Measurement of apolipoprotein E and amyloid β clearance rates in the mouse brain using bolus stable isotope labeling (original) (raw)

Evidence for impaired amyloid β clearance in Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's Research & Therapy, 2013

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a common neurodegenerative disease characterized by the accumulation of extracellular plaques and intracellular tangles. Recent studies support the hypothesis that the accumulation of amyloid beta (Aβ) peptide within the brain arises from an imbalance of the production and clearance of Aβ. In rare genetic forms of AD, this imbalance is often caused by increased production of Aβ. However, recent evidence indicates that, in the majority of cases of AD, Aβ clearance is impaired. Apolipoprotein E (ApoE), the dominant cholesterol and lipid carrier in the brain, is critical for Aβ catabolism. The isoform of ApoE and its degree of lipidation critically regulate the effi ciency of Aβ clearance. Studies in preclinical models of AD have demonstrated that coordinately increasing levels of ApoE and its lipid transporter, ABCA1, increases the clearance of Aβ, suggesting that this pathway may be a potential therapeutic target for AD.

Overexpression of ABCA1 reduces amyloid deposition in the PDAPP mouse model of Alzheimer disease

Journal of Clinical Investigation, 2008

APOE genotype is a major genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer disease (AD). ABCA1, a member of the ATP-binding cassette family of active transporters, lipidates apoE in the CNS. Abca1 -/mice have decreased lipid associated with apoE and increased amyloid deposition in several AD mouse models. We hypothesized that mice overexpressing ABCA1 in the brain would have increased lipidation of apoE-containing lipoproteins and decreased amyloid deposition. To address these hypotheses, we created PrP-mAbca1 Tg mice that overexpress mouse Abca1 throughout the brain under the control of the mouse prion promoter. We bred the PrP-mAbca1 mice to the PDAPP AD mouse model, a transgenic line overexpressing a mutant human amyloid precursor protein. PDAPP/Abca1 Tg mice developed a phenotype remarkably similar to that seen in PDAPP/ Apoe -/mice: there was significantly less amyloid β-peptide (Aβ) deposition, a redistribution of Aβ to the hilus of the dentate gyrus in the hippocampus, and an almost complete absence of thioflavine S-positive amyloid plaques. Analyses of CSF from PrP-mAbca1 Tg mice and media conditioned by PrP-mAbca1 Tg primary astrocytes demonstrated increased lipidation of apoE-containing particles. These data support the conclusions that increased ABCA1-mediated lipidation of apoE in the CNS can reduce amyloid burden and that increasing ABCA1 function may have a therapeutic effect on AD.

apoE isoform–specific disruption of amyloid β peptide clearance from mouse brain

Journal of Clinical Investigation, 2008

Neurotoxic amyloid β peptide (Aβ) accumulates in the brains of individuals with Alzheimer disease (AD). The APOE4 allele is a major risk factor for sporadic AD and has been associated with increased brain parenchymal and vascular amyloid burden. How apoE isoforms influence Aβ accumulation in the brain has, however, remained unclear. Here, we have shown that apoE disrupts Aβ clearance across the mouse blood-brain barrier (BBB) in an isoform-specific manner (specifically, apoE4 had a greater disruptive effect than either apoE3 or apoE2). Aβ binding to apoE4 redirected the rapid clearance of free Aβ40/42 from the LDL receptor-related protein 1 (LRP1) to the VLDL receptor (VLDLR), which internalized apoE4 and Aβ-apoE4 complexes at the BBB more slowly than LRP1. In contrast, apoE2 and apoE3 as well as Aβ-apoE2 and Aβ-apoE3 complexes were cleared at the BBB via both VLDLR and LRP1 at a substantially faster rate than Aβ-apoE4 complexes. Astrocytesecreted lipo-apoE2, lipo-apoE3, and lipo-apoE4 as well as their complexes with Aβ were cleared at the BBB by mechanisms similar to those of their respective lipid-poor isoforms but at 2-to 3-fold slower rates. Thus, apoE isoforms differentially regulate Aβ clearance from the brain, and this might contribute to the effects of APOE genotype on the disease process in both individuals with AD and animal models of AD.

Amyloid-Beta Protein Clearance and Degradation (ABCD) Pathways and their Role in Alzheimer’s Disease

Current Alzheimer Research, 2015

Amyloid-proteins (A) of 42 (A 42) and 40 aa (A 40) accumulate as senile plaques (SP) and cerebrovascular amyloid protein deposits that are defining diagnostic features of Alzheimer's disease (AD). A number of rare mutations linked to familial AD (FAD) on the A precursor protein (APP), Presenilin-1 (PS1), Presenilin-2 (PS2), Adamalysin10, and other genetic risk factors for sporadic AD such as the 4 allele of Apolipoprotein E (ApoE-4) foster the accumulation of A and also induce the entire spectrum of pathology associated with the disease. A accumulation is therefore a key pathological event and a prime target for the prevention and treatment of AD. APP is sequentially processed by-site APP cleaving enzyme (BACE1) and-secretase, a multisubunit PS1/PS2-containing integral membrane protease, to generate A. Although A accumulates in all forms of AD, the only pathways known to be affected in FAD increase A production by APP gene duplication or via base substitutions on APP and-secretase subunits PS1 and PS2 that either specifically increase the yield of the longer A 42 or both A 40 and A 42.However, the vast majority of AD patients accumulate A without these known mutations. This led to proposals that impairment of A degradation or clearance may play a key rolein AD pathogenesis. Several candidate enzymes, including Insulindegrading enzyme (IDE), Neprilysin (NEP), Endothelin-converting enzyme (ECE), Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE), Plasmin, and Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) have been identified and some have even been successfully evaluated in animal models. Several studies also have demonstrated the capacity of-secretase inhibitors to paradoxically increase the yield of A and we have recently established that the mechanism is by skirting A degradation. This review outlines major cellular pathways of A degradation to provide a basis for future efforts to fully characterize the panel of pathways responsible for A turnover.

Transport pathways for clearance of human Alzheimer's amyloid β-peptide and apolipoproteins E and J in the mouse central nervous system

Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism, 2006

Amyloid β-peptide (Aβ) clearance from the central nervous system (CNS) maintains its low levels in brain. In Alzheimer's disease, Aβ accumulates in brain possibly because of its faulty CNS clearance and a deficient efflux across the blood—brain barrier (BBB). By using human-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, we measured a rapid 30 mins efflux at the BBB and transport via the interstitial fluid (ISF) bulk flow of human-unlabeled Aβ and of Aβ transport proteins, apolipoprotein E (apoE) and apoJ in mice. We show (i) Aβ40 is cleared rapidly across the BBB via low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein (LRP)1 at a rate of 0.21 pmol/min g ISF or 6-fold faster than via the ISF flow; (ii) Aβ42 is removed across the BBB at a rate 1.9-fold slower compared with Aβ40; (iii) apoE, lipid-poor isoform 3, is cleared slowly via the ISF flow and across the BBB (0.03–0.04 pmol/min g ISF), and after lipidation its transport at the BBB becomes barely detectable within 30 mins; (iv) a...

In vivo Differential Brain Clearance and Catabolism of Monomeric and Oligomeric Alzheimer's Aβ protein

Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 2016

Amyloid β (Aβ) is the major constituent of the brain deposits found in parenchymal plaques and cerebral blood vessels of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Several lines of investigation support the notion that synaptic pathology, one of the strongest correlates to cognitive impairment, is related to the progressive accumulation of neurotoxic Aβ oligomers. Since the process of oligomerization/fibrillization is concentration-dependent, it is highly reliant on the homeostatic mechanisms that regulate the steady state levels of Aβ influencing the delicate balance between rate of synthesis, dynamics of aggregation, and clearance kinetics. Emerging new data suggest that reduced Aβ clearance, particularly in the aging brain, plays a critical role in the process of amyloid formation and AD pathogenesis. Using well-defined monomeric and low molecular mass oligomeric Aβ1-40 species stereotaxically injected into the brain of C57BL/6 wild-type mice in combination with biochemical and mass spectrometric analyses in CSF, our data clearly demonstrate that Aβ physiologic removal is extremely fast and involves local proteolytic degradation leading to the generation of heterogeneous C-terminally cleaved proteolytic products, while providing clear indication of the detrimental role of oligomerization for brain Aβ efflux. Immunofluorescence confocal microscopy studies provide insight into the cellular pathways involved in the brain removal and cellular uptake of Aβ. The findings indicate that clearance from brain interstitial fluid follows local and systemic paths and that in addition to the blood-brain barrier, local enzymatic degradation and the bulk flow transport through the choroid plexus into the CSF play significant roles. Our studies highlight the diverse factors influencing brain clearance and the participation of various routes of elimination opening up new research opportunities for the understanding of altered mechanisms triggering AD pathology and for the potential design of combined therapeutic strategies.

Low-density lipoprotein receptor overexpression enhances the rate of brain-to-blood A clearance in a mouse model of -amyloidosis

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2012

The apolipoprotein E (APOE)-ε4 allele is the strongest genetic risk factor for late-onset, sporadic Alzheimer's disease, likely increasing risk by altering amyloid-β (Aβ) accumulation. We recently demonstrated that the low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) is a major apoE receptor in the brain that strongly regulates amyloid plaque deposition. In the current study, we sought to understand the mechanism by which LDLR regulates Aβ accumulation by altering Aβ clearance from brain interstitial fluid. We hypothesized that increasing LDLR levels enhances blood-brain barrier-mediated Aβ clearance, thus leading to reduced Aβ accumulation. Using the brain Aβ efflux index method, we found that blood-brain barriermediated clearance of exogenously administered Aβ is enhanced with LDLR overexpression. We next developed a method to directly assess the elimination of centrally derived, endogenous Aβ into the plasma of mice using an anti-Aβ antibody that prevents degradation of plasma Aβ, allowing its rate of appearance from the brain to be measured. Using this plasma Aβ accumulation technique, we found that LDLR overexpression enhances brain-toblood Aβ transport. Together, our results suggest a unique mechanism by which LDLR regulates brain-to-blood Aβ clearance, which may serve as a useful therapeutic avenue in targeting Aβ clearance from the brain. dementia | low-density lipoprotein-related protein 1 | peripheral | in vivo microdialysis | sequestration