Open AccessInhibition of 2-Arachidonoylglycerol Metabolism Alleviates Neuropathology and Improves Cognitive Function in a Tau Mouse Model of Alzheimer’s Disease
Author(s) -
Jack Hashem,
Mei Hu,
Jian Zhang,
Fengmei Gao,
Chu Chen
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
molecular neurobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.569
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1182
pISSN - 0893-7648
DOI - 10.1007/s12035-021-02400-2
Subject(s) - endocannabinoid system , monoacylglycerol lipase , genetically modified mouse , gsk 3 , neuroscience , proinflammatory cytokine , amyloid precursor protein , 2 arachidonoylglycerol , pharmacology , alzheimer's disease , medicine , chemistry , biology , phosphorylation , transgene , cannabinoid receptor , microbiology and biotechnology , inflammation , disease , biochemistry , receptor , gene , agonist
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia, which affects more than 5 million individuals in the USA. Unfortunately, no effective therapies are currently available to prevent development of AD or to halt progression of the disease. It has been proposed that monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL), the key enzyme degrading the endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) in the brain, is a therapeutic target for AD based on the studies using the APP transgenic models of AD. While inhibition of 2-AG metabolism mitigates β-amyloid (Aβ) neuropathology, it is still not clear whether inactivation of MAGL alleviates tauopathies as accumulation and deposition of intracellular hyperphosphorylated tau protein are the neuropathological hallmark of AD. Here we show that JZL184, a potent MAGL inhibitor, significantly reduced proinflammatory cytokines, astrogliosis, phosphorylated GSK3β and tau, cleaved caspase-3, and phosphorylated NF-kB while it elevated PPARγ in P301S/PS19 mice, a tau mouse model of AD. Importantly, tau transgenic mice treated with JZL184 displayed improvements in spatial learning and memory retention. In addition, inactivation of MAGL ameliorates deteriorations in expression of synaptic proteins in P301S/PS19 mice. Our results provide further evidence that MAGL is a promising therapeutic target for AD.