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

Behavioral and neural network abnormalities in human APP transgenic mice resemble those of App knock-in mice and are modulated by familial Alzheimer's disease mutations but not by inhibition of BACE1

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Johnson, Erik C. B., Ho, Kaitlyn, Yu, Gui-Qiu, Das, Melanie, Sanchez, Pascal E., Djukic, Biljana, Lopez, Isabel, Yu, Xinxing +5 more·2020·Molecular Neurodegeneration

Abstract

Background: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most frequent and costly neurodegenerative disorder. Although diverse lines of evidence suggest that the amyloid precursor protein (APP) is involved in its causation, the precise mechanisms remain unknown and no treatments are available to prevent or halt the disease. A favorite hypothesis has been that APP contributes to AD pathogenesis through the cerebral accumulation of the amyloid-β peptide (Aβ), which is derived from APP through sequential proteolytic cleavage by BACE1 and γ-secretase. However, inhibitors of these enzymes have failed in clinical trials despite clear evidence for target engagement. Methods: To further elucidate the roles of APP and its metabolites in AD pathogenesis, we analyzed transgenic mice overexpressing wildtype human APP (hAPP) or hAPP carrying mutations that cause autosomal dominant familial AD (FAD), as well as App knock-in mice that do not overexpress hAPP but have two mouse App alleles with FAD mutations and a humanized Aβ sequence. Results: Although these lines of mice had marked differences in cortical and hippocampal levels of APP, APP C-terminal fragments, soluble Aβ, Aβ oligomers and age-dependent amyloid deposition, they all developed cognitive deficits as well as non-convulsive epileptiform activity, a type of network dysfunction that also occurs in a substantive proportion of humans with AD. Pharmacological inhibition of BACE1 effectively reduced levels of amyloidogenic APP C-terminal fragments (C99), soluble Aβ, Aβ oligomers, and amyloid deposits in transgenic mice expressing FAD-mutant hAPP, but did not improve their network dysfunction and behavioral abnormalities, even when initiated at early stages before amyloid deposits were detectable. Conclusions: hAPP transgenic and App knock-in mice develop similar pathophysiological alterations. APP and its metabolites contribute to AD-related functional alterations through complex combinatorial mechanisms that may be difficult to block with BACE inhibitors and, possibly, also with other anti-Aβ treatments.

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Crossref · 10.1186/s13024-020-00393-5

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  • Humanized App knockin (KI) and APP transgenic mouse models mimic certain aspects of AD pathogenesis, including progressive amyloidosis, gliosis, and neuroinflammation, as well as network hyperexcitability and cognitive impairment, albeit to different degrees of severity across models and paradigms.

    “Humanized App knockin (KI) and APP transgenic mouse models mimic certain aspects of AD pathogenesis, including progressive amyloidosis, gliosis, and neuroinflammation, as well as network hyperexcitability and cognitive impairment, albeit to different degrees of severity across models and paradigms.15-27”

    From Machine learning reveals prominent spontaneous behavioral changes and treatment efficacy in humanized and transgenic Alzheimer's disease models (2024) · cites this paper as [19]

    The Discussion reports abnormal Aβ accumulation, epileptiform activity, and learning and memory deficits in KI and J20 mice; the Results describe different degrees of Aβ deposition across models. The Results also report plaque-associated microgliosis in J20 mice, but do not establish gliosis or neuroinflammation in both model types, or progressive amyloidosis across them; notably, I5 mice had no detectable Aβ deposition at 9–10 months. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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  • AD-related spontaneous behavioral alterations do not require APP overexpression and are likely linked to the pathologically elevated levels of amyloid in AppNL-G-F mice.

    “These results also indicate that AD-related spontaneous behavioral alterations do not require APP overexpression and are likely linked to the pathologically elevated levels of amyloid in AppNL-G-F mice.16,19”

    From Machine learning reveals prominent spontaneous behavioral changes and treatment efficacy in humanized and transgenic Alzheimer's disease models (2024) · cites this paper as [19]

    The Results section (‘Behavioral abnormalities observed in all three lines’) reports altered elevated-plus-maze behavior in knock-in mice, supporting the point that APP overexpression is not required. It raises Aβ or C99 as possible explanations, while the Discussion says their contributions cannot be distinguished; it does not specifically link the behavior to elevated amyloid. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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  • Spontaneous behavioral abnormalities were age dependent and therefore tracked the progression of AD-related pathological and cognitive alterations.

    “Second, spontaneous behavioral abnormalities were age dependent and therefore tracked the progression of AD-related pathological and cognitive alterations.16,19,23”

    From Machine learning reveals prominent spontaneous behavioral changes and treatment efficacy in humanized and transgenic Alzheimer's disease models (2024) · cites this paper as [19]

    The Results section, “Behavioral abnormalities observed in all three lines” (page not provided), reports behavioral and cognitive deficits in the mouse models, and the Discussion notes differences in when functional deficits began across lines. The paper does not show that spontaneous behavioral abnormalities changed with age in step with AD-related pathology and cognitive alterations; that tracking claim goes beyond its findings. (LLM, conf=0.82)

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  1. [45]McLean CA Cherny RA Fraser FW Fuller SJ Smith MJ Beyreuther K Bush AI Masters CL Soluble pool of Aβ amyloid as a determinant of severity of neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease Ann Neurol 1999 46 860 866 10589538
  2. [80]Nepomnyashchii AB, Bard AJ, Leland JK, Debad JD, Sigal GB, Wilbur JL, Wohlstadter JN. Chemiluminescence, Electrogenerated. In Encyclopedia of Analytical Chemistry City. Hoboken: Wiley; 2006.

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Authors
Johnson, E. C. B., Ho, K., Yu, G.-Q., Das, M., Sanchez, P. E., Djukic, B., Lopez, I., Yu, X., Gill, M., Zhang, W., Paz, J. T., Palop, J. J., & Mucke, L.
Affiliations
  • Gladstone Institutes (US)
  • Tianjin Medical University (CN)
  • University of California, San Francisco (US)
Corresponding author
Mucke, Lennart
Venue
Molecular Neurodegeneration
Published
2020-09-14
Volume
15
Issue
1
Pages
53-53
ISSN
1750-1326 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3084726996
Cited by
73
References
166
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 14 · 2019: 1
FWCI
6.77
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Molecular Neurodegeneration (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
  • The Novartis Repository (Novartis) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (AG011385, AG054304, AG047313, AG062234, OD021717)
  • Ray and Dagmar Dolby Family Fund (gift)
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, amyloid precursor protein, familial Alzheimer's disease mutations, BACE1 inhibition, amyloid-beta, APP C-terminal fragments, cognitive impairment, APP knock-in mice, APP transgenic mice, amyloid deposition, anti-amyloid therapy, neural network dysfunction
MeSH terms
Alzheimer Disease, Animals, Behavior, Animal, Brain, Disease Models, Animal, Humans, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Mice, Transgenic, Mutation, Nerve Net, Aspartic Acid Endopeptidases, Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor, Mice, Amyloid Precursor Protein Secretases, Gene Knock-In Techniques

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