Abstract
BACKGROUND: Preventing or reducing amyloid-beta (Aβ) accumulation in the brain is an important therapeutic strategy for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Recent studies showed that the water channel aquaporin-4 (AQP4) mediates soluble Aβ clearance from the brain parenchyma along the paravascular pathway. However the direct evidence for roles of AQP4 in the pathophysiology of AD remains absent.
RESULTS: Here, we reported that the deletion of AQP4 exacerbated cognitive deficits of 12-moth old APP/PS1 mice, with increases in Aβ accumulation, cerebral amyloid angiopathy and loss of synaptic protein and brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the hippocampus and cortex. Furthermore, AQP4 deficiency increased atrophy of astrocytes with significant decreases in interleukin-1 beta and nonsignificant decreases in interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha in hippocampal and cerebral samples.
CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that AQP4 attenuates Aβ pathogenesis despite its potentially inflammatory side-effects, thus serving as a promising target for treating AD.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-2-2015
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13024-015-0056-1
Funding Information
This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No 81271210) and the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Educational Department (14KJA320001).
Repository Citation
Xu, Zhiqiang; Xiao, Na; Chen, Yali; Huang, Huang; Marshall, Charles; Gao, Junying; Cai, Zhiyou; Wu, Ting; Hu, Gang; and Xiao, Ming, "Deletion of Aquaporin-4 in APP/PS1 Mice Exacerbates Brain Aβ Accumulation and Memory Deficits" (2015). Center of Excellence in Rural Health Faculty Publications. 6.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/ruralhealth_facpub/6
Notes/Citation Information
Published in Molecular Neurodegeneration, v. 10, article 58, p. 1-16.
© 2015 Xu et al.
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