Genetic studies of familial amyloid polyneuropathy in the Arao district of Japan. III. Analysis of amyloid fibril protein.
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Following an acute phase stimulus, such as infection or physical injury, many liver-derived plasma proteins are increased in concentration. These provide enhanced protection against invading micro-organisms, limit tissue damage and promote a rapid return to homeostasis. Diana Steel and Alexander Whitehead discuss the gene structure, regulation and possible clinical significance of the most dramatically induced acute phase reactants.
Here we show that prolyl isomerase Pin1 is involved in the Abeta production central to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. Enzyme immunoassay of brains of the Pin1-deficient mice revealed that production of Abeta40 and Abeta42 was lower than that of the wild-type mice, indicating that Pin1 promotes Abeta production in the brain. GST-Pin1 pull-down and immunoprecipitation assay revealed that Pin1 binds phosphorylated Thr668-Pro of C99. In the Pin1-/- MEF transfected with C99, Pin1 co-transfection enhanced the levels of Abeta40 and Abeta42 compared to that without Pin1 co-transfection. In COS7 cells transfected with C99, Pin1 co-transfection enhanced the generation of Abeta40 and Abeta42, and reduced the expression level of C99, facilitating the C99 turnover. Thus, Pin1 interacts with C99 and promotes its gamma-cleavage, generating Abeta40 and Abeta42. Further, GSK3 inhibitor lithium blocked Pin1 binding to C99 by decreasing Thr668 phosphorylation and attenuated Abeta generation, explaining the inhibitory effect of lithium on Abeta generation.
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Abeta peptide-induced toxicity is mediated through oxidative stress and is associated with an activation of intracellular signaling such as the redox-sensitive transcription factor NF-kappaB and MAPK pathways. We demonstrate on neuroblastoma cell line N2a that EGb 761 could prevent the activation of NF-kappaB, ERK1/2, and JNK pathways induced by Abeta. Furthermore, our results show that EGb 761 can also activate SIRT1. This activation could explain the reduction of NF-kB activity by promoting the deacetylation of Lys310 of subunit p65. On the other hand, aggregation of Abeta to insoluble fibrils is a crucial step in Abeta-induced neurotoxicity. Using fluorescence spectroscopy with thioflavin T and electron microscopy, we demonstrate that EGb 761 and its flavonoid fraction (CP 205) could prevent the Abeta fibril (fAbeta) formation in vitro. Finally we show that Abeta is less toxic to N2a neuroblastoma cells when the peptide is previously incubated with the flavonoid fraction or EGb 761 during the fibril formation period. On the other hand, the ginkgolide compound BN 52021 was not able to prevent fAbeta formation. Interestingly it could also protect cells against Abeta toxicity. Our study demonstrates that the protection of neuronal cells by EGb 761 against Abeta could involve different mechanisms as the regulation of several key intracellular pathways and the inhibition of fAbeta formation and implicate more than its free radical scavenging property.
Cultured human leptomeningeal fibroblasts grafted into rat frontal cortex were localized to the implant pocket and to adjacent host leptomeninges. Immunohistochemical studies using a panel of human-specific and domain-specific APP antibodies revealed that all grafted cells expressed both APP and A beta in situ. Remarkably, these antibodies also labeled rat pial and ependymal cells as well as reactive astrocytes adjacent to vessels. In addition, apical projections and cell bodies of many cortical pyramidal neurons contained human-specific APP immunoreactive material. Groups of subcortical neurons, particularly those of the amygdala, hippocampal formation and suprachiasmatic nuclei, were similarly labeled. The presence of human APP in host brains was confirmed by immunoblotting. Birefringent Congo Red staining was observed in the cortical neuropil and in leptomeningeal vessels. These data indicate that grafted leptomeningeal fibroblasts hyperexpress APP and A beta which can diffuse into parenchyma and be taken up by specific rat cells.
We investigated the effects of different apolipoprotein E (apoE) isoforms, Abeta (1-42), and apoE/Abeta complexes on PKC-alpha translocation and APP processing in human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells and fibroblasts. Treatment of cells with either 10 nM apoE3 or apoE4, 10 microM Abeta (1-42), or apoE/Abeta complexes induced significant translocation of PKC-alpha in both cell types. Effects were seen using both human recombinant apoE and apoE loaded into beta-very low density lipoprotein (beta-VLDL) particles. Time course (5-24 h) studies of APP processing revealed that some conditions induced transient or moderate increases in the secretion of proteins detected by 22C11. In contrast, the secretion of alpha-secretase cleaved APP was either not modified or transiently decreased, as determined by immunoblotting with the antibody 6E10. These results suggest that apoE, Abeta (1-42) and apoE/Abeta complexes can modulate PKC activity but do not have major consequences for APP processing. These effects could contribute to the reported PKC alterations seen in AD. However, it is unlikely that the contribution of different apoE isoforms to AD pathology occurs via effects on APP processing.
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In order to develop transgenic animal models that selectively overexpress various Abeta peptides, we have developed a novel expression system that selectively expresses Abeta40 or Abeta42 in the secretory pathway. This system utilizes fusion constructs in which the sequence encoding the 23-amino-acid ABri peptide at the carboxyl terminus of the 266-amino-acid type 2 transmembrane protein BRI is replaced with a sequence encoding either Abeta40 or Abeta42. Constitutive processing of the resultant BRI-Abeta fusion proteins in transfected cells results in high-level expression and secretion of the encoded Abeta peptide. Significantly, expression of Abeta42 from the BRI-Abeta42 construct resulted in no increase in secreted Abeta40, suggesting that the majority of Abeta42 is not trimmed by carboxypeptidase to Abeta40 in the secretory pathway.
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Regional variation in the distribution of SP and NFT within the brain is well documented. Consideration of such variation is potentially of help in formulating models of disease progression. Several models propose that pathological changes in Alzheimer's disease (AD) progress in a step-wise fashion along neuronally connected regions. In this study, we measured tau, Abeta and betaAPP load in different brain regions and examined our results against models of AD progression. Blocks of brain tissue from 45 AD and 15 control cases were immunolabelled for tau, Abeta and betaAPP. Immunolabelled areas were measured as a proportion of the area of the field. Tau load was almost twice as great in the entorhinal cortex than elsewhere in the brain and was least in the cingulate gyrus. In contrast, Abeta was greatest in the cingulate gyrus and least in the entorhinal cortex. BetaAPP rankings were similar to those of tau. Thus the site with the greatest Abeta load (cingulate cortex) had the least tau and the site with the greatest tau load (entorhinal cortex) had the least Abeta. The entorhinal and cingulate cortex are neuronally interconnected. Our results might be explained on the basis that a neurone with its cell body in the entorhinal cortex and axonal terminals in the cingulate cortex shows predominately tau pathology in relation to the cell body and predominately Abeta pathology in relation to its axonal terminals. We conclude that our observations are consistent with previously described models of AD progression. It is possible that tau-rich neurones are associated through their projections to Abeta rich sites. Further work of this kind analysing differential pathological profiles in interconnected brain regions may contribute to refining this model.
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