Cited by 62Alzheimer's disease research and treatmentsDementia and Cognitive Impairment ResearchNeuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms

PLCG2 protective variant p.P522R modulates tau pathology and disease progression in patients with mild cognitive impairment

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Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), Kleineidam, Luca, Chouraki, Vincent, Próchnicki, Tomasz, van der Lee, Sven J., Madrid-Márquez, Laura, Wagner-Thelen, Holger, Karaca, Ilker +48 more·2020·Acta Neuropathologica

Abstract

A rare coding variant (rs72824905, p.P522R) conferring protection against Alzheimer’s disease (AD) was identified in the gene encoding the enzyme phospholipase-C-γ2 (PLCG2) that is highly expressed in microglia. To explore the protective nature of this variant, we employed latent process linear mixed models to examine the association of p.P522R with longitudinal cognitive decline in 3595 MCI patients, and in 10,097 individuals from population-based studies. Furthermore, association with CSF levels of pTau 181, total tau, and Aβ 1-42 was assessed in 1261 MCI patients. We found that MCI patients who carried the p.P522R variant showed a slower rate of cognitive decline compared to non-carriers and that this effect was mediated by lower pTau 181 levels in CSF. The effect size of the association of p.P522R with the cognitive decline and pTau 181 was similar to that of APOE-ε4, the strongest genetic risk factor for AD. Interestingly, the protective effect of p.P522R was more pronounced in MCI patients with low Aβ 1-42 levels suggesting a role of PLCG2 in the response to amyloid pathology. In line with this hypothesis, we observed no protective effect of the PLCG2 variant on the cognitive decline in population-based studies probably due to the lower prevalence of amyloid positivity in these samples compared to MCI patients. Concerning the potential biological underpinnings, we identified a network of co-expressed proteins connecting PLCG2 to APOE and TREM2 using unsupervised co-regulatory network analysis. The network was highly enriched for the complement cascade and genes differentially expressed in disease-associated microglia. Our data show that p.P522R in PLCG2 reduces AD disease progression by mitigating tau pathology in the presence of amyloid pathology and, as a consequence, maintains cognitive function. Targeting the enzyme PLCG2 might provide a new therapeutic approach for treating AD.

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Crossref · 10.1007/s00401-020-02138-6

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  • PLCG2 polymorphisms are associated with both reduced and increased risk of Alzheimer's disease and with longevity.

    “PLCG2 polymorphisms are associated with both reduced and increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and with longevity.”

    From Multi-omics analyses reveal novel effects of PLCγ2 deficiency in the mouse brain (2023) · cites this paper as [4]

    The Introduction (page not available) says the PLCG2 p.P522R variant protects against Alzheimer’s disease and reports a suggested positive effect on longevity. Neither that passage nor the retrieved passages identify a PLCG2 variant associated with increased Alzheimer’s risk, so that part of the claim is unsupported by our copy. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • PLCG2 expression is associated with both amyloid and tau pathology.

    “PLCG2 expression has also been associated with both amyloid and tau pathology (4, 11).”

    From Multi-omics analyses reveal novel effects of PLCγ2 deficiency in the mouse brain (2023) · cites this paper as [4]

    The Discussion (page unavailable) links the PLCG2 p.P522R variant to reduced tau pathology in patients with mild cognitive impairment, with its strongest effect when amyloid pathology is present. That supports a connection to both pathologies, but the paper does not establish that PLCG2 expression itself is associated with both; it studies variant status and a separate co-expression network. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • The P522R mutation in PLCG2 protects against Alzheimer's disease-related cognitive decline.

    “Genome-wide association studies have identified a protective mutation in the phospholipase C gamma 2 (PLCG2) gene which confers protection against Alzheimer’s disease (AD)-associated cognitive decline.”

    From Alzheimer’s disease-associated protective variant Plcg2-P522R modulates peripheral macrophage function in a sex-dimorphic manner (2024) · cites this paper as [7]

    The Abstract and Discussion report that PLCG2 p.P522R carriers with mild cognitive impairment had slower cognitive decline, particularly when amyloid pathology was present. The citing sentence omits that population qualifier: the Abstract also reports no protective effect on cognitive decline in the population-based studies. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • The mildly hypermorphic PLCG2P522R variant is associated with increased longevity, improved clearance of Aβ, and protection against AD.

    “With respect to AD, the mildly hypermorphic PLCG2P522R variant is associated with increased longevity, improved clearance of Aβ, and protection against AD.”

    From PLCG2 modulates TREM2 expression and signaling in response to Alzheimer's disease pathology (2025) · cites this paper as [24]

    The Introduction reports that p.P522R slightly increases PLCG2 activity, is associated with protection against AD, and has been suggested to have a positive effect on longevity. The Discussion and Results do not support improved Aβ clearance: they report no association with Aβ1-42 pathology and place the observed protective effect downstream of amyloid accumulation, chiefly through reduced tau pathology. Page numbers are not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.91)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Individuals with MCI who carry the PLCγ2P522R variant had better cognitive performance even in the presence of the APOE4 AD risk gene.

    “It has recently been reported that individuals with MCI (mild cognitive impairment), who carry the PLCγ2P522R variant had better cognitive performance even in the presence of the APOE4 AD risk gene [38].”

    From Heterozygous expression of the Alzheimer’s disease-protective PLCγ2 P522R variant enhances Aβ clearance while preserving synapses (2022) · cites this paper as [38]

    The Results section reports slower cognitive decline among MCI patients carrying p.P522R and compares its effect in the presence of APOE-ε4. But it says the variant *may* initially counteract APOE-ε4’s detrimental effect, at least in part; the claim presents better cognitive performance in those carrying both variants as a definite finding. No page number was provided for the indexed passage. (LLM, conf=0.82)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Authors
(ADNI), A. D. N. I., Kleineidam, L., Chouraki, V., Próchnicki, T., van der Lee, S. J., Madrid-Márquez, L., Wagner-Thelen, H., Karaca, I., Weinhold, L., Wolfsgruber, S., Boland, A., Martino Adami, P. V., Lewczuk, P., Popp, J., Brosseron, F., Jansen, I. E., Hulsman, M., Kornhuber, J., Peters, O., Berr, C., Heun, R., Frölich, L., Tzourio, C., Dartigues, J.-F., Hüll, M., Espinosa, A., Hernández, I., de Rojas, I., Orellana, A., Valero, S., Stringa, N., van Schoor, N. M., Huisman, M., Scheltens, P., Rüther, E., Deleuze, J.-F., Wiltfang, J., Tarraga, L., Schmid, M., Scherer, M., Riedel-Heller, S., Heneka, M. T., Amouyel, P., Jessen, F., Boada, M., Maier, W., Schneider, A., González-Pérez, A., van der Flier, W. M., Wagner, M., Lambert, J.-C., Holstege, H., Sáez, M. E., Latz, E., Ruiz, A., & Ramirez, A.
Affiliations
  • University of Cologne (DE)
  • Inserm (FR)
  • University Hospital Bonn (DE)
  • Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (FR)
  • Medical University of Białystok (PL)
  • Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CH)
  • Amsterdam Neuroscience (NL)
  • Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (DE)
  • German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DE)
  • Heidelberg University (DE)
  • Université de Bordeaux (FR)
  • University of Freiburg (DE)
  • Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ES)
  • Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (ES)
  • Amsterdam Public Health (NL)
  • Universitätsmedizin Göttingen (DE)
  • University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (DE)
  • Leipzig University (DE)
  • University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School (US)
Venue
Acta Neuropathologica
Published
2020-03-12
Volume
139
Issue
6
Pages
1025-1044
ISSN
  • 0001-6322 (ISSN-L)
  • 1432-0533
OpenAlex
W3011167359
Cited by
62
References
92
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 8 · 2018: 1
FWCI
3.44
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Acta Neuropathologica (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • SSRN Electronic Journal (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Kölner Universitäts PublikationsServer (Universität zu Köln) (publishedVersion)
  • Amsterdam UMC (VU Amsterdam) - Institutional Repository (publishedVersion)
  • VU Research Portal (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • SERVAL (Université de Lausanne) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • HAL (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • IRIS (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Open Repository and Bibliography (University of Luxembourg) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • OPUS Repository (Kooperativer Bibliotheksverbund Berlin-Brandenburg) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Network (American Medical Association) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Informationszentrum Lebenswissenschaften (ZB MED) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Oskar-Bordeaux (Universite de Bordeaux) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • DZNE Pub (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • GoeScholar The Publication Server of the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (01GI0102, 01GI0420, 01GI0422, 01GI0423, 01GI0429, 01GI0431, 01GI0433, 01GI0434, 01GI0710, 01GI0711, 01GI0712, 01GI0713, 01GI0714, 01GI0715, 01GI0716, 01ET1006B, 01EA1410A, 01ED1619A)
  • Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (RA 1971/6-1)
  • ZonMw (733051061)
  • Innovative Medicines Initiative (115975, 115372)
  • Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI13/02434, PI16/01861, PI19/01301)
  • Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (480-10-014)
  • Swiss National Science Foundation (320030L_141179)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Alzheimer's disease research and treatments
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms
Keywords
PLCγ2, Alzheimer's disease, mild cognitive impairment, tau pathology, phosphorylated tau, cognitive decline, amyloid-beta, APOE ε4, TREM2, microglia, complement system, disease progression, protective genetic variants, therapeutic target
MeSH terms
Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Alzheimer Disease, Cognition, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Biomarkers, Amyloid beta-Peptides, tau Proteins, Disease Progression, Phospholipase C gamma, Cognitive Dysfunction

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