Acta Neuropathol Commun. 2014 Jun 28;2:75. doi: 10.1186/s40478-014-0075-0.
Accumulation of β-amyloid (Aβ) in the brain is essential to Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis. Carriers of the apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 allele demonstrate greatly increased AD risk and enhanced brain Aβ deposition. In contrast, APOE ε2 allele carries show reduced AD risk, later age of disease onset, and lesser Aβ accumulation. However, it remains elusive whether the apoE2 isoform exerts truly protective effect against Aβ pathology or apoE2 plays deleterious role albeit less pronounced than the apoE4 isoform. Here, we characterized APPSW/PS1dE9/APOE ε2-TR (APP/E2) and APPSW/PS1dE9/APOE ε4-TR (APP/E4) mice, with targeted replacement (TR) of the murine Apoe for human ε2 or ε4 alleles, and used these models to investigate effects of pharmacological inhibition of the apoE/Aβ interaction on Aβ deposition and neuritic degeneration. APP/E2 and APP/E4 mice replicate differential effect of human apoE isoforms on Aβ pathology with APP/E4 mice showing a several-fold greater load of Aβ plaques, insoluble brain Aβ levels, Aβ oligomers, and density of neuritic plaques than APP/E2 mice. Furthermore, APP/E4 mice, but not APP/E2 mice, exhibit memory impairment on object recognition and radial arm maze tests. Between the age of 6 and 10 months APP/E2 and APP/E4 mice received treatment with Aβ12-28P, a non-toxic, synthetic peptide homologous to the apoE binding motif within the Aβ sequence, which competitively blocks the apoE/Aβ interaction. In both lines, the treatment significantly reduced brain Aβ accumulation, co-accumulation of apoE within Aβ plaques, and neuritic degeneration, and prevented memory deficit in APP/E4 mice. These results indicate that both apoE2 and apoE4 isoforms contribute to Aβ deposition and future therapies targeting the apoE/Aβ interaction could produce favorable outcome in APOE ε2 and ε4 allele carriers.
β-淀粉样蛋白(Aβ)在大脑中的积累对阿尔茨海默病(AD)的发病机制至关重要。载脂蛋白 E(APOE)ε4 等位基因的携带者表现出极大增加的 AD 风险和增强的大脑 Aβ沉积。相比之下,APOE ε2 等位基因携带显示降低的 AD 风险、疾病发病的较晚年龄和较少的 Aβ积累。然而,目前尚不清楚 apoE2 同工型是否对 Aβ 病理学具有真正的保护作用,或者 apoE2 是否发挥有害作用,尽管不如 apoE4 同工型明显。在这里,我们对靶向替换(TR)了人 Apoe 基因的 APPPSW/PS1dE9/APOE ε2-TR(APP/E2)和 APPPSW/PS1dE9/APOE ε4-TR(APP/E4)小鼠进行了特征描述,这些模型使用这些模型来研究apoE/Aβ 相互作用的药理学抑制对 Aβ 沉积和神经突变性的影响。APP/E2 和 APP/E4 小鼠复制了人类 apoE 同工型对 Aβ 病理学的不同影响,APP/E4 小鼠的 Aβ 斑块、不溶性脑 Aβ 水平、Aβ 寡聚物和神经突斑块密度比 APP/E2 小鼠高几倍。此外,APP/E4 小鼠,但不是 APP/E2 小鼠,在物体识别和放射臂迷宫测试中表现出记忆障碍。在 6 至 10 个月大时,APP/E2 和 APP/E4 小鼠接受了 Aβ12-28P 的治疗,Aβ12-28P 是一种无毒的、与 Aβ 序列中的 apoE 结合基序同源的合成肽,可竞争性阻断 apoE/Aβ 相互作用。在这两种品系中,治疗均显著减少了脑 Aβ 积累、Aβ 斑块内 apoE 的共积累和神经突变性,并防止了 APP/E4 小鼠的记忆缺陷。这些结果表明,apoE2 和 apoE4 同工型均有助于 Aβ 沉积,靶向 apoE/Aβ 相互作用的未来疗法可能会对 APOE ε2 和 ε4 等位基因携带者产生有利的结果。