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Balu D, Valencia-Olvera AC, Islam Z, Mielczarek C, Hansen A, Perez Ramos TM, York J, LaDu MJ, Tai LM. APOE genotype and sex modulate Alzheimer's disease pathology in aged EFAD transgenic mice. Front Aging Neurosci 2023; 15:1279343. [PMID: 38020764 PMCID: PMC10644540 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2023.1279343] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2023] [Accepted: 10/10/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Increasing evidence supports that age, APOE and sex interact to modulate Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk, however the underlying pathways are unclear. One way that AD risk factors may modulate cognition is by impacting amyloid beta (Aβ) accumulation as plaques, and/or neuroinflammation Therefore, the goal of the present study was to evaluate the extent to which age, APOE and sex modulate Aβ pathology, neuroinflammation and behavior in vivo. To achieve this goal, we utilized the EFAD mice, which express human APOE3 or APOE4 and have five familial AD mutations (FAD) that result in Aβ42 overproduction. We assessed Aβ levels, reactive glia and Morris water maze performance in 6-, 10-, 14-, and 18-month-old EFAD mice. Female APOE4 mice had the highest Aβ deposition, fibrillar amyloid deposits and neuroinflammation as well as earlier behavior deficits. Interestingly, we found that female APOE3 mice and male APOE4 mice had similar levels of pathology. Collectively our data support that the combination of APOE4 and female sex is the most detrimental combination for AD, and that at older ages, female sex may be equivalent to APOE4 genotype.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deebika Balu
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Ana C. Valencia-Olvera
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Zarak Islam
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
- University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Clare Mielczarek
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Allison Hansen
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
- University of Illinois College of Medicine, Peoria, IL, United States
| | - Tamara M. Perez Ramos
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
- School of Medicine, St. George’s University, St. George’s, Grenada
| | - Jason York
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Mary Jo LaDu
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Leon M. Tai
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
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Boutros SW, Zimmerman B, Nagy SC, Unni VK, Raber J. Age, sex, and apolipoprotein E isoform alter contextual fear learning, neuronal activation, and baseline DNA damage in the hippocampus. Mol Psychiatry 2023; 28:3343-3354. [PMID: 36732588 PMCID: PMC10618101 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-023-01966-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2022] [Revised: 01/06/2023] [Accepted: 01/16/2023] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Age, female sex, and apolipoprotein E4 (E4) are risk factors to develop Alzheimer's disease (AD). There are three major human apoE isoforms: E2, E3, and E4. Compared to E3, E4 increases while E2 decreases AD risk. However, E2 is associated with increased risk and severity of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In cognitively healthy adults, E4 carriers have greater brain activation during learning and memory tasks in the absence of behavioral differences. Human apoE targeted replacement (TR) mice display differences in fear extinction that parallel human data: E2 mice show impaired extinction, mirroring heightened PTSD symptoms in E2 combat veterans. Recently, an adaptive role of DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) in immediate early gene expression (IEG) has been described. Age and disease synergistically increase DNA damage and decrease DNA repair. As the mechanisms underlying the relative risks of apoE, sex, and their interactions in aging are unclear, we used young (3 months) and middle-aged (12 months) male and female TR mice to investigate the influence of these factors on DSBs and IEGs at baseline and following contextual fear conditioning. We assessed brain-wide changes in neural activation following fear conditioning using whole-brain cFos imaging in young female TR mice. E4 mice froze more during fear conditioning and had lower cFos immunoreactivity across regions important for somatosensation and contextual encoding compared to E2 mice. E4 mice also showed altered co-activation compared to E3 mice, corresponding to human MRI and cognitive data, and indicating that there are differences in brain activity and connectivity at young ages independent of fear learning. There were increased DSB markers in middle-aged animals and alterations to cFos levels dependent on sex and isoform, as well. The increase in hippocampal DSB markers in middle-aged animals and female E4 mice may play a role in the risk for developing AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sydney Weber Boutros
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, OHSU, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd, Portland, OR, 97239, USA
- Department of Psychological Sciences, Boise State University, 2133 W Cesar Chavez Ln, Boise, ID, 83725, USA
| | - Benjamin Zimmerman
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, OHSU, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd, Portland, OR, 97239, USA
- Advanced Imaging Research Center, OHSU, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd, Portland, OR, 97239, USA
- Helfgott Research Institute, NUNM, 2201 SW First Avenue, Portland, OR, 97201, USA
- Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 405 N, Matthews Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - Sydney C Nagy
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, OHSU, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd, Portland, OR, 97239, USA
| | - Vivek K Unni
- Department of Neurology, OHSU, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd, Portland, OR, 97239, USA
- Jungers Center for Neurosciences Research, OHSU; and OHSU Parkinson Center, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd, Portland, OR, 97239, USA
| | - Jacob Raber
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, OHSU, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd, Portland, OR, 97239, USA.
- Department of Neurology, OHSU, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd, Portland, OR, 97239, USA.
- Departments of Psychiatry and Radiation Medicine, OHSU, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd, Portland, OR, 97239, USA.
- Division of Neuroscience, ONPRC, 505 NW 185th Ave, Beaverton, OR, 97006, USA.
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Broadbelt T, Mutlu-Smith M, Carnicero-Senabre D, Saido TC, Saito T, Wang SH. Impairment in novelty-promoted memory via behavioral tagging and capture before apparent memory loss in a knock-in model of Alzheimer's disease. Sci Rep 2022; 12:22298. [PMID: 36566248 PMCID: PMC9789965 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-26113-1] [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: 09/06/2022] [Accepted: 12/09/2022] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with cognitive impairments and age-dependent memory deficits which have been studied using genetic models of AD. Whether the processes for modulating memory persistence are more vulnerable to the influence of amyloid pathology than the encoding and consolidation of the memory remains unclear. Here, we investigated whether early amyloid pathology would affect peri-learning novelty in promoting memory, through a process called behavioral tagging and capture (BTC). AppNL-G-F/NL-G-F mice and wild-type littermates were trained in an appetitive delayed matching-to-place (ADMP) task which allows for the assessment of peri-learning novelty in facilitating memory. The results show that novelty enabled intermediate-term memory in wild-type mice, but not in AppNL-G-F/NL-G-F mice in adulthood. This effect preceded spatial memory impairment in the ADMP task seen in middle age. Other memory tests in the Barnes maze, Y-maze, novel object or location recognition tasks remained intact. Together, memory modulation through BTC is impaired before apparent deficits in learning and memory. Relevant biological mechanisms underlying BTC and the implication in AD are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tabitha Broadbelt
- grid.4305.20000 0004 1936 7988Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, The University of Edinburgh, Chancellor’s Building, 49 Little France Crescent, Edinburgh, EH16 4SB UK
| | - Menekse Mutlu-Smith
- grid.4305.20000 0004 1936 7988Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, The University of Edinburgh, Chancellor’s Building, 49 Little France Crescent, Edinburgh, EH16 4SB UK
| | - Daniel Carnicero-Senabre
- grid.4305.20000 0004 1936 7988Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, The University of Edinburgh, Chancellor’s Building, 49 Little France Crescent, Edinburgh, EH16 4SB UK ,grid.5515.40000000119578126Present Address: Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red Sobre Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED), Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria La Paz (IdiPaz), Department of Biochemistry and Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas Alberto Sols UAM-CSIC, Faculty of Medicine, Autonomous University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Takaomi C. Saido
- grid.474690.8Laboratory for Proteolytic Neuroscience, RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Saitama, 351-0198 Japan
| | - Takashi Saito
- grid.260433.00000 0001 0728 1069Department of Neurocognitive Science, Institute of Brain Science, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Aichi, 467-8601 Japan
| | - Szu-Han Wang
- grid.4305.20000 0004 1936 7988Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, The University of Edinburgh, Chancellor’s Building, 49 Little France Crescent, Edinburgh, EH16 4SB UK
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McLean JW, Bhattrai A, Vitali F, Raikes AC, Wiegand JPL, Brinton RD. Contributions of sex and genotype to exploratory behavior differences in an aged humanized APOE mouse model of late-onset Alzheimer's disease. Learn Mem 2022; 29:321-331. [PMID: 36206387 PMCID: PMC9488030 DOI: 10.1101/lm.053588.122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2022] [Accepted: 07/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Age, genetics, and chromosomal sex have been identified as critical risk factors for late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD). The predominant genetic risk factor for LOAD is the apolipoprotein E ε4 allele (APOE4), and the prevalence of LOAD is higher in females. However, the translational validity of APOE4 mouse models for AD-related cognitive impairment remains to be fully determined. The present study investigated the role of both sex and genotype on learning and memory in aged, humanized APOE knock-in mice. Aged (23.27 mo ± 1.21 mo; 39 male/37 female) APOE3/3, APOE3/4, and APOE4/4 mice performed a novel object recognition (NOR) assay. Task-related metrics were analyzed using two-way sex by genotype ANOVAs. Sex differences were more prominent relative to APOE genotype. Prior to NOR, female mice exhibited thigmotaxic center zone avoidance during the open field task relative to males, regardless of genotype. Within object familiarization and NOR tasks, females had greater object interaction and locomotion. Interestingly, only APOE4/4 females on average recognized the novel object. These results suggest that APOE4, although strongly related to LOAD pathogenesis, does not drive cognitive decline in the absence of other risk factors even in very aged mice. Chromosomal sex is a key driver of behavioral phenotypes and thus is a critical variable for translatability of interventions designed to preserve learning and memory in animal models of LOAD. Last, there was a very high degree of variability in behavioral performance across APOE genotypes. A cluster analysis of the behavioral data revealed a low-activity and a high-activity cluster. APOE4 carriers were overrepresented in the low-activity cluster, while male:female distributions did not differ. Collectively, the behavioral data indicate that chromosomal sex has the greatest impact on behavioral phenotype, and APOE4 carrier status may confer greater risk for cognitive decline in some animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- John W McLean
- Center for Innovation in Brain Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA
- Graduate Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA
| | - Avnish Bhattrai
- Center for Innovation in Brain Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA
- Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85724, USA
| | - Francesca Vitali
- Center for Innovation in Brain Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA
| | - Adam C Raikes
- Center for Innovation in Brain Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA
| | - Jean-Paul L Wiegand
- Center for Innovation in Brain Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA
| | - Roberta Diaz Brinton
- Center for Innovation in Brain Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA
- Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85724, USA
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