Cited by 75Alzheimer's disease research and treatmentsDementia and Cognitive Impairment ResearchNeuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms

Astrocyte-secreted glypican-4 drives APOE4-dependent tau hyperphosphorylation

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Saroja, Sivaprakasam R., Gorbachev, Kirill, Julia, TCW, Goate, Alison M., Pereira, Ana C.·2022·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Abstract

Tau protein aggregates are a major driver of neurodegeneration and behavioral impairments in tauopathies, including in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Apolipoprotein E4 ( APOE4 ), the highest genetic risk factor for late-onset AD, has been shown to exacerbate tau hyperphosphorylation in mouse models. However, the exact mechanisms through which APOE4 induces tau hyperphosphorylation remains unknown. Here, we report that the astrocyte-secreted protein glypican-4 (GPC-4), which we identify as a binding partner of APOE4, drives tau hyperphosphorylation. We discovered that first, GPC-4 preferentially interacts with APOE4 in comparison to APOE2, considered to be a protective allele to AD, and second, that postmortem APOE4-carrying AD brains highly express GPC-4 in neurotoxic astrocytes. Furthermore, the astrocyte-secreted GPC-4 induced both tau accumulation and propagation in vitro. CRISPR/dCas9-mediated activation of GPC-4 in a tauopathy mouse model robustly induced tau hyperphosphorylation. In the absence of GPC4, APOE4-induced tau hyperphosphorylation was largely diminished using in vitro tau fluorescence resonance energy transfer-biosensor cells, in human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived astrocytes and in an in vivo mouse model. We further show that APOE4-mediated surface trafficking of APOE receptor low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1 through GPC-4 can be a gateway to tau spreading. Collectively, these data support that APOE4-induced tau hyperphosphorylation is directly mediated by GPC-4.

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  1. [62]S. Dujardin, Tau molecular diversity contributes to clinical heterogeneity in Alheimer’s disease. Nat. Med. 26, 1256– 1263 (2020). 32572268 PMC7603860

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Authors
Saroja, S. R., Gorbachev, K., Julia, T., Goate, A. M., & Pereira, A. C.
Affiliations
  • Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (US)
  • Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029
Corresponding author
Pereira, Ana C.
Venue
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Published
2022-08-15
Volume
119
Issue
34
Pages
e2108870119-e2108870119
ISSN
  • 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
  • 1091-6490
OpenAlex
W4291910168
Cited by
75
References
68
Citations by year
2026: 14 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 2
FWCI
9.43
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
HHS | National Institutes of Health (K01AG062683, U01AG058635, R01AG064020, U19AG069701)
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
GPC4, APOE ε4, tau hyperphosphorylation, Alzheimer's disease, astrocytes, apoE receptors, LDL receptor, tau propagation, protein-protein interaction, tauopathy
MeSH terms
Alzheimer Disease, Animals, Astrocytes, Disease Models, Animal, Humans, Mice, Transgenic, Phosphorylation, tau Proteins, Tauopathies, Mice, Apolipoprotein E4, Apolipoprotein E2, Glypicans

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