Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
Hope Center for Neurological Disorders, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
Sci Transl Med. 2022 Feb 16;14(632):eabm4107. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abm4107.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most dominant form of dementia characterized by the deposition of extracellular amyloid plaques and intracellular neurofibrillary tau tangles (NFTs). In addition to these pathologies, an emerging pathophysiological mechanism that influences AD is neuroinflammation. Astrocytes are a vital type of glial cell that contribute to neuroinflammation, and reactive astrocytes, or astrogliosis, are a well-known pathological feature of AD. However, the mechanisms by which astrocytes contribute to the neurodegenerative process in AD have not been fully elucidated. Here, we showed that astrocytic α2-Na/K adenosine triphosphatase (α2-NKA) is elevated in postmortem human brain tissue from AD and progressive nuclear palsy, a primary tauopathy. The increased astrocytic α2-NKA was also recapitulated in a mouse model of tauopathy. Pharmacological inhibition of α2-NKA robustly suppressed neuroinflammation and reduced brain atrophy. In addition, α2-NKA knockdown in tauopathy mice halted the accumulation of tau pathology. We also demonstrated that α2-NKA promoted tauopathy, in part, by regulating the proinflammatory protein lipocalin-2 (Lcn2). Overexpression of Lcn2 in tauopathy mice increased tau pathology, and prolonged Lcn2 exposure to primary neurons promoted tau uptake in vitro. These studies collectively highlight the contribution of reactive astrocytes to tau pathogenesis in mice and define α2-NKA as a major regulator of astrocytic-dependent neuroinflammation.
阿尔茨海默病(AD)是最主要的痴呆症形式,其特征是细胞外淀粉样斑块和细胞内神经原纤维缠结(NFT)的沉积。除了这些病理学变化之外,神经炎症是影响 AD 的一个新兴病理生理机制。星形胶质细胞是一种重要的神经胶质细胞,有助于神经炎症,而反应性星形胶质细胞或星形胶质细胞增生是 AD 的一个众所周知的病理特征。然而,星形胶质细胞在 AD 神经退行性过程中的作用机制尚未完全阐明。在这里,我们发现 AD 和进行性核上性麻痹(一种主要的 tau 病)患者死后的人脑组织中星形胶质细胞的α2-Na/K 三磷酸腺苷酶(α2-NKA)升高。tau 病的小鼠模型中也重现了增加的星形胶质细胞α2-NKA。α2-NKA 的药理学抑制强烈抑制神经炎症并减少脑萎缩。此外,在 tau 病小鼠中敲低α2-NKA 可阻止 tau 病理学的积累。我们还证明,α2-NKA 通过调节促炎蛋白脂联素-2(Lcn2)在一定程度上促进了 tau 病。在 tau 病小鼠中过表达 Lcn2 会增加 tau 病理学,并且将 Lcn2 暴露于原代神经元中会促进体外 tau 的摄取。这些研究共同强调了反应性星形胶质细胞对小鼠 tau 发病机制的贡献,并将α2-NKA 定义为星形胶质细胞依赖性神经炎症的主要调节剂。