Alzheimer's disease risk ABCA7 p.A696S variant disturbs the microglial response to amyloid pathology in mice

Jan 29, 2025Neurobiology of disease

Alzheimer’s risk gene variant ABCA7 p.A696S changes how brain immune cells respond to amyloid in mice

AI simplified

Circadian Biology on OpenScience ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Abstract

A rare Alzheimer's disease risk ABCA7 p.A696S variant compromises microglial response to amyloid pathology.

ABCA7 is one of the top susceptibility genes for Alzheimer's disease.
The ABCA7-A696S variant was identified in 3 African American families and is associated with AD development.
Mice with the ABCA7-A696S substitution showed reduced microglial response and increased amyloid plaque burden.
There was no significant difference in insoluble amyloid-β levels between groups, suggesting altered plaque structure.
The ABCA7-A696S variant affected proinflammatory cytokine induction in the brains of the mouse model.
Higher levels of lysophosphatidylethanolamine were detected in the brains of ABCA7-A696S mice compared to controls.

AI simplified

The adenosine triphosphate-binding cassette transporter A7 (ABCA7) gene is ranked as one of the top susceptibility loci for Alzheimer's disease (AD). While ABCA7 mediates lipid transport across cellular membranes, ABCA7 loss of function has been shown to exacerbate amyloid-β (Aβ) pathology and compromise microglial function. Our family-based study uncovered an extremely rare ABCA7 p.A696S variant that was substantially segregated with the development of AD in 3 African American families. Using the knockin mouse model, we investigated the effects of ABCA7-A696S substitution on amyloid pathology and brain immune response in 5xFAD transgenic mice. Importantly, our study demonstrated that ABCA7-A696S substitution reduces amyloid plaque-associated microgliosis and increases dystrophic neurites around amyloid deposits compared to control mice. We also found increased X-34-positive amyloid plaque burden in 5xFAD mice with ABCA7-A696S substitution, while there was no evident difference in insoluble Aβ levels between mouse groups. Thus, ABCA7-A696S substitution may disrupt amyloid compaction resulting in aggravated neuritic dystrophy due to insufficient microglia barrier function. In addition, we observed that ABCA7-A696S substitution disturbs the induction of proinflammatory cytokines interleukin 1β and interferon γ in the brains of 5xFAD mice, although some disease-associated microglia gene expression, including Trem2 and Tyrobp, are upregulated. Lipidomics also detected higher total lysophosphatidylethanolamine levels in the brains of 5xFAD mice with ABCA7-A696S substitution than controls. These results suggest that ABCA7-A696S substitution might compromise the adequate innate immune response to amyloid pathology in AD by modulating brain lipid metabolism, providing novel insight into the pathogenic mechanisms mediated by ABCA7. ONE SENTENCE SUMMARY: A rare Alzheimer's disease risk ABCA7 p.A696S variant compromises microglial response to amyloid pathology.

Full Text

We can’t show the full text here under this license. Use the link below to read it at the source.

View full text (XML) ↗View full text ↗

Alzheimer's disease risk ABCA7 p.A696S variant disturbs the microglial response to amyloid pathology in mice

Abstract

Full Text

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

what lands in your inbox each week:

Recent issues from the circadian biology brief

Abstract

Full Text

Related papers

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

what lands in your inbox each week:

Recent issues from the circadian biology brief