scholarly journals Clioquinol Mediates Copper Uptake and Counteracts Copper Efflux Activities of the Amyloid Precursor Protein of Alzheimer's Disease

2004 ◽  
Vol 279 (50) ◽  
pp. 51958-51964 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carina Treiber ◽  
Andreas Simons ◽  
Markus Strauss ◽  
Mathias Hafner ◽  
Roberto Cappai ◽  
...  

The key protein in Alzheimer's disease, the amyloid precursor protein (APP), is a ubiquitously expressed copper-binding glycoprotein that gives rise to the Aβ amyloid peptide. Whereas overexpression of APP results in significantly reduced brain copper levels in three different lines of transgenic mice, knock-out animals revealed increased copper levels. A provoked rise in peripheral levels of copper reduced concentrations of soluble amyloid peptides and resulted in fewer pathogenic Aβ plaques. Contradictory evidence has been provided by the efficacy of copper chelation treatment with the drug clioquinol. Using a yeast model system, we show that adding clioquinol to the yeast culture medium drastically increased the intracellular copper concentration but there was no significant effect observed on zinc levels. This finding suggests that clioquinol can act therapeutically by changing the distribution of copper or facilitating copper uptake rather than by decreasing copper levels. The overexpression of the human APP or APLP2 extracellular domains but not the extracellular domain of APLP1 decreased intracellular copper levels. The expression of a mutant APP deficient for copper binding increased intracellular copper levels several-fold. These data uncover a novel biological function for APP and APLP2 in copper efflux and provide a new conceptual framework for the formerly diverging theories of copper supplementation and chelation in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

2004 ◽  
Vol 381 (3) ◽  
pp. 619-628 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kei SUGA ◽  
Takami TOMIYAMA ◽  
Hiroshi MORI ◽  
Kimio AKAGAWA

Mutations in presenilins 1 and 2 (PS1 and PS2) account for the majority of cases of early-onset familial Alzheimer's disease. However, the trafficking and interaction of PSs with other proteins in the early secretory pathways are poorly understood. Using co-immunoprecipitation, we found that PS bound to Syx5 (syntaxin 5), which is a target-soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive fusion protein attachment protein receptor involved in endoplasmic reticulum (ER)–Golgi vesicular transport in vivo. Syx5 interacted only with the full-length PS holoproteins and not with the naturally occurring N- or C-terminal fragments. The PS holoproteins co-immunoprecipitated with the mutant Syx5, which localized to the ER and Golgi compartments, despite the substitution of the transmembrane region with that of syntaxin 1A. In contrast, the transmembrane deletion mutant that localized to the cytosol, but not to the ER or Golgi compartments, did not co-immunoprecipitate the PS holoproteins. The PS1 variant linked to familial Alzheimer's disease (PS1ΔE9), lacking the region that contains the endoproteolytic cleavage site in the cytoplasmic loop, showed markedly decreased binding to Syx5. Immunofluorescence and sucrose-density-gradient fractionation analyses showed that the full-length PS holoproteins co-localized with Syx5 to the ER and cis-Golgi compartments. Furthermore, Syx5 overexpression resulted in the accumulation of PS holoproteins and the β-amyloid precursor protein, and reduced the secretion of the Aβ (amyloid β) peptide in COS-7 cells. In summary, these results indicate that Syx5 binds to full-length PSs and affects the processing and trafficking of β-amyloid precursor protein in the early secretory compartments.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel A. Bórquez ◽  
Christian González-Billault

Since its proposal in 1994, the amyloid cascade hypothesis has prevailed as the mainstream research subject on the molecular mechanisms leading to the Alzheimer's disease (AD). Most of the field had been historically based on the role of the different forms of aggregation ofβ-amyloid peptide (Aβ). However, a soluble intracellular fragment termed amyloid precursor protein (APP) intracellular domain (AICD) is produced in conjunction with Aβfragments. This peptide had been shown to be highly toxic in both culture neurons and transgenic mice models. With the advent of this new toxic fragment, the centerpiece for the ethiology of the disease may be changed. This paper discusses the potential role of multiprotein complexes between the AICD and its adapter protein Fe65 and how this could be a potentially important new agent in the neurodegeneration observed in the AD.


2007 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 974-979 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.B. Parsons ◽  
B.M. Austen

The correct assembly of the BACE (β-site amyloid precursor protein-cleaving enzyme or β-secretase) complex and its subsequent trafficking to cellular compartments where it associates with the APP (amyloid precursor protein) is essential for the production of Aβ (amyloid β-peptide), the protein whose aggregation into senile plaques is thought to be responsible for the pathogenesis of AD (Alzheimer's disease). These processes rely upon both transient and permanent BACE–protein interactions. This review will discuss what is currently known about these BACE–protein interactions and how they may reveal novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of AD.


2008 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 1282-1287 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack T. Rogers ◽  
Ashley I. Bush ◽  
Hyan-Hee Cho ◽  
Deborah H. Smith ◽  
Andrew M. Thomson ◽  
...  

The essential metals iron, zinc and copper deposit near the Aβ (amyloid β-peptide) plaques in the brain cortex of AD (Alzheimer's disease) patients. Plaque-associated iron and zinc are in neurotoxic excess at 1 mM concentrations. APP (amyloid precursor protein) is a single transmembrane metalloprotein cleaved to generate the 40–42-amino-acid Aβs, which exhibit metal-catalysed neurotoxicity. In health, ubiquitous APP is cleaved in a non-amyloidogenic pathway within its Aβ domain to release the neuroprotective APP ectodomain, APP(s). To adapt and counteract metal-catalysed oxidative stress, as during reperfusion from stroke, iron and cytokines induce the translation of both APP and ferritin (an iron storage protein) by similar mechanisms. We reported that APP was regulated at the translational level by active IL (interleukin)-1 (IL-1-responsive acute box) and IRE (iron-responsive element) RNA stem–loops in the 5′ untranslated region of APP mRNA. The APP IRE is homologous with the canonical IRE RNA stem–loop that binds the iron regulatory proteins (IRP1 and IRP2) to control intracellular iron homoeostasis by modulating ferritin mRNA translation and transferrin receptor mRNA stability. The APP IRE interacts with IRP1 (cytoplasmic cis-aconitase), whereas the canonical H-ferritin IRE RNA stem–loop binds to IRP2 in neural cell lines, and in human brain cortex tissue and in human blood lysates. The same constellation of RNA-binding proteins [IRP1/IRP2/poly(C) binding protein] control ferritin and APP translation with implications for the biology of metals in AD.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document