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ErbB4 mediates amyloid β‐induced neurotoxicity through JNK /tau pathway activation: Implications for Alzheimer's disease
Author(s) -
Zhang Heng,
Zhang Ling,
Zhou Dongming,
Li Hongfei,
Xu Yang
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of comparative neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.855
H-Index - 209
eISSN - 1096-9861
pISSN - 0021-9967
DOI - 10.1002/cne.25207
Subject(s) - erbb4 , phosphorylation , neuregulin 1 , neurotoxicity , hyperphosphorylation , microbiology and biotechnology , synaptophysin , biology , kinase , hippocampal formation , amyloid precursor protein , neuroscience , alzheimer's disease , signal transduction , medicine , immunohistochemistry , immunology , receptor tyrosine kinase , toxicity , disease
Accumulation of amyloid β (Aβ) in the brain is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We previously showed that ErbB4 in parvalbumin (PV)‐positive interneurons was associated with Aβ‐induced cognitive deficits; however, the underlying mechanism remains undetermined. Here we found that specific deletion of ErbB4 in PV neurons significantly attenuated oligomeric Aβ‐induced neuronal toxicity and inhibited Aβ‐induced decreases of PSD95 and synaptophysin. Moreover, specific ablation of ErbB4 in PV neurons altered activity‐related protein c‐Fos and decreased hippocampal PV neurons, especially in the dentate gyrus (DG) of hAPP‐J20 mice. Furthermore, c‐Jun N‐terminal kinase (JNK), a protein downstream of ErbB4, was activated by Aβ but not ErbB4's ligand neuregulin 1 (NRG1) β1, suggesting different downstream pathways for Aβ and NRG1β1. JNK phosphorylation was inhibited by the ErbB4 inhibitor AG1478 and by pretreatment with NRG1β1. More importantly, siRNA knockdown of ErbB4 decreased JNK phosphorylation and expression, tau phosphorylation at Ser396 and Thr 205, and Bax expression. Therefore, ErbB4 might mediate Aβ‐induced neuropathology through the JNK/tau pathway and represent a potential therapeutic target in patients with AD.