Pivotal role of the RanBP9-cofilin pathway in A[beta]-induced apoptosis and neurodegeneration

• Published in: Cell death and differentiation 2012-09, Vol.19 (9), p.1413
• Main Authors: Woo, J A, Jung, A R, Lakshmana, M K, Bedrossian, A, Lim, Y, Bu, J H, Park, S A, Koo, E H, Mook-jung, I, Kang, D E
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alzheimer's disease; Antibodies; Apoptosis; Brain; Cell death; Disease; Kinases; Mutation; Neurodegeneration; Neurosciences; Neurotoxicity; Peptides; Proteins; Transgenic animals
• ISSN: 1350-9047; 1476-5403
• DOI: 10.1038/cdd.2012.14

Neurodegeneration associated with amyloid [beta] (A[beta]) peptide accumulation, synaptic loss, neuroinflammation, tauopathy, and memory impairments encompass the pathophysiological features of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We previously reported that the scaffolding protein RanBP9, which is overall increased in brains of AD patients, simultaneously promotes A[beta] generation and focal adhesion disruption by accelerating the endocytosis of amyloid precursor protein (APP) and [beta]1-integrin, respectively. Here, we show that RanBP9 protein levels are increased by fourfold in FAD mutant APP transgenic mice. Accordingly, RanBP9 transgenic mice demonstrate significantly increased synapse loss, neurodegeneration, gliosis, and spatial memory deficits. RanBP9 overexpression promotes apoptosis and potentiates A[beta]-induced neurotoxicity independent of its capacity to promote A[beta] generation. Conversely, RanBP9 reduction by siRNA or gene dosage mitigates A[beta]-induced neurotoxicity. Importantly, RanBP9 activates/dephosphorylates cofilin, a key regulator of actin dynamics and mitochondria-mediated apoptosis, and siRNA knockdown of cofilin abolishes both A[beta] and RanBP9-induced apoptosis. These findings implicate the RanBP9-cofilin pathway as critical therapeutic targets not only for stemming A[beta] generation but also antagonizing A[beta]-induced neurotoxicity.