Impaired waste management in the brain a cause of Alzheimer's?

  • A mouse study has shown that, as cells age, their ability to remove damaged proteins and structures (autophagy) declines, due to a decrease in the cell components (autophagosomes) that collect the damaged proteins.
  • A study found that the process of breaking down defective mitochondria and recycling the components (mitophagy) is impaired in those with Alzheimer's.
  • Microglia clear damage by engulfing the damaged matter then releasing it inside exosomes, which can be absorbed by other cells. Studies have now shown that these exosomes, designed to transmit information, can also spread harmful tau & amyloid-beta protein.
  • A mouse study has shown how amyloid plaques lead to tau tangles, and that weakened microglia facilitate this. It also links weak microglia to the risky variant of the TREM2 gene.
  • However, the common TREM2 variant is linked to faster plaque growth at later stages.
  • TREM2 appears to modify the way immune cells respond to tau tangles.
  • Another mouse study found that overactive microglia (achieved by turning off another gene) were linked to both better removal of amyloid-beta, and loss of synapses. This may help explain why reducing amyloid plaques often fails to improve cognition.

Aging linked to impaired garbage collection in the brain

A mouse study has shown that, as cells age, their ability to remove damaged proteins and structures declines.

The process of waste management, called autophagy, involves a component within the cell (an autophagosome) engulfing misfolded proteins or damaged structures (putting them in a garbage bag, essentially). The autophagosome then fuses with a second cellular structure, called a lysosome, that contains the enzymes needed to breakdown the garbage, allowing the components to be recycled and reused.

It’s thought that this decline in autophagy makes neurons more vulnerable to genetic or environmental risks.

The mouse study found that aging brought a significant decrease in the number of autophagosomes produced, along with pronounced defects in their structure.

However, activating the protein WIPI2B restored autophagosome formation.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-07/uops-tot071919.php

Breakdown in cleaning process in mitochondria linked to Alzheimer's

A cleaning process in brain cells called mitophagy breaks down defective mitochondria and reuses the proteins that they consist of. When the process breaks down, defective mitochondria accumulate in brain cells.

Research has now found that this is markedly present in cells from both humans and animals with Alzheimer's. Moreover, when active substances targeted at the cleaning process were tried in live animals, their Alzheimer's symptoms almost disappeared.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-02/uoct-oc021419.php

Microglia may spread toxic tau during early Alzheimer's

A 2015 study found how toxic tau fibrils spread during the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. Apparently the fibrils (accumulations of tau proteins) can be carried from one neuron to another by microglia.

Microglia act as the brain's immune cells, in which role they identify and clear damage and infection. They clear damage by first engulfing dead cells, debris, inactive synapses or even unhealthy neurons, then releasing nano-scale particles called exosomes, which can be absorbed by other cells.

It used to be thought that exosomes simply help the cell to get rid of waste products. It now appears that cells throughout the body use exosomes to transmit information. This requires them to contain both proteins and genetic material, which other cells can absorb. Hence their ability to spread tau protein, and hence, it now seems, their ability to also transport amyloid-beta.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-10/bumc-rdr100515.php

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-06/lu-nmb061318.php

Microglia link Alzheimer’s amyloid and tau

Amyloid plaques and tau tangles are key biomarkers for Alzheimer’s, but research indicates that it is the tau tangles that are the real problem — the main problem with amyloid plaques is that they lead to tau tangles. A new study indicates how that happens.

A mouse study modified the TREM2 genes, which affect the health of microglia. So some mice carried the common variant of the gene, meaning that their microglia were fully functional, and some carried the risky variant, or no gene at all.

When seeded with tau protein from Alzheimer’s patients, those brains with weakened microglia produced more tau tangle-like structures near the amyloid plaques than in mice with functional microglia.

It was also revealed that microglia normally form a cap over amyloid plaques that limits their toxicity to nearby neurons. When the microglia failed to do that, neurons suffered more damage, creating an environment that fostered the formation of tau tangle-like lesions.

The findings were supported by the finding that humans with TREM2 mutations who died with Alzheimer’s had more tau tangle-like structures near their amyloid plaques than people who died with Alzheimer’s but didn’t have the risky gene.

https://www.futurity.org/alzheimers-disease-amyloid-plaques-tau-2095692/

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-06/wuso-aml062319.php

However, it should be noted that in more advanced stages of Alzheimer’s, mice with the common TREM2 variant showed faster plaque growth. This appears to be linked to the gene inducing microglia to produce ApoE, which enhances aggregate formation.

The finding adds to evidence that Alzheimer's treatment has to take into account the stage at which the disease is at.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-01/d-gc-dic010819.php

Another study that modified the TREM2 gene in mice found that the difference between those with the gene and those without was not in the amount of tau tangles, but rather in the way their immune cells responded to the tau tangles. The microglia in mice with TREM2 were active, releasing compounds that in some circumstances help fight disease, but in this case primarily injured and killed nearby neurons. The microglia in mice without TREM2 were much less active, and their neurons were relatively spared.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-10/wuso-agp100617.php

http://www.futurity.org/trem2-alzheimers-disease-1573272/

Overactive microglia have multiple effects

A study found that, if the gene for the TDP-43 protein was turned off in microglia, its activity increased, and amyloid-beta was removed very efficiently. However, when TDP-43 was switched off in microglia in mice, it didn’t just get better at removing amyloid-beta, but also led to a significant loss of synapses.

Clearly, dysfunction of microglia is a complicated business, and it’s suggested that such dysfunction may be one reason why many Alzheimer's medications reduce amyloid plaques but fail to improve cognition.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-06/uoz-osc062917.php

Classifying brain microglia

Microglia come in many forms. A survey of brain microglia has classified microglia into at least nine distinct groups, including some types never detected in the past. Some types appeared almost exclusively in the embryonic or newborn stages, others only after injury.

One group tended to cluster near the brain's developing white matter. Another appears to be very inflammatory compared with other microglia, and has been found in people with MS.

Microglia were most diverse early in brain development, in the aged brain and in disease.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-12/bch-cbm120518.php

Reference: 

[4447] Stavoe, A. K. H., Gopal P. P., Gubas A., Tooze S. A., & Holzbaur E. L. F.
(2019).  Expression of WIPI2B counteracts age-related decline in autophagosome biogenesis in neurons.
(Dikic, I., Marder E., & Hurley J. H., Ed.).eLife. 8, e44219.

[4448] Fang, E. F., Hou Y., Palikaras K., Adriaanse B. A., Kerr J. S., Yang B., et al.
(2019).  Mitophagy inhibits amyloid-β and tau pathology and reverses cognitive deficits in models of Alzheimer’s disease.
Nature Neuroscience. 22(3), 401 - 412.

Maitrayee Sardar Sinha, Anna Ansell-Schultz, Livia Civitelli, Camilla Hildesjö, Max Larsson, Lars Lannfelt, Martin Ingelsson and Martin Hallbeck, Alzheimer disease pathology propagation by exosomes containing toxic amyloid-beta oligomers, Acta Neuropathologica, published online 13 June 2018, doi: 10.1007/s00401-018-1868-1 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00401-018-1868-1

[4451] Leyns, C. E. G., Gratuze M., Narasimhan S., Jain N., Koscal L. J., Jiang H., et al.
(2019).  TREM2 function impedes tau seeding in neuritic plaques.
Nature Neuroscience. 22(8), 1217 - 1222.

Parhizkar et al. (2019): "Loss of TREM2 function increases amyloid seeding but reduces plaque-associated ApoE", Nature Neuroscience, DOI: 10.1038/s41593-018-0296-9

Leyns C, Ulrich J, Finn M, Stewart F, Koscal L, Remolina Serrano J, Robinson G, Anderson E, Colonna M, Holtzman DM. TREM2 deficiency attenuates neuroinflammation and protects against neurodegeneration in a mouse model of tauopathy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Week of Oct. 9, 2017.

[4452] Paolicelli, R. C., Jawaid A., Henstridge C. M., Valeri A., Merlini M., Robinson J. L., et al.
(2017).  TDP-43 Depletion in Microglia Promotes Amyloid Clearance but Also Induces Synapse Loss.
Neuron. 95(2), 297 - 308.e6.

[4464] Hammond, T. R., Dufort C., Dissing-Olesen L., Giera S., Young A., Wysoker A., et al.
(2019).  Single-Cell RNA Sequencing of Microglia throughout the Mouse Lifespan and in the Injured Brain Reveals Complex Cell-State Changes.
Immunity. 50(1), 253 - 271.e6.

Related News

A very long-running study involving 290 people at risk of Alzheimer's has found that, in those 81 people who developed

Alzheimer's disease is associated with abnormalities in the vast network of blood vessels in the brain, but it hasn’t been known how this affects cognition. A study has now shown that a blood-clotting protein called fibrinogen plays a part.

It’s been known that decreased blood flow in the brain occurs in people with Alzheimer's, and recent studies suggest that brain blood flow deficits are one of the earliest detectable symptoms of dementia.

Increases in brain activity are matched by increases in blood flow. Neurons require a huge amount of energy, but can’t store it themselves, so must rely on blood to deliver the nutrients they need.

Two new studies help explain how blood flow is controlled.

New findings identify a mechanism that accelerates aging in the brain and gives rise to Alzheimer's disease.

A study involving 4,050 people with late-onset Alzheimer's disease (mean age 80) has classified them into six groups based on their cognitive functioning at the time of diagnosis. A genetic study found two of the groups showed strong genetic associations.

Disrupted fat breakdown in the brain involved in Alzheimer’s?

A two-year study which involved metabolic testing of 50 people, suggests that Alzheimer's disease consists of three distinct subtypes, each one of which may need to be treated differently. The finding may help explain why it has been so hard to find effective treatments for the disease.

A post-mortem study of five Alzheimer's and five control brains has revealed the presence of iron-containing microglia in the

Understanding a protein's role in familial Alzheimer's disease

Pages

Subscribe to Latest newsSubscribe to Latest newsSubscribe to Latest health newsSubscribe to Latest news
Error | About memory

Error

The website encountered an unexpected error. Please try again later.