TY - JOUR
T1 - A truncated peptide from p35, a Cdk5 activator, prevents Alzheimer's disease phenotypes in model mice
AU - Shukla, Varsha
AU - Zheng, Ya Li
AU - Mishra, Santosh K.
AU - Amin, Niranjana D.
AU - Steiner, Joseph
AU - Grant, Philip
AU - Kesavapany, Sashi
AU - Pant, Harish C.
PY - 2013/1
Y1 - 2013/1
N2 - Alzheimer's disease (AD), one of the leading neurodegenerative disorders of older adults, which causes major socioeconomic burdens globally, lacks effective therapeutics without significant side effects. Besides the hallmark pathology of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), it has been reported that cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5), a critical neuronal kinase, is hyperactivated in AD brains and is, in part, responsible for the above pathology. Here we show that a modified truncated 24-aa peptide (TFP5), derived from the Cdk5 activator p35, penetrates the blood-brain barrier after intraperitoneal injections, inhibits abnormal Cdk5 hyperactivity, and significantly rescues AD pathology (up to 70-80%) in 5XFAD AD model mice. The mutant mice, injected with TFP5 exhibit behavioral rescue, whereas no rescue was observed in mutant mice injected with either saline or scrambled peptide. However, TFP5 does not inhibit cell cycle Cdks or normal Cdk5/p35 activity, and thereby has no toxic side effects (even at 200 mg/kg), a common problem in most current therapeutics for AD. In addition, treated mice displayed decreased inflammation, amyloid plaques, NFTs, cell death, and an extended life by 2 mo. These results suggest TFP5 as a potential therapeutic, toxicity-free candidate for AD.
AB - Alzheimer's disease (AD), one of the leading neurodegenerative disorders of older adults, which causes major socioeconomic burdens globally, lacks effective therapeutics without significant side effects. Besides the hallmark pathology of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), it has been reported that cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5), a critical neuronal kinase, is hyperactivated in AD brains and is, in part, responsible for the above pathology. Here we show that a modified truncated 24-aa peptide (TFP5), derived from the Cdk5 activator p35, penetrates the blood-brain barrier after intraperitoneal injections, inhibits abnormal Cdk5 hyperactivity, and significantly rescues AD pathology (up to 70-80%) in 5XFAD AD model mice. The mutant mice, injected with TFP5 exhibit behavioral rescue, whereas no rescue was observed in mutant mice injected with either saline or scrambled peptide. However, TFP5 does not inhibit cell cycle Cdks or normal Cdk5/p35 activity, and thereby has no toxic side effects (even at 200 mg/kg), a common problem in most current therapeutics for AD. In addition, treated mice displayed decreased inflammation, amyloid plaques, NFTs, cell death, and an extended life by 2 mo. These results suggest TFP5 as a potential therapeutic, toxicity-free candidate for AD.
KW - Cdk5 hyperphosphorylation
KW - Neurodegeneration
KW - Therapeutics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84871862823&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84871862823&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1096/fj.12-217497
DO - 10.1096/fj.12-217497
M3 - Article
C2 - 23038754
AN - SCOPUS:84871862823
SN - 0892-6638
VL - 27
SP - 174
EP - 186
JO - FASEB Journal
JF - FASEB Journal
IS - 1
ER -