The dysfunction and loss of synapses in Alzheimer disease are central to dementia symptoms. We have recently demonstrated that pathological Amyloid β oligomer (Aβo) regulates the association between intracellular protein mediators and the synaptic receptor complex composed of cellular prion protein (PrPC) and metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5). Here we sought to determine whether Aβo alters the physiological signaling of the PrPC-mGluR5 complex upon glutamate activation. We provide evidence that acute exposure to Aβo as well as chronic expression of familial Alzheimer disease mutant transgenes in model mice prevents protein-protein interaction changes of the complex induced by the glutamate analog 3,5-dihydroxyphenylglycine. We further show that 3,5-dihydroxyphenylglycine triggers the phosphorylation and activation of protein-tyrosine kinase 2-β (PTK2B, also referred to as Pyk2) and of calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II in wild-type brain slices but not in Alzheimer disease transgenic brain slices or wild-type slices incubated with Aβo. This study further distinguishes two separate Aβo-dependent signaling cascades, one dependent on extracellular Ca2+ and Fyn kinase activation and the other dependent on the release of Ca2+ from intracellular stores. Thus, Aβo triggers multiple distinct PrPC-mGluR5-dependent events implicated in neurodegeneration and dementia. We propose that targeting the PrPC-mGluR5 complex will reverse aberrant Aβo-triggered states of the complex to allow physiological fluctuations of glutamate signaling.
Metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 couples cellular prion protein to intracellular signalling in Alzheimer’s disease
