Amyloid-ß promotes neurotoxicity by Cdk5-induced p53 stabilization.

Neurodegeneration in selective brain areas underlies the pathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although oligomeric amyloid-β (Aβ) plays a central role in the AD pathogenesis, the mechanism of neuronal loss in response to Aβ remains elusive. The p53 tumor suppressor protein, a key regulator of cell apoptosis, has been described to accumulate in affected brain areas from AD patients. However, whether p53 plays any role in AD pathogenesis remains unknown. To address this issue, here we investigated the involvement of p53 on Aß-induced neuronal apoptosis. We found that exposure of neurons to oligomers of the amyloidogenic fragment 25-35 of the Aß peptide (Aβ) promoted p53 protein phosphorylation and stabilization, leading to mitochondrial dysfunction and neuronal apoptosis. To address the underlying mechanism, we focused on cyclin dependent kinase-5 (Cdk5), a known p53-phosphorylating kinase. The results revealed that Aβ treatment activated Cdk5, and that inhibiting Cdk5 activity prevented p53 protein stabilization. Furthermore, Aβ-mediated mitochondrial dysfunction and neuronal apoptosis were prevented by both genetic and pharmacological inhibition of either p53 or Cdk5 activities. This effect was mimicked with the full-length peptide Aβ. To confirm the mechanism in vivo, Aβ was stereotaxically injected in the cerebral right ventricle of mice, a treatment that caused p53 protein accumulation, dendrite disruption and neuronal death. Furthermore, these effects were prevented in p53 knockout mice or by pharmacologically inhibiting p53. Thus, Aβ triggers Cdk5 activation to induce p53 phosphorylation and stabilization, which leads to neuronal damage. Inhibition of the Cdk5-p53 pathway may therefore represent a novel therapeutic strategy against Aβ-induced neurodegeneration.