Cited by 876Alzheimer's disease research and treatmentsDementia and Cognitive Impairment ResearchNeuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms

Soluble amyloid β-protein dimers isolated from Alzheimer cortex directly induce Tau hyperphosphorylation and neuritic degeneration

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Jin, Ming, Shepardson, Nina, Yang, Ting, Chen, Gang, Walsh, Dominic, Selkoe, Dennis J.·2011·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Abstract

Alzheimer disease is a major cause of cognitive failure, and a pathogenically related but more subtle process accounts for many cases of mild memory symptoms in older humans. Insoluble fibrillar plaques of amyloid β-proteins (Aβ) and neurofibrillary deposits of hyperphosphorylated tau proteins are the diagnostic lesions of AD, but their temporal mechanistic relationship has long been debated. The recent recognition that small, diffusible oligomers may be the principal bioactive form of Aβ raises the key question of whether these are sufficient to initiate cytoskeletal change and neurite degeneration. A few studies have examined the effects of oligomers of synthetic Aβ peptides of one defined length at supraphysiological concentrations, but the existence of such assemblies in the AD brain is not established. Here, we isolated Aβ dimers, the most abundant form of soluble oligomer detectable in the human brain, from the cortices of typical AD subjects and found that at subnanomolar concentrations, they first induced hyperphosphorylation of tau at AD-relevant epitopes in hippocampal neurons and then disrupted the microtubule cytoskeleton and caused neuritic degeneration, all in the absence of amyloid fibrils. Application of pure, synthetic dimers confirmed the effects of the natural AD dimers, although the former were far less potent. Knocking down endogenous tau fully prevented the neuritic changes, whereas overexpressing human tau accelerated them. Coadministering Aβ N-terminal antibodies neutralized the cytoskeletal disruption. We conclude that natural dimers isolated from the AD brain are sufficient to potently induce AD-type tau phosphorylation and then neuritic dystrophy, but passive immunotherapy mitigates this.

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Crossref · 10.1073/pnas.1017033108

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Authors
Jin, M., Shepardson, N., Yang, T., Chen, G., Walsh, D., & Selkoe, D. J.
Affiliations
Brigham and Women's Hospital (US)
Venue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Published
2011-03-18
Volume
108
Issue
14
Pages
5819-5824
ISSN
  • 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
  • 1091-6490
OpenAlex
W2140323904
Cited by
876
References
46
Citations by year
2026: 14 · 2025: 32 · 2024: 44 · 2023: 46 · 2022: 47 · 2021: 63 · 2020: 69 · 2019: 62 · 2018: 62 · 2017: 66 · 2016: 59 · 2015: 63 · 2014: 73 · 2013: 66 · 2012: 76
FWCI
54.54
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (AG 027443, AG006173)
  • National Institute on Aging (AG027443, R01AG027443, R37AG006173, RF1AG006173, AG006173, R01AG006173)
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
Alzheimer's disease, tau hyperphosphorylation, neurite degeneration, microtubule disruption, hippocampal neurons, neurofibrillary tangles, passive immunotherapy, tau antibodies, cortical amyloid
MeSH terms
Alzheimer Disease, Animals, Chromatography, Gel, Genetic Vectors, Hippocampus, Humans, Immunohistochemistry, Microtubules, Phosphorylation, Blotting, Western, Lentivirus, Amyloid beta-Peptides, Neurites, tau Proteins, Rats, Sprague-Dawley, Microscopy, Confocal, Dimerization, In Situ Nick-End Labeling, Immunoprecipitation, Rats

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