Cited by 179Alzheimer's disease research and treatmentsCancer, Hypoxia, and MetabolismNeuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms

Warburg-like metabolic transformation underlies neuronal degeneration in sporadic Alzheimer’s disease

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Traxler, Larissa, Herdy, Joseph R., Stefanoni, Davide, Eichhorner, Sophie, Pelucchi, Silvia, Szücs, Attila, Santagostino, Alice, Kim, Yongsung +8 more·2022·Cell Metabolism

Abstract

The drivers of sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD) remain incompletely understood. Utilizing directly converted induced neurons (iNs) from AD-patient-derived fibroblasts, we identified a metabolic switch to aerobic glycolysis in AD iNs. Pathological isoform switching of the glycolytic enzyme pyruvate kinase M (PKM) toward the cancer-associated PKM2 isoform conferred metabolic and transcriptional changes in AD iNs. These alterations occurred via PKM2's lack of metabolic activity and via nuclear translocation and association with STAT3 and HIF1α to promote neuronal fate loss and vulnerability. Chemical modulation of PKM2 prevented nuclear translocation, restored a mature neuronal metabolism, reversed AD-specific gene expression changes, and re-activated neuronal resilience against cell death.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.cmet.2022.07.014

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  • Neurons directly induced from individuals with AD through NGN2/ASCL1 overexpression exhibited age-associated dysregulations such as instability of mature neuronal fate, increased cellular senescence, and metabolic shifts.

    “These neurons exhibited several age-associated dysregulations such as instability of mature neuronal fate, increased cellular senescence, and metabolic shifts (11, 24, 25)”

    From Modeling late-onset Alzheimer’s disease neuropathology via direct neuronal reprogramming (2024) · cites this paper as [25]

    The Results section describes generating AD-patient-derived neurons by overexpressing Ascl1 and Ngn2. The Introduction and Discussion describe loss of mature neuronal identity and a shift toward aerobic glycolysis. The passages do not establish increased cellular senescence in these neurons; preserving donors’ aging signatures is not the same finding. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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  • No AD hallmark neuropathology was shown in neurons directly induced from individuals with AD through NGN2/ASCL1 overexpression.

    “but no AD hallmark neuropathology was shown.”

    From Modeling late-onset Alzheimer’s disease neuropathology via direct neuronal reprogramming (2024) · cites this paper as [25]

    The Results section, “Functional iNs directly converted from fibroblasts of patients with AD and control donors” (page unavailable), confirms that neurons from AD donors were generated by Ascl1 and Ngn2 overexpression. The cited passages do not establish the broader assertion that no AD hallmark neuropathology was shown; the paper also reports AD-related changes in neuronal vulnerability under treatment in “Induction of aerobic glycolysis in iNs causes immature-like apoptotic competency” (page unavailable). (LLM, conf=0.74)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Recent studies have directly induced neurons from individuals with AD through NGN2/ASCL1 overexpression.

    “Recent studies have directly induced neurons from individuals with AD through NGN2/ASCL1 overexpression.”

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Authors
Traxler, L., Herdy, J. R., Stefanoni, D., Eichhorner, S., Pelucchi, S., Szücs, A., Santagostino, A., Kim, Y., Agarwal, R. K., Schlachetzki, J. C. M., Glass, C. K., Lagerwall, J., Galasko, D., Gage, F. H., D’Alessandro, A., & Mertens, J.
Affiliations
  • Universität Innsbruck (AT)
  • Salk Institute for Biological Studies (US)
  • University of Colorado Anschutz (US)
  • University of Michigan (US)
  • University of California San Diego (US)
Corresponding author
Traxler, Larissa
Venue
Cell Metabolism
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2022-09
Volume
34
Issue
9
Pages
1248-1263.e6
ISSN
1550-4131 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W4292379491
Cited by
179
References
70
Citations by year
2026: 35 · 2025: 56 · 2024: 49 · 2023: 29 · 2022: 10
FWCI
22.29
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Cell Metabolism (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Archivio Istituzionale della Ricerca (Universita Degli Studi Di Milano) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • ELTE Digital Institutional Repository (EDIT) (Eötvös Loránd University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
  • Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Emory University (AG062429)
  • Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust (P30CA23100)
  • Marshallplan-Jubiläumsstiftung
  • National Institute on Aging (AG056306, AG056511, AG057706)
  • BrightFocus Foundation
  • European Commission (H2020-MSCA-IF-2017-797205)
  • Austrian Science Fund
  • Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (ANN-135291)
  • European Research Council (ERC-STG-2019-852086)
  • Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
  • Milky Way Research Foundation (P30014195)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Alzheimer's disease research and treatments
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cancer Research › Cancer, Hypoxia, and Metabolism
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms
Keywords
sporadic Alzheimer's disease, neurodegeneration, aerobic glycolysis, Warburg effect, PKM2, induced neurons, patient-derived fibroblasts, nuclear translocation, STAT3, HIF-1α, neuronal vulnerability, metabolic reprogramming
MeSH terms
Alzheimer Disease, Glycolysis, Humans, Neoplasms, Pyruvate Kinase, Protein Isoforms

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