APP is a context-sensitive regulator of the hippocampal presynaptic active zone

  • Abstract: The hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are characterized by cognitive decline and behavioral changes. The most prominent brain region affected by the progression of AD is the hippocampal formation. The pathogenesis involves a successive loss of hippocampal neurons accompanied by a decline in learning and memory consolidation mainly attributed to an accumulation of senile plaques. The amyloid precursor protein (APP) has been identified as precursor of Aβ-peptides, the main constituents of senile plaques. Until now, little is known about the physiological function of APP within the central nervous system. The allocation of APP to the proteome of the highly dynamic presynaptic active zone (PAZ) highlights APP as a yet unknown player in neuronal communication and signaling. In this study, we analyze the impact of APP deletion on the hippocampal PAZ proteome. The native hippocampal PAZ derived from APP mouse mutants (APP-KOs and NexCreAPP/APLP2-cDKOs) was isolated by subcellular fractionation and immunopurification. Subsequently, an isobaric labeling was performed using TMT6 for protein identification and quantification by high-resolution mass spectrometry. We combine bioinformatics tools and biochemical approaches to address the proteomics dataset and to understand the role of individual proteins. The impact of APP deletion on the hippocampal PAZ proteome was visualized by creating protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks that incorporated APP into the synaptic vesicle cycle, cytoskeletal organization, and calcium-homeostasis. The combination of subcellular fractionation, immunopurification, proteomic analysis, and bioinformatics allowed us to identify APP as structural and functional regulator in a context-sensitive manner within the hippocampal active zone network. Author Summary: More than 20 years ago, the amyloid precursor protein (APP) was identified as the precursor protein of the Aβ peptide, the main component of senile plaques in brains affected by Alzheimer’s disease. However, little is known about the physiological function of amyloid precursor protein. Allocating APP to the proteome of the structurally and functionally dynamic presynaptic active zone highlights APP as a hitherto unknown player within the presynaptic network. The hippocampus is the most prominent brain region for learning and memory consolidation, and a vulnerable target for neurodegenerative disease, e. g. Alzheimer’s disease. Therefore, our experimental design is focused on the hippocampal neurotransmitter release site. Currently, the underlying mechanism of how APP acts within presynaptic networks is still elusive. Within the scope of this research article, we constructed a network of APP within the presynaptic active zone and how deletion of APP affects these individual networks. We combine bioinformatics tools and biochemical approaches to address the dataset provided by proteomics. Furthermore, we could unravel that APP executes regulatory functions within the synaptic vesicle cycle, cytoskeletal rearrangements and Ca2+-homeostasis. Taken together, our findings offer a new perspective on the physiological function of APP in the central nervous system and may provide a molecular link to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease.
Metadaten
Author:Melanie Laßek, Jens Weingarten, Martin WegnerORCiD, Benjamin F. Mueller, Marion Rohmer, Dominic Baeumlisberger, Tabiwang N. Arrey, Meike Hick, Jörg AckermannORCiDGND, Amparo Acker-PalmerORCiDGND, Ina KochORCiD, Ulrike Müller, Michael KarasGND, Walter Volknandt
URN:urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-398451
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004832
ISSN:1553-734X
ISSN:1553-7358
Pubmed Id:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27092780
Parent Title (English):Plos Computational Biology
Publisher:PLoS
Place of publication:Lawrence, Kan.
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Date of Publication (online):2016/04/19
Date of first Publication:2016/04/19
Publishing Institution:Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg
Release Date:2016/06/02
Volume:12
Issue:(4): e1004832
Page Number:22
Note:
Copyright: © 2016 Laßek et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
HeBIS-PPN:421386878
Institutes:Biowissenschaften / Biowissenschaften
Exzellenzcluster / Exzellenzcluster Makromolekulare Komplexe
Dewey Decimal Classification:5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 54 Chemie / 540 Chemie und zugeordnete Wissenschaften
5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 57 Biowissenschaften; Biologie / 570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie
Sammlungen:Universitätspublikationen
Open-Access-Publikationsfonds:Biowissenschaften
Licence (German):License LogoCreative Commons - Namensnennung 4.0