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Loss of stimulatory effect of guanosine triphosphate on [ 35 S]GTPγS binding correlates with Alzheimer's disease neurofibrillary pathology in entorhinal cortex and CA1 hippocampal subfield
Author(s) -
GarcíaJiménez A.,
Cowburn R.F.,
Ohm T.G.,
Lasn H.,
Winblad B.,
Bogdanovic N.,
Fastbom J.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of neuroscience research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.72
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1097-4547
pISSN - 0360-4012
DOI - 10.1002/jnr.10125
Subject(s) - entorhinal cortex , hippocampal formation , guanosine , hippocampus , neuroscience , gtp' , alzheimer's disease , chemistry , disease , neurofibrillary tangle , medicine , pathology , biology , biochemistry , senile plaques , enzyme
Abstract Heterotrimeric guanosine triphosphate (GTP)‐binding proteins (G‐proteins) couple many different cell surface receptor types to intracellular effector mechanisms. Uncoupling between receptors and G‐proteins and between G‐proteins and adenylyl cyclase (AC) and phospholipase C (PLC) has been described for Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain. However, there is little information on whether altered G‐protein signaling in AD is just an end‐stage phenomenon or is important for the progression of disease pathology. Here we used [ 35 S]GTPγS autoradiography to study G‐protein distribution in sections of entorhinal cortex and hippocampus from 23 cases staged for neurofibrillary changes and amyloid deposits according to Braak and Braak (Acta Neuropathol. [1991] 82:239–259). We also studied the effects of GTP, which has been found to increase [ 35 S]GTPγS binding in an Mg 2+ ‐dependent manner. Results show that the ability of GTP (3 μM) to stimulate [ 35 S]GTPγS binding declined significantly with staging for neurofibrillary changes in the entorhinal cortex ( P < 0.05, ANOVA) and CA1 subfield of the hippocampus ( P < 0.05, ANOVA). No significant changes were seen for [ 35 S]GTPγS binding in the absence of GTP. Our results suggest a decrease in G‐protein GTP hydrolysis, which correlates with the progression of AD neurofibrillary changes, in the regions most affected by this pathology. These alterations appear to occur prior to stages corresponding to clinical disease and could lead to an impaired regulation of several signaling systems in AD brain. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.