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J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 278, Issue 33, 30748-30754, August 15, 2003
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42-lowering Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs Preserve Intramembrane Cleavage of the Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP) and ErbB-4 Receptor and Signaling through the APP Intracellular Domain*


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From the
Department of Neurosciences, University
of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093 and the
¶Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology,
Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Florida 32224
Received for publication, May 8, 2003
| ABSTRACT |
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42 peptide, most likely by direct modulation of
-secretase activity. In contrast to
-secretase inhibitors,
A
42-lowering NSAIDs do not impair S3 cleavage in the NOTCH receptor and
release of the NOTCH intracellular domain, a finding with conceptual
implications for the development of safer drugs targeting A
production
through
-secretase modulation. Intramembrane cleavage and release of an
intracellular signaling domain has recently been demonstrated in a number of
additional
-secretase substrates. We now show in cell-based assays that
intramembrane cleavage of APP and ErbB-4 receptor is not impaired by the
A
42-lowering NSAIDs, sulindac sulfide and ibuprofen. Generation of the
APP intracellular domain (AICD) was further not inhibited in a cell-free assay
at concentrations far exceeding those effective in reducing A
42
production. Closer inspection of AICD signaling showed that stabilization of
the AICD peptide by FE65 and AICD-mediated transcription were also retained at
A
42-lowering concentrations. These results demonstrate that
S3-like/intramembrane cleavage is preserved by A
42-lowering NSAIDs in at
least three substrates of
-secretase APP, ErbB-4, and NOTCH and
underline the striking specificity by which these drugs target A
42
production. | INTRODUCTION |
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-secretase activity, attesting to the
importance of this pathway to cell signaling
(212).
In almost all of the
-secretase substrates examined to date,
intramembrane cleavage is preceded and triggered by shedding of their large
extracellular domains. Similarities in these proteolytic cascades have been
most thoroughly studied in the
-secretase substrates NOTCH and APP
(13,
14). After ligand binding, the
mature NOTCH receptor is cleaved by the metalloprotease tumor necrosis factor
converting enzyme. This cleavage event, which has been termed S2
cleavage, releases the extracellular domain from the cell surface and leaves
behind a membrane-bound C-terminal Notch fragment termed NEXT (NOTCH
extracellular truncation). NEXT undergoes constitutive S3 cleavage within its
TMD close to the cytosolic border. S3 cleavage is carried out by
-secretase activity, releasing the NOTCH intracellular domain (NICD) to
translocate into the nucleus and regulate transcription of genes involved in
cell fate decisions (13,
15). Release of the soluble
APP ectodomain involves either
- or
-secretase cleavage and
generates C-terminal APP fragments that are direct substrates for constitutive
cleavage by
-secretase. Proteolytic processing of APP by
-secretase (beta-site APP cleaving enzyme) followed by
-secretase
cleavage produces the 4042-amino acid A
peptide, which is
hypothesized to initiate the cascade of events resulting in Alzheimer's
disease (14,
16).
In contrast to S3 cleavage in Notch receptors,
-secretase cleavage
generating A
peptides occurs in the middle of the TMD, and these
differences in cleavage topology have raised doubts as to whether NOTCH and
APP are cleaved by the same proteolytic activity
(17). However, using
epitope-tagged substrates, NEXT was recently shown to also undergo cleavage in
the middle of the TMD resulting in the release of A
-like NOTCH derived
peptides (18). Furthermore, a
novel
-secretase cleavage site within the TMD of APP was similarly
identified that is located close to the cytosolic border and resembles the S3
cleavage site in NOTCH
(1922).
This cleavage event, which was termed
cleavage, releases the 50-amino
acid APP intracellular domain (identified as AID, AICD, or CTF
; hereon
referred to as "AICD") into the cytoplasm, and accumulating data
suggest a role for this fragment in the regulation of gene transcription
(23). Therefore,
-secretase activity apparently catalyzes very similar cleavages in the
TMDs of APP and NOTCH as well as CD44, with major cleavage sites both in the
middle as well as close to the cytosolic border of the TMD (see
Fig. 1). Whether these findings
further extend to the other
-secretase substrates is unclear at this
time (24).
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Because of its essential role in generation of the A
peptide,
targeting
-secretase activity remains a viable and important option for
drug development in Alzheimer's disease therapeutics
(25,
26).
-Secretase is a
multiprotein complex consisting of at least four identified membrane-bound
proteins: presenilin (PS), nicastrin, APH-1, and PEN-2
(2733).
All four proteins are required for proteolytic activity, but the presenilin
proteins may form the enzymatic core
(14,
16,
34). Small molecule
-secretase inhibitors efficiently suppress A
production in both
cultured cells and in APP-transgenic mouse models of amyloid pathology
(25,
35). However, these inhibitors
indiscriminately block all cleavages within the TMD of
-secretase
substrates and prevent formation of the intracellular signaling domains
(11,
18). As a result,
-secretase inhibitors impede NOTCH-dependent thymocyte development and
cause phenocopies of NOTCH mutations in flies and fish
(3639).
Furthermore, a recent report demonstrated that
-secretase inhibitors
also block proteolytic activity of signal peptide peptidase, an
intramembrane-cleaving aspartic protease with distant homology to PS
(40). Consequently,
uncertainty remains about potentially prohibitive side effects and the use of
-secretase inhibitors in human clinical trials
(41).
We recently showed that certain nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
(NSAIDs) specifically reduce production of the amyloidogenic A
42 peptide
without apparent inhibition of NOTCH processing, specifically NICD formation
(42). NSAIDs most likely
achieve the A
42 reduction by direct modulation of
-secretase
activity
(43),2
and full elucidation of their mechanism of action could facilitate the
development of improved
-secretase inhibitors that only target
generation of a disease relevant subset of A
peptides. However, based
only on the result that NSAIDs preserve S3 cleavage in NOTCH, it cannot be
concluded with confidence that A
42-lowering NSAIDs will not impair
intramembrane cleavage in other
-secretase substrates. We therefore
investigated APP and ErbB-4 processing after NSAID treatment, specifically
assaying
-secretase-mediated cleavages and signaling events with more
sensitive measurements. Our results demonstrated that intramembrane
-secretase cleavage of APP and ErbB-4 as well as downstream signaling
through AICD were unaffected by treatment with A
42-lowering NSAIDs.
These findings significantly strengthen the concept that these drugs
preferentially target A
42 production but not other vital
-secretase mediated cleavage and signaling events.
| EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES |
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-secretase inhibitor L685,458
was from Bachem. All other chemicals were from Sigma except when otherwise
indicated. Monoclonal antibody 9E10 against the Myc epitope sequence was
purchased from Calbiochem, and polyclonal antibodies against the C terminus of
human c-ErbB-4 were from Santa Cruz (C-18) and Neomarkers. The polyclonal
antibody CT15 against the C-terminal 15 amino acid residues of APP has been
described (44). Cell Lines and Cell Culture293T cells, 293 cells stably transfected with human APP695 harboring the "Swedish" mutation, CHO cells, APP-PS1ML CHO cells stably transfected with both wild type human APP751 and human mutant PS1 (M146L), and T47-14 cells (kindly provided by M. Kraus and G. Carpenter) were all maintained in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (Invitrogen).
cDNA ConstructsA construct containing the C-terminal 50
amino acids of APP was generated using PCR, cloned into pCIneo (Promega), and
verified by sequencing. The construct (APP C50-Myc) was designed to include an
additional methionine at the 5'-end as well as a Myc tag sequence
between the methionine and the first valine residue. pCDNA3-FE65 was a gift
from J. Buxbaum (45). Plasmids
encoding the GAL4 DNA-binding domain (pMST), the GAL4 DNA-binding domain
engineered into the cytoplasmic tail of APP695 (pMST-APP), the APP-GAL4 fusion
protein with a mutation in the NPTY motif of the APP cytoplasmic tail
(pMST-APP
), and a GAL4 reporter plasmid encoding firefly luciferase
(pG5E1B-luc) have been described
(46) and were kindly provided
by T. Sudhof. Plasmid pRL-TK encoding Renilla luciferase was from
Promega, and pCDNA3 was from Invitrogen.
AICD DetectionAPP-PS1ML CHO cells (10-cm dish) were treated
overnight with 2.5 µM
-secretase inhibitor L685,458, 500
µM ibuprofen, 60 µM sulindac sulfide or
Me2SO vehicle. Crude membrane extracts were then prepared as
described (20) with
modifications. The cells were collected and resuspended in 1 ml of hypotonic
buffer (10 mM Tris, pH 7.4, 1 mM EDTA, 1 mM
EGTA) containing 1x protease inhibitor mixture (Roche Applied Science)
and homogenized by passing five times through a 27-gauge needle and five times
through a 30-gauge needle. To prepare a postnuclear supernatant, the
homogenate was centrifuged at 1,000 x g for 15 min at 4 °C.
The membranes were then isolated from the supernatant by centrifugation at
20,000 x g for 45 min at 4 °C. The membranes were
resuspended in 100 µl of RIPA buffer and cleared by a spin at 20,000
x g for 10 min at 4 °C. 10 µl of membrane extract was
separated on 1020% Tricine gels, and AICD was detected by Western
blotting with antibody CT-15.
Detection of the Soluble ErbB-4 C-terminal FragmentFractionation of NIH 3T3 cells stably overexpressing ErbB-4 (T47-14 cells) and detection of the soluble ErbB-4 C-terminal fragment was performed according to published procedures with modifications (7, 47). T47-14 cells were starved overnight in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium with 0.5% fetal bovine serum followed by treatment with 2.5 µM L685,483, 60 µM sulindac sulfide, 500 µM ibuprofen, or Me2SO vehicle for 2 h. This was followed by stimulation with 100 nM phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate for 1 h in the presence of drug or Me2SO vehicle. Postnuclear supernatants were prepared from T47-14 cells as described above, and NaCl was added to a final concentration of 150 mM. The membranes were isolated by centrifugation at 100,000 x g for 60 min at 4 °C. Nonidet P-40 was added to the cytosolic supernatant at a final concentration of 1%. The membranes in the pellet were resuspended in 1 ml of RIPA buffer and cleared by a spin at 20,000 x g for 10 min at 4 °C. The cytosol and membranes were immunoprecipitated with 4 µg of polyclonal ErbB-4 antibody (C-18, 1:50 dilution). The immunoprecipitated material was separated on 412% Bis-Tris gels, and ErbB-4 was detected by Western blotting with polyclonal antibody against amino acids 12851308 of the ErbB-4 C terminus (5 µg/ml; Neomarkers).
AICD in Vitro GenerationIn vitro generation of AICD was
performed as described (20,
48) with modifications.
Postnuclear supernatants were prepared from 293 cells stably transfected with
APP695 harboring the Swedish mutation as described above, and the membranes
were isolated by centrifugation at 20,000 x g for 45 min at 4
°C. The membranes were washed once with 200 µl of homogenization buffer
and pelleted again at 20,000 x g for 30 min at 4 °C. The
membranes corresponding to cells from half of a 10-cm dish were then
resuspended in 25 µl of assay buffer (150 mM sodium citrate, pH
6.4) containing 2.5 µM
-secretase inhibitor L685,458,
ibuprofen, or sulindac sulfide (prepared by serial dilution of the highest
drug concentration in assay buffer) or Me2SO. The membrane
preparations were incubated for 2 h at 37 °C to allow in vitro
generation of AICD. In parallel, control samples were kept at 4 °C. The
membranes were then pelleted by centrifugation at 20,000 x g
for 30 min at 4 °C, and the supernatants were separated on 412%
Bis-Tris gels. AICD was detected by Western blotting with antibody CT-15.
Stabilization of AICD by FE65The APP C50-Myc construct was co-transfected into 293T cells (10-cm dish) with either pCMS-GFP control plasmid or pCDNA3-FE65. 36 h after transfection, the cells were treated overnight with Me2SO, 60 µM sulindac sulfide, or 500 µM ibuprofen. 48 h after transfection, the cells were extracted with Nonidet P-40 lysis buffer (1% Nonidet P-40, 50 mM Tris, 150 mM NaCl containing 1x protease inhibitor mixture) for 30 min and centrifuged at 20,000 x g for 10 min at 4 °C. Insoluble material was re-extracted in 100 µl of 1% SDS (49), sonicated, and then diluted to 0.1% SDS and cleared by centrifugation at 20000 x g at 4 °C for 20 min. Nonidet P-40 and SDS extracts were immunoprecipitated with monoclonal anti-Myc antibody 9E10. Immunoprecipitated material was separated on 412% Bis-Tris gels, and the APP C50-Myc fragment was detected by Western blotting with antibody CT-15.
AICD Reporter AssaySubconfluent CHO cells were transiently
transfected in 12-well plates using FuGENE 6 with the following combinations
of plasmids (0.3 µg each): 1) pMST + pG5EIB-luc + pCDNA3; 2) pMST-APP +
pG5EIB-luc + pCDNA3; 3) pMST-APP + pG5EIB-luc + pCDNA3-FE65; and 4)
pMST-APP
+ pG5EIB-luc + pCDNA3-FE65. 20 ng of pRL-TK was added to each
plasmid mix to control for transfection efficiency. 24 h after transfection,
the cells were treated for additional 24 h with 2.5 µM
-secretase inhibitor L685,458, 500 µM ibuprofen, 60
µM sulindac sulfide, or Me2SO vehicle. The cells were
then lysed, and firefly and Renilla luciferase activities were
quantified using a dual luciferase reporter assay system (Promega) and a dual
injector luminometer (EG&G Berthold). Firefly luciferase values were
standardized to the corresponding Renilla luciferase values. To
control for nonspecific drug effects, these values were then normalized for
transactivation observed in cells expressing the GAL4 DNA-binding domain alone
and treated with the respective drug. The values expressed as fold induction
over GAL4 are averages of triplicate measurements, and one of two
representative experiments is shown.
| RESULTS |
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42-lowering NSAIDs Do Not Impair AICD or ErbB4
C-terminal Fragment GenerationTo gain further insight into the
specificity of A
42-lowering NSAIDs, we investigated intramembrane
proteolysis of APP and ErbB-4 by examining the corresponding C-terminal
fragments after
-secretase cleavage. These specific
-secretase
substrates were chosen for several reasons. First, emerging evidence supported
a physiological function for the intracellular signaling domains of both of
these proteins (7,
23). Second, the TMD sequences
of other
-secretase substrates including ErbB-4 are entirely different
from APP and NOTCH, and the
-secretase cleavage sites are unknown
(50)
(Fig. 1). Consequently, the
degree to which the pharmacological properties of these other cleavage
substrates are similar to the A
42 scissile bond in the APP TMD has not
been established. Third, sulindac sulfide was shown to modulate AICD
generation in vitro, and ibuprofen suppressed AICD-mediated
activation of the KAI1/CD82 promotor
(43,
51), indicating that
A
42-lowering NSAIDs might interfere with AICD function.
To analyze AICD generation, APP-PS1ML CHO cells stably transfected with
both wild type APP751 and the PS1 mutant M146L were treated with sulindac
sulfide (60 µM), ibuprofen (500 µM),
-secretase inhibitor L685,458, or Me2SO vehicle. We
previously showed that at these concentrations of NSAIDs, A
42 secretion
was reduced by 6070%
(42). Crude membrane extracts
were then prepared and immunoblotted with an antibody against the C terminus
of APP. As expected, treatment with the
-secretase inhibitor strongly
suppressed AICD formation but markedly elevated APP C-terminal fragments.
However, neither sulindac sulfide nor ibuprofen reduced AICD production as
compared with Me2SO-treated control CHO cells
(Fig. 2).
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Ectodomain shedding of the ErbB-4 receptor, but not other receptors of the
Erb family, can be activated by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate treatment
(47). This subsequently
triggers intramembrane cleavage of the remaining membrane-bound C-terminal
fragment and release of a soluble 80-kDa intracellular domain
(7). To investigate whether
-secretase-mediated intramembrane cleavage of the ErbB-4 receptor would
be compromised by NSAID treatment, T47-14 NIH3T3 cells stably transfected with
ErbB-4 were stimulated with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate in the presence of
the indicated drugs. Cytosolic and membrane fractions were obtained and
analyzed by combined immunoprecipitation/Western blotting with antibodies
against the C terminus of ErbB-4. Low amounts of the soluble ErbB-4
intracellular domain, but not full-length ErbB-4, were present in the
cytosolic fraction of vehicle-treated control cells
(Fig. 3A). This
fragment was undetectable after treatment with
-secretase inhibitor.
However, as with AICD generation, neither sulindac sulfide nor ibuprofen had
an effect on the formation of the soluble ErbB-4 domain as compared with
vehicle control (Fig.
3A). There was also no effect on the levels of the
membrane-bound C-terminal fragment or full-length ErbB-4 in the membrane
fraction after treatment with NSAIDs or
-secretase inhibitor
(Fig. 3B). These
results indicated that sulindac sulfide and ibuprofen did not interfere with
intramembrane cleavage in APP and ErbB-4 at concentrations that caused
significant reduction in A
42 production in previous studies
(42).
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Toxic Concentrations of NSAIDs Do Not Inhibit AICD Generation in
VitroWe next proceeded to examine AICD generation and downstream
signaling in more detail. Takahashi et al.
(43) recently reported that
production of AICD was modulated by sulindac sulfide in an in vitro
-secretase assay with an unusual biphasic response: at low
concentrations (150 µM), a severalfold increase in AICD
production was observed, but at 100 µM, AICD generation was
almost completely inhibited. This result is in contrast to the lack of any
observable effect on AICD generation after intact cells were treated with 60
µM sulindac sulfide (Fig.
2). To encompass the same drug dosages used by Takahashi et
al. (43), we therefore
tested a wide range of sulindac sulfide and ibuprofen concentrations using a
previously described cell-free in vitro assay for AICD generation
(20,
48). When given to living
cells, sulindac concentrations above 150 µM and ibuprofen
concentrations above 1 mM are associated with cellular toxicity,
which could mask any effect on AICD generation. However, the in vitro
assay allowed us to circumvent this toxicity issue and to evaluate whether
high NSAID concentrations would eventually inhibit AICD generation. AICD
levels were assessed after incubation of membrane preparations of 293 cells
stably expressing APP695 with the Swedish mutation for 2 h at 37 °C in the
presence of increasing concentrations of sulindac sulfide or ibuprofen.
Additional samples were kept at 4 °C to control for background AICD
levels. After the 2-h incubation, high levels of AICD production were readily
seen in samples incubated at 37 °C but not at 4 °C in the presence of
Me2SO vehicle (Fig.
4).
-Secretase inhibitor L685,458 reduced AICD generation
to background levels. However, neither sulindac sulfide at concentrations from
10 to 400 µM (Fig.
4A) nor ibuprofen at concentrations from 100 to 2,000
µM (Fig.
4B) displayed any effect on AICD production in
vitro. Therefore, at NSAID concentrations that far exceeded what was
necessary to lower A
42 in cell-based assays and indeed would have caused
significant toxicity, there was no evidence of any impairment of AICD
production in vitro.
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NSAIDs Do Not Impair AICD/FE65-mediated
TranscriptionAICD is rapidly degraded in vivo, but upon
binding to the adapter protein FE65, AICD is stabilized and accumulates in
both the cytosol and nucleus, the latter presumably to activate downstream
nuclear transcription (49,
52). Recent evidence indicated
that ibuprofen might interfere with activation of the KAI1/CD82 promoter by a
trimeric AICD-FE65-Tip60 complex
(51). This suggested that
NSAIDs might influence downstream signaling by AICD at some step distal to
generation of AICD by
-secretase. We therefore investigated whether
A
42-lowering NSAIDs would impair stabilization of AICD by FE65 or
AICD-mediated transcription. To analyze the former, 293T cells were
transiently transfected with a plasmid encoding the last 50 amino acid
residues of APP containing a Myc tag (APP C50-Myc) with or without FE65. The
cells were treated with sulindac sulfide, ibuprofen, or Me2SO
vehicle and then sequentially extracted with 1% Nonidet P-40 followed by 1%
SDS to assay for AICD in cytosolic or nuclear fractions as described
(49). When expressed alone,
low amounts of the APP C50-Myc fragment were present in the Nonidet
P-40-soluble fraction, but it was undetectable in the SDS-soluble fraction
(Fig. 5). Co-expression of FE65
stabilized APP C50-Myc in the Nonidet P-40-soluble fraction and further
allowed its detection in the SDS-soluble fraction. However, neither sulindac
sulfide nor ibuprofen treatment perturbed APP C50-Myc levels to any detectable
degree as compared with Me2SO vehicle, demonstrating that
A
42-lowering NSAIDs did not hinder stabilization of an APP C-terminal
fragment corresponding to AICD by FE65
(Fig. 5).
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Although the immunoblotting approaches described above have been
consistently validated by a number of laboratories, it can be argued that
these are not very sensitive assays, which could miss smaller changes.
Therefore, we examined potential effects of A
42-lowering NSAIDs on
AICD-mediated transcription using a previously described heterologous reporter
assay system. In this approach, a GAL4 DNA-binding domain engineered into the
cytoplasmic tail of APP695 is released by
-secretase-mediated
intramembrane cleavage and binds to a GAL4-dependent promotor driving a
luciferase reporter gene (46).
Expression of the APP-GAL4 fusion protein in CHO cells resulted in only
minimal transactivation of the reporter gene as compared with expression of
the GAL4 DNA-binding domain alone (Fig.
6). However, co-expression of FE65 with the APP-GAL4 fusion
protein induced a >16-fold stimulation of reporter transcription activity.
This induction was abolished when an APP-Gal4 construct with a mutation in the
NPTY motif (APP
-GAL4), which prevented interaction with FE65, was
expressed (46). As expected,
induction of reporter activity was also largely eliminated when cells were
treated with
-secretase inhibitor L685,458. However, neither sulindac
sulfide nor ibuprofen demonstrated any effect on reporter gene transactivation
by APP-Gal4 alone or by co-expression of APP-Gal4/FE65
(Fig. 6). Taken together, these
results demonstrated that A
42-lowering NSAIDs did not interfere with
either AICD generation in vitro and in vivo, stabilization
by FE65, or AICD-mediated transcription of a heterologous reporter gene.
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| DISCUSSION |
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42
production in cell-based assays and in APP-transgenic mice
(42,
56), these results suggested
that some NSAIDs, in addition to their anti-inflammatory properties, might
directly ameliorate amyloid pathology in Alzheimer's disease. We showed that
the NSAID effect on A
42 was fully retained in cells lacking
cyclooxygenase activity, thereby excluding the primary pharmacological targets
of NSAIDs as mediators of the A
42 reduction
(42). Recent results support
the notion that NSAIDs achieve the reduction in A
42 production by direct
modulation of
-secretase activity
(43).2 Because
A
42-lowering NSAIDs shared certain notable features in common with known
inhibitors of
-secretase
(25,
57,
58), we proposed that NSAIDs
and
-secretase inhibitors may act on a common molecular target: namely,
the
-secretase complex or its substrate APP
(43).2 However,
definitive identification of this cellular target will have to await further
photo or chemical affinity binding studies.
The degree of specificity to which NSAIDs target A
42 production over
other
-secretase-mediated cleavages is an important issue for clinical
and conceptual reasons, especially if future drug development efforts are
based upon existing A
42-lowering NSAIDs or their mechanism of action.
NSAIDs are pleiotropic compounds with numerous cellular targets
(59). In the limited studies
to date, however, NSAIDs have shown remarkable specificity on APP processing.
The reduction in the A
42 level after NSAID treatment was accompanied by
an increase in shorter A
species, particularly A
38, suggesting
that these compounds, rather than inhibiting overall
-secretase
activity, induce a subtle shift in the cleavage pattern. No generalized
effects on APP expression, APP half-life, secretion of the soluble APP
ectodomain, internalization of APP from the cell surface, or accumulation of
C-terminal fragments were observed
(42). Importantly,
A
42-lowering NSAIDs did not impair S3 cleavage of the NOTCH receptor and
release of the NICD signaling domain
(42). However, in the absence
of a fully defined mechanism of action and based solely on the observed
preservation of NOTCH cleavage, it cannot be assumed that A
42-lowering
NSAIDs will not affect intramembrane cleavages in other
-secretase
substrates. In particular, generation of the intracellular signaling domains
of APP and other
-secretase substrates has not been investigated in
detail. In this respect, our new findings that, in cell-based assays, sulindac
sulfide and ibuprofen did not affect
cleavage in the APP TMD and
intramembrane cleavage of the ErbB-4 receptor provided additional support for
the unexpected specificity of these compounds in their actions on
-secretase activity.
In this study, we further investigated the effects of A
42-lowering
NSAIDs on AICD generation in vitro and on downstream signaling
mediated by the AICD fragment. Takahashi et al.
(43) reported that sulindac
sulfide modulated AICD generation in a
-secretase in vitro
assay in an unusual biphasic manner. They observed an increase in AICD
production at sulindac sulfide concentrations up to 50 µM and
near complete inhibition at 100 µM. Using a slightly different
-secretase in vitro assay, we were not able to confirm either
an increase in AICD generation at low concentrations of sulindac sulfide or
inhibition at higher concentrations. In fact, we did not detect any inhibitory
effect up to 400 µM sulindac sulfide or 2,000 µM
ibuprofen, concentrations that are severalfold in excess of those required to
lower A
42 production in cell-based assays
(42). We suspect that
differences in the respective in vitro assay conditions may account
for the discrepancies between our results and those of Takahashi et
al. In particular, the latter study utilized solubilized membranes as an
enzyme source and a recombinant peptide consisting of the 100 C-terminal amino
acids of APP as substrate
(43). In contrast, we used
membrane preparations derived from intact cells containing both the enzymatic
activity and the substrate APP for in vitro generation of AICD
(20,
48). It is conceivable that
our assay system more closely resembles the conditions in intact cells and
that, consequently, our results in the cell-free system are more concordant
with the cell-based studies. Regardless, our results from both cell-based and
in vitro assays indicate that inhibition of AICD generation is
unlikely to occur under in vivo conditions with nontoxic
concentrations of A
42-lowering NSAIDs.
Finally, our results showed that ibuprofen and sulindac sulfide did not
interfere with either the stabilization of AICD by FE65 or AICD-mediated
transcription using a heterologous reporter gene system. The lack of effect on
transactivation in a sensitive reporter system reinforced the notion that AICD
generation is not compromised by A
42-lowering NSAIDs, because
transcriptional activation of the reporter also requires
-secretase-mediated release of the APP C terminus fused to the GAL4
DNA-binding domain. In a recent study, ibuprofen treatment interfered with
activation of the KAI1/CD82 promoter by a trimeric AICD-FE65-Tip60 complex
(51), suggesting that NSAIDs
might impair AICD-mediated transcription. Our results with the reporter assay
indicated that ibuprofen and sulindac sulfide did not prevent formation of
this AICD-FE65-Tip60 signaling complex, because the same ternary complex
assembles to drive the reporter gene
(46). The role of FE65 in the
AICD-FE65-Tip60 complex is presumably to increase stability of AICD and to
bridge AICD to the acetyltransferase Tip60
(46,
49,
51,
52), and our co-transfection
studies clearly showed that stabilization of an APP fragment corresponding to
AICD by FE65 was not prevented by ibuprofen or sulindac sulfide treatment.
However, if future studies reveal more in vivo target genes of AICD,
then a potential influence of NSAIDs on these specific AICD-mediated
transcription pathways will have to be investigated in further detail.
In conclusion, the results presented in this study provide important
additional evidence for the unprecedented specificity with which some NSAIDs
target A
42 production. This feature strongly separates
A
42-lowering NSAIDs from published
-secretase inhibitors, which
indiscriminately inhibit cleavages in the TMD of
-secretase substrates
including NOTCH and APP. If currently available NSAIDs or newly developed
compounds with a similar mechanism of action were ever to be used clinically
as A
42-lowering agents, then they might avoid serious side effects that
are likely associated with global inhibition of
-secretase
function.
| FOOTNOTES |
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|| Present address: Johannes Gutenberg University, 55099 Mainz, Germany. ![]()
To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel.: 858-822-1025; Fax:
858-822-1021; E-mail:
sweggen{at}ucsd.edu.
1 The abbreviations used are: APP, amyloid precursor protein; NSAID,
nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug; TMD, transmembrane domain; NICD, NOTCH
intracellular domain; AICD, APP intracellular domain; PS, presenilin; CHO,
Chinese hamster ovary; Tricine,
N-[2-hydroxy-1,1-bis(hydroxymethyl)ethyl]glycine. ![]()
2 Weggen, S., Eriksen, J. L., Sagi, S. A., Pietrzik, C. U., Ozols, V., Fauq,
A., Golde, T. E., and Koo, E. H. (June 12, 2003) J. Biol. Chem.
10.1074/jbc.M303592200. ![]()
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