across the spectrum of Alzheimer's disease. In this study, postmortem frontal cortex samples from controls and patients with Alzheimer's disease were fractionated and analyzed for levels of oligomers and synaptic proteins. We found that the levels of oligomers correlated with the severity of cognitive impairment (blessed information-memory-concentration score and mini-mental state examination) and with the loss of synaptic markers. Reduced levels of the synaptic vesicle protein, vesicle-associated membrane protein-2, and the postsynaptic protein, postsynaptic density-95, correlated with the levels of oligomers in the various fractions analyzed. The strongest associations were found with amyloid-beta dimers and pentamers. Co-immunoprecipitation and double-labeling experiments supported the possibility that amyloid-beta and postsynaptic density-95 interact at synaptic sites. Similarly, in transgenic mice expressing high levels of neuronal amyloid precursor protein, amyloid-beta co-immunoprecipitated with postsynaptic density-95. This was accompanied by a decrease in the levels of the postsynaptic proteins Shank1 and Shank3 in patients with Alzheimer's disease and in the brains of amyloid precursor protein transgenic mice. In conclusion, this study suggests that the presence of a subpopulation of amyloid-beta oligomers in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease might be related to alterations in selected synaptic proteins and cognitive impairment.

• Authors: Emiley Pham, Leslie Crews, Kiren Ubhi, Lawrence Hansen, Anthony Adame, Anna Cartier, David Salmon, Douglas Galasko, Sarah Michael, Jeffrey N Savas, John R Yates, Charles Glabe, Eliezer Masliah
• Journal: The FEBS journal (FEBS J) Vol. 277 Issue 14 Pg. 3051-67 (Jul 2010) ISSN: 1742-4658 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 20573181 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural)

Chemical References

• Amyloid beta-Peptides
• Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor
• Carrier Proteins
• DLG4 protein, human
• Disks Large Homolog 4 Protein
• Dlg4 protein, mouse
• Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins
• Membrane Proteins
• Microfilament Proteins
• Nerve Tissue Proteins
• Peptide Fragments
• Qa-SNARE Proteins
• SHANK1 protein, mouse
• SHANK3 protein, human
• Shank3 protein, mouse
• Synaptosomal-Associated Protein 25
• Vesicle-Associated Membrane Protein 2
• Guanylate Kinases

Topics

• Aged
• Aged, 80 and over
• Alzheimer Disease (diagnosis, metabolism, pathology)
• Amyloid beta-Peptides (metabolism, pharmacology)
• Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor (genetics)
• Animals
• Brain (metabolism, pathology)
• Carrier Proteins (metabolism)
• Cell Membrane (metabolism)
• Cells, Cultured
• Cerebral Cortex (metabolism, pathology)
• Cytosol (metabolism)
• Dementia (metabolism)
• Dendritic Spines (metabolism)
• Disks Large Homolog 4 Protein
• Female
• Guanylate Kinases
• Humans
• Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins (metabolism)
• Male
• Membrane Proteins (metabolism)
• Mice
• Mice, Inbred C57BL
• Mice, Inbred DBA
• Mice, Transgenic
• Microfilament Proteins
• Nerve Tissue Proteins (metabolism)
• Neurons (drug effects, metabolism)
• Peptide Fragments (genetics)
• Protein Binding (physiology)
• Protein Multimerization (physiology)
• Qa-SNARE Proteins (metabolism)
• Synapses (metabolism)
• Synaptosomal-Associated Protein 25 (metabolism)
• Vesicle-Associated Membrane Protein 2 (metabolism)