Cited by 149Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration MechanismsAlzheimer's disease research and treatmentsTGF-β signaling in diseases

Role of TGFβ signaling in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease

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von Bernhardi, Rommy, Cornejo, Francisca, Parada, Guillermo E., Eugenín, Jaime·2015·Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience

Abstract

Aging is the main risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD); being associated with conspicuous changes on microglia activation. Aged microglia exhibit an increased expression of cytokines, exacerbated reactivity to various stimuli, oxidative stress, and reduced phagocytosis of β-amyloid (Aβ). Whereas normal inflammation is protective, it becomes dysregulated in the presence of a persistent stimulus, or in the context of an inflammatory environment, as observed in aging. Thus, neuroinflammation can be a self-perpetuating deleterious response, becoming a source of additional injury to host cells in neurodegenerative diseases. In aged individuals, although transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) is upregulated, its canonical Smad3 signaling is greatly reduced and neuroinflammation persists. This age-related Smad3 impairment reduces protective activation while facilitating cytotoxic activation of microglia through several cellular mechanisms, potentiating microglia-mediated neurodegeneration. Here, we critically discuss the role of TGFβ-Smad signaling on the cytotoxic activation of microglia and its relevance in the pathogenesis of AD. Other protective functions, such as phagocytosis, although observed in aged animals, are not further induced by inflammatory stimuli and TGFβ1. Analysis in silico revealed that increased expression of receptor scavenger receptor (SR)-A, involved in Aβ uptake and cell activation, by microglia exposed to TGFβ, through a Smad3-dependent mechanism could be mediated by transcriptional co-factors Smad2/3 over the MSR1 gene. We discuss that changes of TGFβ-mediated regulation could at least partially mediate age-associated microglia changes, and, together with other changes on inflammatory response, could result in the reduction of protective activation and the potentiation of cytotoxicity of microglia, resulting in the promotion of neurodegenerative diseases.

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Crossref · 10.3389/fncel.2015.00426

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  • IFNγ signaling has been shown to lead to tau phosphorylation and acceleration of neuritic tangle pathology, while TGFβ is a key regulator of various microglial factors including CX3CR1 and numerous interleukins.

    “For instance, IFNγ signaling has been shown to lead to tau phosphorylation and acceleration of neuritic tangle pathology while TGFβ has been shown to be a key regulator of various microglial factors including CX3CR1 and numerous interleukins [110, 169].”

    From Glial contributions to neurodegeneration in tauopathies (2017) · cites this paper as [169]

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Authors
von Bernhardi, R., Cornejo, F., Parada, G. E., & Eugenín, J.
Affiliations
  • Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile (CL)
  • Universidad de Santiago de Chile (CL)
Venue
Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience
Published
2015-10-28
Volume
9
Pages
426-426
ISSN
1662-5102 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2199644913
Cited by
149
References
259
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 24 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 11
FWCI
5.34
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Alzheimer's disease research and treatments
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › TGF-β signaling in diseases
Keywords
Alzheimer's disease, TGF-beta signaling, Smad3, microglial activation, neuroinflammation, aging, neurodegeneration, scavenger receptor A, MSR1, Smad2/3, oxidative stress

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