scholarly journals Hippocampal disruptions of synaptic and astrocyte metabolism are primary events of early amyloid pathology in the 5xFAD mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens V. Andersen ◽  
Niels H. Skotte ◽  
Sofie K. Christensen ◽  
Filip S. Polli ◽  
Mohammad Shabani ◽  
...  

AbstractAlzheimer’s disease (AD) is an unremitting neurodegenerative disorder characterized by cerebral amyloid-β (Aβ) accumulation and gradual decline in cognitive function. Changes in brain energy metabolism arise in the preclinical phase of AD, suggesting an important metabolic component of early AD pathology. Neurons and astrocytes function in close metabolic collaboration, which is essential for the recycling of neurotransmitters in the synapse. However, this crucial metabolic interplay during the early stages of AD development has not been sufficiently investigated. Here, we provide an integrative analysis of cellular metabolism during the early stages of Aβ accumulation in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus of the 5xFAD mouse model of AD. Our electrophysiological examination revealed an increase in spontaneous excitatory signaling in the 5xFAD hippocampus. This hyperactive neuronal phenotype coincided with decreased hippocampal tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle metabolism mapped by stable 13C isotope tracing. Particularly, reduced astrocyte TCA cycle activity and decreased glutamine synthesis led to hampered neuronal GABA synthesis in the 5xFAD hippocampus. In contrast, the cerebral cortex of 5xFAD mice displayed an elevated capacity for oxidative glucose metabolism, which may suggest a metabolic compensation in this brain region. We found limited changes when we explored the brain proteome and metabolome of the 5xFAD mice, supporting that the functional metabolic disturbances between neurons and astrocytes are early primary events in AD pathology. In addition, synaptic mitochondrial and glycolytic function was selectively impaired in the 5xFAD hippocampus, whereas non-synaptic mitochondrial function was maintained. These findings were supported by ultrastructural analyses demonstrating disruptions in mitochondrial morphology, particularly in the 5xFAD hippocampus. Collectively, our study reveals complex regional and cell-specific metabolic adaptations in the early stages of amyloid pathology, which may be fundamental for the progressing synaptic dysfunctions in AD.

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Fanglei Han ◽  
Jia Zhao ◽  
Guoqing Zhao

Background: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease which shows a set of symptoms involving cognitive changes and psychological changes. Given that AD is the most common form of dementia in aging population and the increasing demand for anesthesia/surgery with aging, there has been significant interest in the exact impact of volatile anesthetics on cognitive function and pathological alterations in AD population. Objective: This study aimed to investigate behavioral changes and neuropathology in the 5xFAD mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease with short-term exposure or long-term exposure to desflurane, sevoflurane, or isoflurane. Methods: In this study, we exposed 5xFAD mouse model of AD to isoflurane, sevoflurane, or desflurane in two different time periods (30 min and 6 h), and the memory related behaviors as well as the pathological changes in 5xFAD mice were evaluated 7 days after the anesthetic exposure. Results: We found that short-term exposure to volatile anesthetics did not affect hippocampus dependent memory and the amyloid-β (Aβ) deposition in the brain. However, long-term exposure to sevoflurane or isoflurane significantly increased the Aβ deposition in CA1 and CA3 regions of hippocampus, as well as the glial cell activation in amygdala. Besides, the PSD-95 expression was decreased in 5xFAD mice with exposure to sevoflurane or isoflurane and the caspase-3 activation was enhanced in isoflurane, sevoflurane, and desflurane groups. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate the time-dependent effects of common volatile anesthetics and implicate that desflurane has the potential benefits to prolonged anesthetic exposure in AD patients.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 401
Author(s):  
Anishchal A. Pratap ◽  
R. M. Damian Holsinger

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a complex neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the accumulation of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. Interestingly, individuals with metabolic syndromes share some pathologies with those diagnosed with AD including neuroinflammation, insulin resistance and cognitive deficits. Leptin, an adipocyte-derived hormone, regulates metabolism, energy expenditure and satiety via its receptor, LepR. To investigate the possible involvement of leptin in AD, we examined the distribution of leptin and LepR in the brains of the 5XFAD mouse model of AD, utilizing immunofluorescent staining in young (10–12-weeks; n = 6) and old (48–52-weeks; n = 6) transgenic (Tg) mice, together with age-matched wild-type (WT) controls for both age groups (young-WT, n = 6; old-WT, n = 6). We also used double immunofluorescent staining to examine the distribution of leptin and leptin receptor expression in astrocytes. In young 5XFAD, young-WT and old-WT mice, we observed neuronal and endothelial expression of leptin and LepR throughout the brain. However, neuronal leptin and LepR expression in the old 5XFAD brain was significantly diminished. Reduced neuronal leptin and LepR expression was accompanied by plaque loading and neuroinflammation in the AD brain. A marked increase in astrocytic leptin and LepR was also observed in old 5XFAD mice compared to younger 5XFAD mice. We postulate that astrocytes may utilize LepR signalling to mediate and drive their metabolically active state when degrading amyloid in the AD brain. Overall, these findings provide evidence of impaired leptin and LepR signalling in the AD brain, supporting clinical and epidemiological studies performed in AD patients.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Martina Svensson ◽  
Emelie Andersson ◽  
Oscar Manouchehrian ◽  
Yiyi Yang ◽  
Tomas Deierborg

AbstractPhysical exercise has been suggested to reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD) as well as ameliorate the progression of the disease. However, we recently published results from two large epidemiological studies showing no such beneficial effects on the development of AD. In addition, long-term, voluntary running in the 5xFAD mouse model of AD did not affect levels of soluble amyloid beta (Aβ), synaptic proteins or cognitive function. In this follow-up study, we investigate whether running could impact other pathological aspects of the disease, such as insoluble Aβ levels, the neuroinflammatory response and non-cognitive behavioral impairments. We investigated the effects of 24 weeks of voluntary wheel running in female 5xFAD mice (n = 30) starting at 2–3 months of age, before substantial extracellular plaque formation. Running mice developed hindlimb clasping earlier (p = 0.009) compared to sedentary controls. Further, running exacerbated the exploratory behavior in Elevated plus maze (p = 0.001) and anxiety in Open field (p = 0.024) tests. Additionally, microglia, cytokines and insoluble Aβ levels were not affected. Taken together, our findings suggest that voluntary wheel running is not a beneficial intervention to halt disease progression in 5xFAD mice.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yangyang Lin ◽  
Jian Jin ◽  
Rongke Lv ◽  
Yuan Luo ◽  
Weiping Dai ◽  
...  

AbstractAlzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease with high prevalence rate among the elderly population. A large number of clinical studies have suggested repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) as a promising non-invasive treatment for patients with mild to moderate AD. However, the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms remain largely uninvestigated. In the current study, we examined the effect of high frequency rTMS treatment on the cognitive functions and pathological changes in the brains of 4- to 5-month old 5xFAD mice, an early pathological stage with pronounced amyloidopathy and cognitive deficit. Our results showed that rTMS treatment effectively prevented the decline of long-term memories of the 5xFAD mice for novel objects and locations. Importantly, rTMS treatment significantly increased the drainage efficiency of brain clearance pathways, including the glymphatic system in brain parenchyma and the meningeal lymphatics, in the 5xFAD mouse model. Significant reduction of Aβ deposits, suppression of microglia and astrocyte activation, and prevention of decline of neuronal activity as indicated by the elevated c-FOS expression, were observed in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus of the rTMS-treated 5xFAD mice. Collectively, these findings provide a novel mechanistic insight of rTMS in regulating brain drainage system and β-amyloid clearance in the 5xFAD mouse model, and suggest the potential use of the clearance rate of contrast tracer in cerebrospinal fluid as a prognostic biomarker for the effectiveness of rTMS treatment in AD patients.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (16) ◽  
pp. 3992 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sujin Kim ◽  
Yunkwon Nam ◽  
Yu-on Jeong ◽  
Hyun Ha Park ◽  
Seong-kyung Lee ◽  
...  

It is widely known that the degeneration of neural circuits is prominent in the brains of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients. The reciprocal connectivity of the medial septum (MS) and hippocampus, which constitutes the septo-hippocampo-septal (SHS) loop, is known to be associated with learning and memory. Despite the importance of the reciprocal projections between the MS and hippocampus in AD, the alteration of bidirectional connectivity between two structures has not yet been investigated at the mesoscale level. In this study, we adopted AD animal model, five familial AD mutations (5XFAD) mice, and anterograde and retrograde tracers, BDA and DiI, respectively, to visualize the pathology-related changes in topographical connectivity of the SHS loop in the 5XFAD brain. By comparing 4.5-month-old and 14-month-old 5XFAD mice, we successfully identified key circuit components of the SHS loop altered in 5XFAD brains. Remarkably, the SHS loop began to degenerate in 4.5-month-old 5XFAD mice before the onset of neuronal loss. The impairment of connectivity between the MS and hippocampus was accelerated in 14-month-old 5XFAD mice. These results demonstrate, for the first time, topographical evidence for the degradation of the interconnection between the MS and hippocampus at the mesoscale level in a mouse model of AD. Our results provide structural and functional insights into the interconnectivity of the MS and hippocampus, which will inform the use and development of various therapeutic approaches that target neural circuits for the treatment of AD.


2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 829-843 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahram Jang ◽  
Hyunjeong Liew ◽  
Yun-Mi Kim ◽  
Heesoon Choi ◽  
Saeromi Kim ◽  
...  

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