'Stress–Response' Kinase Pathways in Alzheimer's Disease Progression
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Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect Involvement of ‘stress–response’ kinase pathways in Alzheimer’s disease progression 1 Georges Mairet-Coello and Franck Polleux Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most prevalent cause of oligomers of Ab are causal to synaptic toxicity [2], trigger dementia, affecting more than 25 million people worldwide. synaptic dysfunction, synapse loss and impaired long- Current models of the pathophysiological mechanisms of AD term potentiation (LTP) [3]. The exact nature of the suggest that the accumulation of soluble oligomeric forms of Ab species (dimers, trimers, Ab*56, protofibrils) respon- amyloid-b (Ab) peptides causes early loss of excitatory sible for this early synaptotoxicity is still under investi- synapses and impairs synaptic plasticity. The signaling gation [4]. Most experimental designs use a mixture of pathways mediating Ab oligomer-induced impairment of various forms of synthetic Ab oligomers, or natural Ab synaptic plasticity and loss of excitatory synapses are only oligomers isolated from the brain of AD subjects, to beginning to be unraveled. Here, we review recent evidence induce rapid loss of excitatory synapses in hippocampal supporting the critical contribution of conserved ‘stress– and cortical neurons in vitro [5–10]. Transgenic mouse response’ kinase pathways in AD progression. models of AD engineered to overexpress human mutant forms of Amyloid Precursor Protein (hAPP), with or with- Addresses out overexpression of mutant presenilins (PS), produce The Scripps Research Institute, Dorris Neuroscience Center, Department of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, La Jolla, CA 92037- high levels of Ab1–40 and Ab1–42 peptides and oligo- 1000, USA mers, recapitulate the reduction of excitatory synapses, exhibit neuronal network dysfunction and cognitive def- Corresponding author: Polleux, Franck ([email protected]) 1 icits in spatial learning [6,11]. Present address: Columbia University, Department of Neuroscience, 630 West 168th Street, P&S Room 10-435, New York, NY 10032, USA. Current evidence suggests that the excitatory postsyn- aptic compartment represents the main target of Ab Current Opinion in Neurobiology 2014, 27:110–117 toxicity [8], and several candidate receptors for Ab oli- This review comes from a themed issue on Development and gomers have recently emerged, such as cellular prion C regeneration 2014 protein PrP [12 ] and EphB2 [13 ]. Other cell surface Edited by Oscar O Marin and Frank F Bradke receptors display altered function or expression in various AD mouse models, such as a7-nicotinergic acetylcholine receptor [14], the receptor for advanced glycation end- products (RAGE) [15], metabotropic glutamate receptor 0959-4388/$ – see front matter, # 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights mGluR5 [16], ionotropic glutamate NMDA and AMPA reserved. receptors [5,7,14,17]. Ab oligomer binding to the post- http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conb.2014.03.011 synaptic compartment impairs the expression and func- tion of these receptors, leading to altered synaptic plasticity and maintenance, and ultimately spine loss. Introduction The identification of the downstream signaling pathways mediating Ab oligomer-dependent synaptotoxicity has There is currently no effective treatment for Alzheimer’s considerable relevance for our understanding of the disease (AD) and the steady increase in human life span pathophysiology of AD and for the development of adds to the considerable burden that this devastating new therapeutic strategies. Here we review recently neurodegenerative disease imposes on our society. AD identified molecular pathways that contribute to Ab oli- is characterized by the deposition in the brain of extra- gomer-induced synaptotoxicity. Glycogen synthase cellular amyloid plaques composed of aggregated amy- kinase-3 (GSK-3) and CDK5 are not discussed in the loid-b (Ab) peptide, and of intracellular neurofibrillary present review because of space limitation and several tangles composed of aggregates of hyperphosphorylated recent reviews have addressed their potential contri- protein Tau. bution in AD [18–20]. Loss of synapses in the hippocampus and neocortex is a C cardinal feature that occurs at an early clinical stage of the PrP –mGluR5–Fyn versus EphB2 C disease, and strongly correlates with the degree of cog- PrP has been identified through an unbiased genome- nitive impairment [1]. In mouse models of AD, severe wide screen as a potential high-affinity receptor for Ab changes in synaptic function and maintenance can occur oligomers [12 ] (Figure 1a), and the binding of Ab species C well before the appearance of amyloid plaques, support- to PrP has been confirmed in human AD brains [4,21 ]. ing the amyloid hypothesis which suggests that soluble Experiments using genetic deletion or immunodepletion Current Opinion in Neurobiology 2014, 27:110–117 www.sciencedirect.com Signaling pathways involved in Alzheimer’s disease Mairet-Coello and Polleux 111 Figure 1 (a) PrPC (b) EphB2 Aβ C Physiological AD NMDA-R mGluR5 Axon PrP (pre-synaptic) NR2B Fyn PSD P Tau ephrin-B2 P Y18 EphB2 NMDA-R Aβ LTP Dendrite PSD (post-synaptic) P Fyn Tau Ca2+ (synaptic?) PROTEASOME LTP LTP Fyn Tau (axonal?) microtubules Current Opinion in Neurobiology C C Involvement of the PrP –mGluR5–Fyn and EphB2-NMDA pathways in Ab oligomer-induced synaptic pathology. (a) PrP is a functional receptor of Ab C C oligomers. Upon binding, Ab/PrP complexes activate Fyn. mGluR5 receptor seems required for coupling Ab oligomers/PrP complexes to Fyn. Tau plays an important role in signal transduction by tethering Fyn postsynaptically where it phosphorylates NR2B subunit and Tau at Y18. The origin of Tau/Fyn complexes, either axonal and/or postsynaptic, is currently unknown. Phosphorylation of NMDA receptors by Fyn leads to increased surface NMDA receptor (NMDA-R) and excitotoxicity, followed by spine (and receptor) loss. (b) EphB2 is another functional receptor for Ab oligomers. In physiological conditions, EphB2/ephrin-B2 complexes regulate NMDA receptor function via NR1 and/or NR2B subunit phosphorylation. In AD, Ab oligomer binding to EphB2 receptor induces EphB2 internalization and degradation in the proteasome. Decreased EphB2 receptor alters NMDA receptor function, resulting in LTP impairment. This figure is adapted from [13 ]. PSD: postsynaptic density. C C of PrP in hAPP mouse models support PrP as an essential impairment [22]. mGluR5 antagonist 3-((2-methyl-4-thia- mediator of Ab oligomer-induced impairment of synaptic zolyl)ethynyl)pyridine (MTEP) blocks these deficits in plasticity and memory, and synapse loss (reviewed in [22]), APP/PS1dE9 and 3xTg mouse models, suggesting that C although this does not appear to be the case in every preventing mGluR5 activation by Ab oligomers/PrP com- genetic backgrounds such as the J20 model [23]. The plex may be therapeutically relevant for treating AD [22]. C binding of synthetic or natural Ab oligomers to PrP at the postsynaptic density activates the Src kinase Fyn EphB2 tyrosine kinase receptor has been recently ident- [4,21 ], which in turn phosphorylates NR2B subunit, lead- ified as another high-affinity receptor for Ab oligomers ing to increased surface NMDA receptor and excitotoxi- (Figure 1b) and EphB2 is known to play an important role city, followed by spine and receptor loss [21 ]. in regulating the synaptic localization and function of Interestingly, Tau targets Fyn to the postsynapse to induce NMDA receptors [25]. AD patients and hAPP transgenic Ab toxicity, and Tau deletion in hAPP mice, which causes mouse models of AD have reduced level of EphB2 in the disruption of postsynaptic targeting of Fyn, prevents Ab- hippocampus [26]. Recent studies revealed that Ab oli- induced NMDA receptor-mediated excitotoxicity [24 ]. gomers can bind EphB2 to trigger EphB2 degradation in C Ab-dependent PrP –Fyn signaling induces Tau missort- the proteasome, and knockdown of EphB2 impairs ing and hyperphosphorylation at Y18 [4]. However, the NMDA receptor signaling, leading to defective LTP requirement and functional role of this Fyn-dependent [13 ]. Remarkably, virus-mediated expression of EphB2 phosphorylation site on Tau for mediating Ab toxicity at in the dentate gyrus of hAPP J20 mouse model blocks the synapse has not been investigated yet. Furthermore, synaptic and memory deficits, suggesting that restoring C mGluR5 is required for coupling Ab oligomers/PrP com- EphB2 expression locally in the dentate gyrus may be an plex with Fyn to induce dendritic spine loss and memory effective therapeutic strategy [13 ]. www.sciencedirect.com Current Opinion in Neurobiology 2014, 27:110–117 112 Development and regeneration 2014 Calcineurin-NFAT/GSK3-NFAT negatively regulates autophagy (reviewed in [37]). In Ab oligomers dysregulate calcium homeostasis through a neurons, mTOR plays an important role in long-term mechanism involving NMDA receptors (reviewed in synaptic plasticity, axon pathfinding and regeneration, [27]). Ab-induced calcium elevation activates the dendrite arborization and spine morphology (reviewed calcium-dependent phosphatase B calcineurin, which in [38]). mTOR signaling has been shown to be upregu- in turn promotes nuclear translocation and activation of lated in mouse models and human cases of AD, although the transcriptional nuclear factor of activated T cells data appear to be conflicting, and increased mTOR (NFAT) [28,29]. Both calcineurin and NFAT activity signaling seems to be caused by Ab (reviewed in [39]). are increased in AD brains [28], and activation