Department of Pharmacology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
Synaptic Structure Laboratory, Departmento de Ciencias Médicas, Instituto de Biomedicina, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Campus Biosanitario, Albacete 02006, Spain.
Sci Signal. 2024 Oct;17(856):eado4132. doi: 10.1126/scisignal.ado4132. Epub 2024 Oct 1.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by amyloid plaques and cognitive decline, the latter of which is thought to be driven by soluble oligomeric amyloid-β (oAβ). The dysregulation of G protein-gated inwardly rectifying K (GIRK; also known as Kir3) channels has been implicated in rodent models of AD. Here, seeking mechanistic insights, we uncovered a sex-dependent facet of GIRK-dependent signaling in AD-related amyloid pathophysiology. Synthetic oAβ suppressed GIRK-dependent signaling in hippocampal neurons from male mice, but not from female mice. This effect required cellular prion protein, the receptor mGluR5, and production of arachidonic acid by the phospholipase PLA. Although oAβ suppressed GIRK channel activity only in male hippocampal neurons, intrahippocampal infusion of oAβ or genetic suppression of GIRK channel activity in hippocampal pyramidal neurons impaired performance on a memory test in both male and female mice. Moreover, genetic enhancement of GIRK channel activity in hippocampal pyramidal neurons blocked oAβ-induced cognitive impairment in both male and female mice. In APP/PS1 AD model mice, GIRK-dependent signaling was diminished in hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons from only male mice before cognitive deficit was detected. However, enhancing GIRK channel activity rescued cognitive deficits in older APP/PS1 mice of both sexes. Thus, whereas diminished GIRK channel activity contributes to cognitive deficits in male mice with increased oAβ burden, enhancing its activity may have therapeutic potential for both sexes.
阿尔茨海默病(AD)是一种进行性神经退行性疾病,其特征是淀粉样斑块和认知能力下降,后者被认为是由可溶性寡聚淀粉样β(oAβ)驱动的。G 蛋白门控内向整流钾(GIRK;也称为 Kir3)通道的失调与 AD 啮齿动物模型有关。在这里,为了寻求机制上的见解,我们揭示了 AD 相关淀粉样病理生理学中 GIRK 依赖性信号传导的性别依赖性方面。合成的 oAβ 抑制了雄性小鼠海马神经元中 GIRK 依赖性信号传导,但不抑制雌性小鼠。这种作用需要细胞朊病毒蛋白、mGluR5 受体和磷脂酶 PLA 产生的花生四烯酸。尽管 oAβ 仅抑制雄性海马神经元中的 GIRK 通道活性,但海马神经元内 oAβ 的输注或 GIRK 通道活性的遗传抑制会损害雄性和雌性小鼠的记忆测试表现。此外,海马锥体神经元中 GIRK 通道活性的遗传增强阻止了雄性和雌性小鼠中 oAβ 诱导的认知障碍。在 APP/PS1 AD 模型小鼠中,仅在雄性小鼠出现认知缺陷之前,海马 CA1 锥体神经元中的 GIRK 依赖性信号就减弱了。然而,增强 GIRK 通道活性可挽救雄性和雌性 APP/PS1 老年小鼠的认知缺陷。因此,尽管增加的 oAβ 负担导致雄性小鼠的 GIRK 通道活性降低,但增强其活性可能对两性都有治疗潜力。