Abstract
β-Site APP-cleaving enzyme 1 (BACE1) is required for the penultimate cleavage of the amyloid-β precursor protein (APP) leading to the generation of amyloid-β peptides that is central to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. In addition to its role in endoproteolysis of APP, BACE1 participates in the proteolytic processing of neuregulin 1 (NRG1) and influences the myelination of central and peripheral axons. Although NRG1 has been genetically linked to schizophrenia and NRG1+/- mice exhibit a number of schizophrenia-like behavioral traits, it is not known whether altered BACE1-dependent NRG1 signaling can cause similar behavioral abnormalities. To test this hypothesis, we analyze the behaviors considered to be rodent analogs of clinical features of schizophrenia in BACE1-/- mice with impaired processing of NRG1. We demonstrate that BACE1-/- mice exhibit deficits in prepulse inhibition, novelty-induced hyperactivity, hypersensitivity to a glutamatergic psychostimulant (MK-801), cognitive impairments, and deficits in social recognition. Importantly, some of these manifestations were responsive to treatment with clozapine, an atypical antipsychotic drug. Moreover, although the total amount of ErbB4, a receptor for NRG1 was not changed, binding of ErbB4 with postsynaptic density protein 95 (PSD95) was significantly reduced in the brains of BACE1-/- mice. Consistent with the role of ErbB4 in spine morphology and synaptic function, BACE1 -/- mice displayed reduced spine density in hippocampal pyramidal neurons. Collectively, our findings suggest that alterations in BACE1-dependent NRG1/ErbB4 signalingmayparticipate in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia and related psychiatric disorders.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 5585-5590 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |
Volume | 105 |
Issue number | 14 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Apr 8 2008 |
Keywords
- Clozapine
- Dizocilpine
- Neuregulin
- Prepulse inhibition
- Spine density
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General