An anti-diabetes agent protects the mouse brain from defective insulin signaling caused by Alzheimer’s disease–associated Aβ oligomers
Theresa R. Bomfim, … , Sergio T. Ferreira, Fernanda G. De Felice
Theresa R. Bomfim, … , Sergio T. Ferreira, Fernanda G. De Felice
Published March 22, 2012
Citation Information: J Clin Invest. 2012;122(4):1339-1353. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI57256.
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Research Article

An anti-diabetes agent protects the mouse brain from defective insulin signaling caused by Alzheimer’s disease–associated Aβ oligomers

Abstract

Defective brain insulin signaling has been suggested to contribute to the cognitive deficits in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Although a connection between AD and diabetes has been suggested, a major unknown is the mechanism(s) by which insulin resistance in the brain arises in individuals with AD. Here, we show that serine phosphorylation of IRS-1 (IRS-1pSer) is common to both diseases. Brain tissue from humans with AD had elevated levels of IRS-1pSer and activated JNK, analogous to what occurs in peripheral tissue in patients with diabetes. We found that amyloid-β peptide (Aβ) oligomers, synaptotoxins that accumulate in the brains of AD patients, activated the JNK/TNF-α pathway, induced IRS-1 phosphorylation at multiple serine residues, and inhibited physiological IRS-1pTyr in mature cultured hippocampal neurons. Impaired IRS-1 signaling was also present in the hippocampi of Tg mice with a brain condition that models AD. Importantly, intracerebroventricular injection of Aβ oligomers triggered hippocampal IRS-1pSer and JNK activation in cynomolgus monkeys. The oligomer-induced neuronal pathologies observed in vitro, including impaired axonal transport, were prevented by exposure to exendin-4 (exenatide), an anti-diabetes agent. In Tg mice, exendin-4 decreased levels of hippocampal IRS-1pSer and activated JNK and improved behavioral measures of cognition. By establishing molecular links between the dysregulated insulin signaling in AD and diabetes, our results open avenues for the investigation of new therapeutics in AD.

Authors

Theresa R. Bomfim, Leticia Forny-Germano, Luciana B. Sathler, Jordano Brito-Moreira, Jean-Christophe Houzel, Helena Decker, Michael A. Silverman, Hala Kazi, Helen M. Melo, Paula L. McClean, Christian Holscher, Steven E. Arnold, Konrad Talbot, William L. Klein, Douglas P. Munoz, Sergio T. Ferreira, Fernanda G. De Felice

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Figure 7

PKR and IKK, but not mTOR, mediate AβO-induced IRS-1pSer.

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PKR and IKK, but not mTOR, mediate AβO-induced IRS-1pSer. (A–Q) Hippocam...
(A–Q) Hippocampal neurons were exposed for 3 hours to vehicle (A, E, I, and M), 500 nM AβOs (B, F, J, and N), 1 μM PKR inhibitor (inh) plus 500 nM AβOs (C, G, and K), 5 mM acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) plus 500 nM AβOs (O), or 0.1 μM rapamycin (Rap) plus 500 nM AβOs (P). Scale bars: 50 μm. Integrated IRS-1pSer636 (D and Q), IRS-1pSer307 (H), and IRS-1pSer312 (L) immunofluorescence levels determined from 4 experiments using independent neuronal cultures (20 images analyzed per experimental condition per experiment). *P < 0.001 relative to vehicle-treated cultures; #P < 0.001 relative to cultures exposed to AβOs; ANOVA followed by Bonferroni post-hoc test.