Tubulin tyrosination regulates synaptic function and is disrupted in Alzheimer’s disease

Microtubules play fundamental roles in the maintenance of neuronal processes and in synaptic function and plasticity. While dynamic microtubules are mainly composed of tyrosinated tubulin, long-lived microtubules contain detyrosinated tubulin, suggesting that the tubulin tyrosination/detyrosination cycle is a key player in the maintenance of microtubule dynamics and neuronal homeostasis, conditions which go awry in neurodegenerative diseases. In the tyrosination/detyrosination cycle, the C-terminal tyrosine of α-tubulin is removed by tubulin carboxypeptidases and re-added by tubulin tyrosine ligase. Here we show that tubulin tyrosine ligase hemizygous mice exhibit decreased tyrosinated microtubules, reduced dendritic spine density, and both synaptic plasticity and memory deficits. We further report decreased tubulin tyrosine ligase expression in sporadic and familial Alzheimer’s disease, and reduced microtubule dynamics in human neurons harboring the familial APP-V717I mutation. Finally, we show that synapses visited by dynamic microtubules are more resistant to oligomeric amyloid β peptide toxicity and that expression of tubulin tyrosine ligase, by restoring microtubule entry into spines, suppresses the loss of synapses induced by amyloid β peptide. Together, our results demonstrate that a balanced tyrosination/detyrosination tubulin cycle is necessary for the maintenance of synaptic plasticity, is protective against amyloid β peptide-induced synaptic damage, and that this balance is lost in Alzheimer’s disease, providing evidence that defective tubulin retyrosination may contribute to circuit dysfunction during neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease.