a Mr. and Mrs. Ko Chi Ming Centre for Parkinson's Disease Research , School of Chinese Medicine , Hong Kong Baptist University , Hong Kong SAR , China.
b State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine , Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences , University of Macau , Taipa, Macau SAR , China.
Autophagy. 2017;13(12):2028-2040. doi: 10.1080/15548627.2017.1379633.
Alzheimer disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease characterized by the deposition of amyloid plaque in the brain. The autophagy-associated PIK3C3-containing phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PtdIns3K) complex has been shown to interfere with APP metabolism and amyloid beta peptide (Aβ) homeostasis via poorly understood mechanisms. Here we report that NRBF2 (nuclear receptor binding factor 2), a key component and regulator of the PtdIns3K, is involved in APP-CTFs homeostasis in AD cell models. We found that NRBF2 interacts with APP in vivo and its expression levels are reduced in hippocampus of 5XFAD AD mice; we further demonstrated that NRBF2 overexpression promotes degradation of APP C-terminal fragments (APP-CTFs), and reduces Aβ and Aβ levels in human mutant APP-overexpressing cells. Conversely, APP-CTFs, Aβ and Aβ levels were increased in Nrbf2 knockdown or nrbf2 knockout cells. Furthermore, NRBF2 positively regulates autophagy in neuronal cells and NRBF2-mediated reduction of APP-CTFs levels is autophagy dependent. Importantly, nrbf2 knockout attenuates the recruitment of APP and APP-CTFs into phagophores and the sorting of APP and APP-CTFs into endosomal intralumenal vesicles, which is accompanied by the accumulation of the APP and APP-CTFs into RAB5-positive early endosomes. Collectively, our results reveal the potential connection between NRBF2 and the AD-associated protein APP by showing that NRBF2 plays an important role in regulating degradation of APP-CTFs through modulating autophagy.
阿尔茨海默病(AD)是最常见的神经退行性疾病,其特征是脑内淀粉样斑块沉积。已发现自噬相关的 PIK3C3 包含的磷脂酰肌醇 3-激酶(PtdIns3K)复合物通过尚不清楚的机制干扰 APP 代谢和淀粉样β肽(Aβ)的动态平衡。本文报道核受体结合因子 2(NRBF2)作为 PtdIns3K 的关键组成部分和调节因子,参与 AD 细胞模型中 APP-CTFs 的动态平衡。我们发现 NRBF2 在体内与 APP 相互作用,其表达水平在 5XFAD AD 小鼠海马体中降低;我们进一步证明 NRBF2 过表达可促进 APP C 端片段(APP-CTFs)降解,并降低人突变 APP 过表达细胞中的 Aβ和 Aβ水平。相反,在 Nrbf2 敲低或 nrbf2 敲除细胞中,APP-CTFs、Aβ 和 Aβ水平增加。此外,NRBF2 可正向调节神经元细胞中的自噬,NRBF2 介导的 APP-CTFs 水平降低依赖于自噬。重要的是,nrbf2 敲除可减弱 APP 和 APP-CTFs 向吞噬体的募集,以及 APP 和 APP-CTFs 向内体腔内小泡的分选,这伴随着 APP 和 APP-CTFs 在内体腔室中向 RAB5 阳性早期内体的积累。总之,我们的结果通过显示 NRBF2 通过调节自噬在调节 APP-CTFs 降解中发挥重要作用,揭示了 NRBF2 与 AD 相关蛋白 APP 之间的潜在联系。