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Vogler EC, Mahavongtrakul M, Sarkan K, Bohannan RC, Catuara-Solarz S, Busciglio J. Genetic removal of synaptic Zn 2+ impairs cognition, alters neurotrophic signaling and induces neuronal hyperactivity. Front Neurol 2023; 13:882635. [PMID: 36742045 PMCID: PMC9895830 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2022.882635] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2022] [Accepted: 12/08/2022] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Vesicular Zn2+ (zinc) is released at synapses and has been demonstrated to modulate neuronal responses. However, mechanisms through which dysregulation of zinc homeostasis may potentiate neuronal dysfunction and neurodegeneration are not well-understood. We previously reported that accumulation of soluble amyloid beta oligomers (AβO) at synapses correlates with synaptic loss and that AβO localization at synapses is regulated by synaptic activity and enhanced by the release of vesicular Zn2+ in the hippocampus, a brain region that deteriorates early in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Significantly, drugs regulating zinc homeostasis inhibit AβO accumulation and improve cognition in mouse models of AD. We used both sexes of a transgenic mouse model lacking synaptic Zn2+ (ZnT3KO) that develops AD-like cognitive impairment and neurodegeneration to study the effects of disruption of Zn2+ modulation of neurotransmission in cognition, protein expression and activation, and neuronal excitability. Here we report that the genetic removal of synaptic Zn2+ results in progressive impairment of hippocampal-dependent memory, reduces activity-dependent increase in Erk phosphorylation and BDNF mRNA, alters regulation of Erk activation by NMDAR subunits, increases neuronal spiking, and induces biochemical and morphological alterations consistent with increasing epileptiform activity and neurodegeneration as ZnT3KO mice age. Our study shows that disruption of synaptic Zn2+ triggers neurodegenerative processes and is a potential pathway through which AβO trigger altered expression of neurotrophic proteins, along with reduced hippocampal synaptic density and degenerating neurons, neuronal spiking activity, and cognitive impairment and supports efforts to develop therapeutics to preserve synaptic zinc homeostasis in the brain as potential treatments for AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily C. Vogler
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States
| | - Matthew Mahavongtrakul
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States
| | - Kristianna Sarkan
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States
| | - Ryan C. Bohannan
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States
| | - Silvina Catuara-Solarz
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States
| | - Jorge Busciglio
- Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States
- Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States
- Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States
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Hajjo R, Sabbah DA, Abusara OH, Al Bawab AQ. A Review of the Recent Advances in Alzheimer's Disease Research and the Utilization of Network Biology Approaches for Prioritizing Diagnostics and Therapeutics. Diagnostics (Basel) 2022; 12:diagnostics12122975. [PMID: 36552984 PMCID: PMC9777434 DOI: 10.3390/diagnostics12122975] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2022] [Revised: 11/16/2022] [Accepted: 11/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a polygenic multifactorial neurodegenerative disease that, after decades of research and development, is still without a cure. There are some symptomatic treatments to manage the psychological symptoms but none of these drugs can halt disease progression. Additionally, over the last few years, many anti-AD drugs failed in late stages of clinical trials and many hypotheses surfaced to explain these failures, including the lack of clear understanding of disease pathways and processes. Recently, different epigenetic factors have been implicated in AD pathogenesis; thus, they could serve as promising AD diagnostic biomarkers. Additionally, network biology approaches have been suggested as effective tools to study AD on the systems level and discover multi-target-directed ligands as novel treatments for AD. Herein, we provide a comprehensive review on Alzheimer's disease pathophysiology to provide a better understanding of disease pathogenesis hypotheses and decipher the role of genetic and epigenetic factors in disease development and progression. We also provide an overview of disease biomarkers and drug targets and suggest network biology approaches as new tools for identifying novel biomarkers and drugs. We also posit that the application of machine learning and artificial intelligence to mining Alzheimer's disease multi-omics data will facilitate drug and biomarker discovery efforts and lead to effective individualized anti-Alzheimer treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rima Hajjo
- Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan, P.O. Box 130, Amman 11733, Jordan
- Laboratory for Molecular Modeling, Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, Eshelman School of Pharmacy, The University of North Carlina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
- National Center for Epidemics and Communicable Disease Control, Amman 11118, Jordan
- Correspondence:
| | - Dima A. Sabbah
- Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan, P.O. Box 130, Amman 11733, Jordan
| | - Osama H. Abusara
- Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan, P.O. Box 130, Amman 11733, Jordan
| | - Abdel Qader Al Bawab
- Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan, P.O. Box 130, Amman 11733, Jordan
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Lee K, Goodman L, Fourie C, Schenk S, Leitch B, Montgomery JM. AMPA Receptors as Therapeutic Targets for Neurological Disorders. ION CHANNELS AS THERAPEUTIC TARGETS, PART A 2016; 103:203-61. [DOI: 10.1016/bs.apcsb.2015.10.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
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Johanssen T, Suphantarida N, Donnelly PS, Liu XM, Petrou S, Hill AF, Barnham KJ. PBT2 inhibits glutamate-induced excitotoxicity in neurons through metal-mediated preconditioning. Neurobiol Dis 2015; 81:176-85. [PMID: 25697105 DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2015.02.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2014] [Revised: 02/04/2015] [Accepted: 02/06/2015] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Excitotoxicity is the pathological process by which neuronal death occurs as a result of excessive stimulation of receptors at the excitatory synapse such as the NMDA receptor (NMDAR). Excitotoxicity has been implicated in the acute neurological damage from ischemia and traumatic brain injury and in the chronic neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Huntington's disease (HD). As a result NMDAR antagonists have become an attractive therapeutic strategy for the potential treatment of multiple neurodegenerative diseases. However NMDAR signaling is dichotomous in nature, with excessive increases in neuronal intracellular calcium through excessive NMDAR activity being lethal but moderate increases to intracellular calcium levels during normal synaptic function providing neuroprotection. Subsequently indiscriminant inhibition of this receptor is best avoided as was concluded from previous clinical trials of NMDAR antagonists. We show that the metal chaperone, PBT2, currently in clinical trials for HD, is able to protect against glutamate-induced excitotoxicity mediated through NMDARs. This was achieved by PBT2 inducing Zn(2+)-dependent increases in intracellular Ca(2+) levels resulting in preconditioning of neurons and inhibition of Ca(2+)-induced neurotoxic signaling cascade involving calpain-activated cleavage of calcineurin. Our study demonstrates that modulating intracellular Ca(2+) levels by a zinc ionophore is a valid therapeutic strategy to protect against the effects of excitotoxicity thought to underlie both acute and chronic neurodegenerative diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy Johanssen
- Department of Pathology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia; The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia; Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia.
| | - Nuttawat Suphantarida
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia; Centre for Neural Engineering and Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia
| | - Paul S Donnelly
- Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia; School of Chemistry, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia
| | - Xiang M Liu
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia; Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia
| | - Steven Petrou
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia; Centre for Neural Engineering and Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia
| | - Andrew F Hill
- Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia
| | - Kevin J Barnham
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia; Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia; Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia.
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