R e s e a R c h a R t i c l e1 8 1 6jci.org Volume 126Number 5 May 2016 26, 54, 55). We assayed the level of GTP-Rab5 in brains of 12-monthold Ts65Dn and 2N mice following a published protocol (56). As previously reported (28), the level of full-length APP in Ts65Dn was approximately 1.5-fold than in 2N samples ( We next tested whether the increase in App gene dose in Ts65Dn BFCNs was responsible for enlargement of Rab5 + endosomes (Figure 1). By immunoblotting, the APP siRNA caused an approximately 30% reduction in the level of full-length APP, as compared with control siRNA ( Figure 2E). Rab5 + puncta in BFCNs treated with either the APP siRNA or control siRNA were analyzed (Figure 2, F and G) as in Figure 1. Large, sometimes lobulated Rab5 + puncta were seen in cultures treated with the control siRNA, whereas these structures were typically smaller and rounded in cultures treated with the APP siRNA ( Figure 2G). Treatment with the APP siRNA significantly reduced the size of Rab5 + puncta in Ts65Dn neurons to a value equivalent to that in 2N neurons ( Figure 2F). Thus, increased App gene dose is necessary for increased Rab5 activation and for early endosome enlargement in Ts65Dn neurons.Full-length APP and β-CTF caused enlargement of early endosomes in PC12 cells. To determine how increased APP expression caused an increase in Rab5 activation, we asked which APP product(s) were responsible (Supplemental Figure 1A). We transfected PC12M cells with full-length APP-GFP, C99-GFP (β-CTF), C83-GFP (α-CTF), or AICD-GFP and examined endosomes by live cell imaging (Supplemental Figure 1B). Bright foci of GFP + intracellular structures were present in PC12M cells that overexpressed APP-GFP or C99-GFP. In contrast, cells expressing C83-GFP or AICD-GFP showed diffuse, hazy signals for GFP, with occasional foci in C83-GFP cells. In APP-GFP and C99-GFP cells, the GFP + intracellular structures were, on average, approximately 2 μm 2 (Supplemental Figure 1E). GFP signals in C83-GFP or AICD-GFP cells contained speckled small puncta within the haze, as well as a small number of larger bright puncta, as seen in cells expressing C99-GFP and APP-GFP (Supplemental Figure 1B). However, the average puncta size in C83-GFP and AICD-GFP cells was approximately 1.2 and 1.3 μm 2 , respectively. Thus, overexpressing APP and β-CTF, but not α-CTF or AICD, routinely induced formation of enlarged, bright intracellular structures. We also tested two APP mutants: APP M596V and APP SWE . APP M596V , which abolishes β-secretase cleavage, prevents production of β-CTF (57); APP SWE enhances β-secretase cleavage to increase the level of β-CTF (57). Both induced the formation of enlarged intracellular structures (Supplemental Figure 1C).We examined colocalization of APP or C99 with Rab5 in cotransfection experiments; APP-mCherry with GFP-Rab5 WT ( Figure 3B); C99-GFP with mCherry-Rab5 WT ( Figure 3C); and Rab5 + endosomes (26, 28, 37) was correlated with reduced endosomal trafficking and signaling of nerve growth factor (NGF), leading to degeneration...

BackgroundThe aged brain exhibits a loss in gray matter and a decrease in spines and synaptic densities that may represent a sequela for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's. Membrane/lipid rafts (MLR), discrete regions of the plasmalemma enriched in cholesterol, glycosphingolipids, and sphingomyelin, are essential for the development and stabilization of synapses. Caveolin-1 (Cav-1), a cholesterol binding protein organizes synaptic signaling components within MLR. It is unknown whether loss of synapses is dependent on an age-related loss of Cav-1 expression and whether this has implications for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe analyzed brains from young (Yg, 3-6 months), middle age (Md, 12 months), aged (Ag, >18 months), and young Cav-1 KO mice and show that localization of PSD-95, NR2A, NR2B, TrkBR, AMPAR, and Cav-1 to MLR is decreased in aged hippocampi. Young Cav-1 KO mice showed signs of premature neuronal aging and degeneration. Hippocampi synaptosomes from Cav-1 KO mice showed reduced PSD-95, NR2A, NR2B, and Cav-1, an inability to be protected against cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury compared to young WT mice, increased Aβ, P-Tau, and astrogliosis, decreased cerebrovascular volume compared to young WT mice. As with aged hippocampi, Cav-1 KO brains showed significantly reduced synapses. Neuron-targeted re-expression of Cav-1 in Cav-1 KO neurons in vitro decreased Aβ expression.ConclusionsTherefore, Cav-1 represents a novel control point for healthy neuronal aging and loss of Cav-1 represents a non-mutational model for Alzheimer's disease.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the leading causes of death of young people in the developed world. In the United States alone, 1.7 million traumatic events occur annually accounting for 50,000 deaths. The etiology of TBI includes traffic accidents, falls, gunshot wounds, sports, and combat-related events. TBI severity ranges from mild to severe. TBI can induce subtle changes in molecular signaling, alterations in cellular structure and function, and/or primary tissue injury, such as contusion, hemorrhage, and diffuse axonal injury. TBI results in blood-brain barrier (BBB) damage and leakage, which allows for increased extravasation of immune cells (i.e., increased neuroinflammation). BBB dysfunction and impaired homeostasis contribute to secondary injury that occurs from hours to days to months after the initial trauma. This delayed nature of the secondary injury suggests a potential therapeutic window. The focus of this article is on the (1) pathophysiology of TBI and (2) potential therapies that include biologics (stem cells, gene therapy, peptides), pharmacological (anti-inflammatory, antiepileptic, progrowth), and noninvasive (exercise, transcranial magnetic stimulation). In final, the review briefly discusses membrane/lipid rafts (MLR) and the MLR-associated protein caveolin (Cav). Interventions that increase Cav-1, MLR formation, and MLR recruitment of growth-promoting signaling components may augment the efficacy of pharmacologic agents or already existing endogenous neurotransmitters and neurotrophins that converge upon progrowth signaling cascades resulting in improved neuronal function after injury.

A better understanding of the cellular physiological role that plasma membrane lipids, fatty acids and sterols play in various cellular systems may yield more insight into how cellular and whole organ function is altered during the ageing process. Membrane lipid rafts (MLRs) within the plasma membrane of most cells serve as key organizers of intracellular signalling and tethering points of cytoskeletal components. MLRs are plasmalemmal microdomains enriched in sphingolipids, cholesterol and scaffolding proteins; they serve as a platform for signal transduction, cytoskeletal organization and vesicular trafficking. Within MLRs are the scaffolding and cholesterol binding proteins named caveolin (Cav). Cavs not only organize a multitude of receptors including neurotransmitter receptors (NMDA and AMPA receptors), signalling proteins that regulate the production of cAMP (G protein‐coupled receptors, adenylyl cyclases, phosphodiesterases (PDEs)), and receptor tyrosine kinases involved in growth (Trk), but also interact with components that modulate actin and tubulin cytoskeletal dynamics (e.g. RhoGTPases and actin binding proteins). MLRs are essential for the regulation of the physiology of organs such as the brain, and age‐related loss of cholesterol from the plasma membrane leads to loss of MLRs, decreased presynaptic vesicle fusion, and changes in neurotransmitter release, all of which contribute to different forms of neurodegeneration. Thus, MLRs provide an active membrane domain that tethers and reorganizes the cytoskeletal machinery necessary for membrane and cellular repair, and genetic interventions that restore MLRs to normal cellular levels may be exploited as potential therapeutic means to reverse the ageing and neurodegenerative processes.

Background The mechanisms by which isoflurane injured the developing brain are not clear. Recent work has demonstrated that it is mediated in part by activation of p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR). p75NTR activates RhoA, a small GTPase that can depolymerize actin. It is therefore conceivable that inhibition of RhoA or prevention of cytoskeletal depolymerization might attenuate isoflurane neurotoxicity. This study was conducted to test these hypotheses using primary cultured neurons and hippocampal slice cultures from neonatal mouse pups. Methods Primary neuron cultures (days in vitro, DIV4-7) and hippocampal slice cultures from postnatal day 4-7 mice were exposed to 1.4% isoflurane (4 h). Neurons were pretreated either with TAT-Pep5, an intracellular inhibitor of p75NTR, the cytoskeletal stabilizer Jasplakinolide or their corresponding vehicles. Hippocampal slice cultures were pretreated with TATPep5 prior to isoflurane exposure. RhoA activation was evaluated by immunoblot. Cytoskeletal depolymerization and apoptosis were evaluated with immunofluorescence microscopy using drebrin and cleaved caspase-3 (cl-Csp3) staining respectively. Results RhoA activation was increased following 30 min and 120 min of isoflurane exposure in neurons; TAT-Pep5 (10 μM) decreased isoflurane - mediated RhoA activation at both time intervals. isoflurane decreased drebrin immunofluorescence and enhanced cl-Csp3 in neurons, effects that were attenuated by pretreatment with either Jasplakinolide (1 μM) or TAT-Pep5. TAT-ßPep5 attenuated the isoflurane-mediated decrease in phalloidin immunofluorescence. TAT-Pep5 significantly attenuated isoflurane-mediated loss of drebrin immunofluorescence in hippocampal slices. Conclusion Isoflurane results in RhoA activation, cytoskeletal depolymerization, and apoptosis. Inhibition of RhoA activation or prevention of downstream actin depolymerization significantly attenuated isoflurane-mediated neurotoxicity in developing neurons.

Background Propofol exposure to neurons during synaptogenesis results in apoptosis leading to cognitive dysfunction in adulthood. Previous work from our laboratory showed that isoflurane neurotoxicity occurs through p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) and subsequent cytoskeleton depolymerization. Given that isoflurane and propofol both suppress neuronal activity, we hypothesized that propofol also induces apoptosis in developing neurons through p75NTR. Methods DIV5-7 neurons were exposed to propofol (3 µM) for 6 hr and apoptosis was assessed by cleaved caspase-3 (Cl-Csp3) immunoblot and immunofluorescence microscopy. Primary neurons from p75NTR−/− mice or wild-type neurons were treated with propofol, with or without pretreatment with TAT-Pep5 (10 µM, 15 min), a specific p75NTR inhibitor. P75NTR−/− neurons were transfected for 72 h with a lentiviral vector containing the synapsin driven p75NTR gene (Syn-p75NTR) or control vector (Syn-GFP) prior to propofol. To confirm our in vitro findings, wild type mice and p75NTR−/− mice (PND5) were pre-treated with either TAT-Pep5 or TAT-ctrl followed by propofol for 6 h. Results Neurons exposed to propofol showed a significant increase in Cl-Csp3, an effect attenuated by TAT-Pep5 and hydroxyfasudil. Apoptosis was significantly attenuated in p75NTR−/− neurons. In p75NTR−/− neurons transfected with Syn-p75NTR, propofol significantly increased Cl-Csp3 in comparison to Syn-GFP transfected p75NTR−/− neurons. Wild type mice exposed to propofol exhibited increased Cl-Csp3 in the hippocampus, an effect attenuated by TAT-Pep5. By contrast, propofol did not induce apoptosis in p75NTR−/− mice. Conclusion These results demonstrate that propofol induces apoptosis in developing neurons in vivo and in vitro and implicate a role for p75NTR and the downstream effector ROCK.

Clues to Alzheimer disease (AD) pathogenesis come from a variety of different sources including studies of clinical and neuropathological features, biomarkers, genomics and animal and cellular models. An important role for amyloid precursor protein (APP) and its processing has emerged and considerable interest has been directed at the hypothesis that Aβ peptides induce changes central to pathogenesis. Accordingly, molecules that reduce the levels of Aβ peptides have been discovered such as γ-secretase inhibitors (GSIs) and modulators (GSMs). GSIs and GSMs reduce Aβ levels through very different mechanisms. However, GSIs, but not GSMs, markedly increase the levels of APP CTFs that are increasingly viewed as disrupting neuronal function. Here, we evaluated the effects of GSIs and GSMs on a number of neuronal phenotypes possibly relevant to their use in treatment of AD. We report that GSI disrupted retrograde axonal trafficking of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), suppressed BDNF-induced downstream signaling pathways and induced changes in the distribution within neuronal processes of mitochondria and synaptic vesicles. In contrast, treatment with a novel class of GSMs had no significant effect on these measures. Since knockdown of APP by specific siRNA prevented GSI-induced changes in BDNF axonal trafficking and signaling, we concluded that GSI effects on APP processing were responsible, at least in part, for BDNF trafficking and signaling deficits. Our findings argue that with respect to anti-amyloid treatments, even an APP-specific GSI may have deleterious effects and GSMs may serve as a better alternative.

Objective Recent clinical trials targeting amyloid beta (Aβ) and tau in Alzheimer's disease (AD) have yet to demonstrate efficacy. Reviewing the hypotheses for AD pathogenesis and defining possible links between them may enhance insights into both upstream initiating events and downstream mechanisms, thereby promoting discovery of novel treatments. Evidence that in Down syndrome (DS), a population markedly predisposed to develop early onset AD, increased APP gene dose is necessary for both AD neuropathology and dementia points to normalization of the levels of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) and its products as a route to further define AD pathogenesis and discovering novel treatments. Background AD and DS share several characteristic manifestations. DS is caused by trisomy of whole or part of chromosome 21; this chromosome contains about 233 protein‐coding genes, including APP. Recent evidence points to a defining role for increased expression of the gene for APP and for its 99 amino acid C‐terminal fragment (C99, also known as β‐CTF) in dysregulating the endosomal/lysosomal system. The latter is critical for normal cellular function and in neurons for transmitting neurotrophic signals. New/updated hypothesis We hypothesize that the increase in APP gene dose in DS initiates a process in which increased levels of full‐length APP (fl‐APP) and its products, including β‐CTF and possibly Aβ peptides (Aβ42 and Aβ40), drive AD pathogenesis through an endosome‐dependent mechanism(s), which compromises transport of neurotrophic signals. To test this hypothesis, we carried out studies in the Ts65Dn mouse model of DS and examined the effects of Posiphen, an orally available small molecule shown in prior studies to reduce fl‐APP. In vitro, Posiphen lowered fl‐APP and its C‐terminal fragments, reversed Rab5 hyperactivation and early endosome enlargement, and restored retrograde transport of neurotrophin signaling. In vivo, Posiphen treatment (50 mg/kg/d, 26 days, intraperitoneal [i.p.]) of Ts65Dn mice was well tolerated and demonstrated no adverse effects in behavior. Treatment resulted in normalization of the levels of fl‐APP, C‐terminal fragments and small reductions in Aβ species, restoration to normal levels of Rab5 activity, reduced phosphorylated tau (p‐tau), and reversed deficits in TrkB (tropomyosin receptor kinase B) activation and in the Akt (protein kinase B [PKB]), ERK (extracellular signal‐regulated kinase), and CREB (cAMP response element–binding protein) signaling pathways. Remarkably, Posiphen treatment also restored the level of choline acetyltransferase protein to 2N levels. These findings support the APP gene dose hypothesis, point to the need for additional studies to explore the mechanisms by which increased APP gene expression acts to increase the risk for AD in DS, and to possible utility of treatments to normalize the levels of APP and its products for preventing AD in those with DS. Major challenges for the hypothesis Important unanswered questions are: (1) When should one intervene in t...