Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA.
University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA.
Neurotherapeutics. 2023 Jul;20(4):1120-1137. doi: 10.1007/s13311-023-01375-3. Epub 2023 May 8.
APOE4, encoding apolipoprotein E4 (apoE4), is the greatest genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD), compared to the common APOE3. While the mechanism(s) underlying APOE4-induced AD risk remains unclear, increasing the lipidation of apoE4 is an important therapeutic target as apoE4-lipoproteins are poorly lipidated compared to apoE3-lipoproteins. ACAT (acyl-CoA: cholesterol-acyltransferase) catalyzes the formation of intracellular cholesteryl-ester droplets, reducing the intracellular free cholesterol (FC) pool. Thus, inhibiting ACAT increases the FC pool and facilitates lipid secretion to extracellular apoE-containing lipoproteins. Previous studies using commercial ACAT inhibitors, including avasimibe (AVAS), as well as ACAT-knock out (KO) mice, exhibit reduced AD-like pathology and amyloid precursor protein (APP) processing in familial AD (FAD)-transgenic (Tg) mice. However, the effects of AVAS with human apoE4 remain unknown. In vitro, AVAS induced apoE efflux at concentrations of AVAS measured in the brains of treated mice. AVAS treatment of male E4FAD-Tg mice (5xFADAPOE4) at 6-8 months had no effect on plasma cholesterol levels or distribution, the original mechanism for AVAS treatment of CVD. In the CNS, AVAS reduced intracellular lipid droplets, indirectly demonstrating target engagement. Surrogate efficacy was demonstrated by an increase in Morris water maze measures of memory and postsynaptic protein levels. Amyloid-beta peptide (Aβ) solubility/deposition and neuroinflammation were reduced, critical components of APOE4-modulated pathology. However, there was no increase in apoE4 levels or apoE4 lipidation, while amyloidogenic and non-amyloidogenic processing of APP were significantly reduced. This suggests that the AVAS-induced reduction in Aβ via reduced APP processing was sufficient to reduce AD pathology, as apoE4-lipoproteins remained poorly lipidated.
载脂蛋白 E4(APOE4)编码蛋白,与常见的 APOE3 相比,它是阿尔茨海默病(AD)最大的遗传风险因素。虽然 APOE4 诱导 AD 风险的机制尚不清楚,但增加 ApoE4 的脂化是一个重要的治疗靶点,因为与 ApoE3 脂蛋白相比,ApoE4 脂蛋白的脂化程度较差。ACAT(酰基辅酶 A:胆固醇酰基转移酶)催化细胞内胆固醇酯滴的形成,减少细胞内游离胆固醇(FC)池。因此,抑制 ACAT 会增加 FC 池并促进脂质分泌到细胞外含有 ApoE 的脂蛋白中。先前使用商业 ACAT 抑制剂(包括 avasimibe(AVAS))以及 ACAT 敲除(KO)小鼠的研究表明,在家族性 AD(FAD)转基因(Tg)小鼠中减少了 AD 样病理学和淀粉样前体蛋白(APP)处理。然而,AVAS 对人类 ApoE4 的影响仍不清楚。在体外,AVAS 在治疗小鼠大脑中测量的 AVAS 浓度下诱导 ApoE 外排。AVAS 治疗雄性 E4FAD-Tg 小鼠(5xFADAPOE4)6-8 个月对血浆胆固醇水平或分布没有影响,这是 AVAS 治疗 CVD 的原始机制。在中枢神经系统中,AVAS 减少了细胞内脂质滴,间接证明了靶标结合。通过增加 Morris 水迷宫记忆和突触后蛋白水平的测量来证明替代疗效。淀粉样β肽(Aβ)的溶解度/沉积和神经炎症减少,这是 APOE4 调节病理学的关键组成部分。然而,ApoE4 水平或 ApoE4 脂化没有增加,而 APP 的淀粉样形成和非淀粉样形成处理则显著减少。这表明,AVAS 通过减少 APP 处理诱导的 Aβ减少足以降低 AD 病理学,因为 ApoE4 脂蛋白仍然脂化程度较差。
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