Frechilla, D. (Diana)

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    Overexpression of wild-type human APP in mice causes cognitive déficits and pathological features unrelated to Abeta levels
    (Elsevier, 2009-03) Frechilla, D. (Diana); Perez-Mediavilla, L.A. (Luis Alberto); Salazar-Colocho, P. (Pablo); Simon, A.M. (Ana María); Cuadrado-Tejedor, M. (Mar); Schiapparelli, L. (Lucio); Rio, J. (Joaquín) del; Raquel; Escribano, L. (Luis)
    Transgenic mice expressing mutant human amyloid precursor protein (APP) develop an age-dependent amyloid pathology and memory deficits, but no overt neuronal loss. Here, in mice overexpressing wild-type human APP (hAPPwt) we found an early memory impairment, particularly in the water maze and to a lesser extent in the object recognition task, but β-amyloid peptide (Aβ42) was barely detectable in the hippocampus. In these mice, hAPP processing was basically non-amyloidogenic, with high levels of APP carboxy-terminal fragments, C83 and APP intracellular domain. A tau pathology with an early increase in the levels of phosphorylated tau in the hippocampus, a likely consequence of enhanced ERK1/2 activation, was also observed. Furthermore, these mice presented a loss of synapse-associated proteins: PSD95, AMPA and NMDA receptor subunits and phosphorylated CaMKII. Importantly, signs of neurodegeneration were found in the hippocampal CA1 subfield and in the entorhinal cortex that were associated to a marked loss of MAP2 immunoreactivity. Conversely, in mice expressing mutant hAPP, high levels of Aβ42 were found in the hippocampus, but no signs of neurodegeneration were apparent. The results support the notion of Aβ- independent pathogenic pathways in Alzheimer's disease.
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    Rosiglitazone Rescues Memory Impairment in Alzheimer's Transgenic Mice: Mechanisms Involving a Reduced Amyloid and Tau Pathology
    (NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP, 2010-03) Frechilla, D. (Diana); Perez-Mediavilla, L.A. (Luis Alberto); Ricobaraza, A. (Ana); Gimeno, E. (Esther); Garcia-Osta, A. (Ana); Simon, A.M. (Ana María); Cuadrado-Tejedor, M. (Mar); Rio, J. (Joaquín) del; Raquel; Escribano, L. (Luis)
    Clinical studies suggest that agonists at peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) may exert beneficial effects in patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD), but the mechanism for the potential therapeutic interest of this class of drugs has not yet been elucidated. Here, in mice overexpressing mutant human amyloid precursor protein, we found that chronic treatment with rosiglitazone, a high-affinity agonist at PPARγ, facilitated β-amyloid peptide (Aβ) clearance. Rosiglitazone not only reduced Aβ burden in the brain but, importantly, almost completely removed the abundant amyloid plaques observed in the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex of 13-month-old transgenic mice. In the hippocampus, neuropil threads containing phosphorylated tau, probably corresponding to dystrophic neurites, were also decreased by the drug. Rosiglitazone switched on the activated microglial phenotype, promoting its phagocytic ability, reducing the expression of proinflammatory markers and inducing factors for alternative differentiation. The decreased amyloid pathology may account for the reduction of p-tau-containing neuropil threads and for the rescue of impaired recognition and spatial memory in the transgenic mice. This study provides further insights into the mechanisms for the beneficial effect of rosiglitazone in AD patients.
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    Enhanced expression of the voltage-dependent anion channel 1 (VDAC1) in Alzheimer's disease transgenic mice: an insight into the pathogenic effects of amyloid-β
    (IOS Press, 2011) Frechilla, D. (Diana); Perez-Mediavilla, L.A. (Luis Alberto); Cabodevilla, F. (Felipe); Vilariño, M. (Marcos); Cuadrado-Tejedor, M. (Mar); Rio, J. (Joaquín) del
    The mitochondrial voltage-dependent anion channel 1 (VDAC1) is involved in the release of apoptotic proteins with possible relevance in Alzheimer's disease (AD) neuropathology. Through proteomic analysis followed by Western blotting and immunohistochemical techniques, we have found that VDAC1 is overexpressed in the hippocampus from amyloidogenic AD transgenic mice models. VDAC1 was also overexpressed in postmortem brain tissue from AD patients at an advanced stage of the disease. Interestingly, amyloid-β (Aβ) soluble oligomers were able to induce upregulation of VDAC1 in a human neuroblastoma cell line, further supporting a correlation between Aβ levels and VDAC1 expression. In hippocampal extracts from transgenic mice, a significant increase was observed in the levels of VDAC1 phosphorylated at an epitope that is susceptible to phosphorylation by glycogen synthase kinase-3β, whose activity was also increased. The levels of hexokinase I (HXKI), which interacts with VDAC1 and affects its function, were decreased in mitochondrial samples from AD models. Since phospho-VDAC and reduced HXKI levels favors a VDAC1 conformational state more prone to the release proapoptotic factors, regulation of the function of this channel may be a promising therapeutic approach to combat AD.
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    Early Changes in Hippocampal Eph Receptors Precede the Onset of Memory Decline in Mouse Models of Alzheimer’s Disease
    (IOS Press, 2009-01-22) Frechilla, D. (Diana); Avila, J. (Jesús); Perez-Mediavilla, L.A. (Luis Alberto); Ricobaraza, A. (Ana); Simon, A.M. (Ana María); Cuadrado-Tejedor, M. (Mar); Schiapparelli, L. (Lucio); Rio, J. (Joaquín) del; Raquel; Escribano, L. (Luis)
    Abstract. Synapse loss occurs early in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and is considered the best pathological correlate of cognitive decline. Ephrins and Eph receptors are involved in regulation of excitatory neurotransmission and play a role in cytoskeleton remodeling. We asked whether alterations in Eph receptors could underlie cognitive impairment in an AD mouse model overexpressing human amyloid-β protein precursor (hAβPP) with familial mutations (hAβPPswe-ind mice). We found that EphA4 and EphB2 receptors were reduced in the hippocampus before the development of impaired object recognition and spatial memory. Similar results were obtained in another line of transgenic AβPP mice, Tg2576. A reduction in Eph receptor levels was also found in postmortem hippocampal tissue from patients with incipient AD. At the time of onset of memory decline in hAβPPswe-ind mice, no change in surface expression of AMPA or NMDA receptor subunits was apparent, but we found changes in Eph-receptor downstream signaling, in particular a decrease in membrane-associated phospho-cofilin levels that may cause cytoskeletal changes and disrupted synaptic activity. Consistent with this finding, Eph receptor activation in cell culture increased phospho-cofilin levels. The results suggest that alterations in Eph receptors may play a role in synaptic dysfunction in the hippocampus leading to cognitive impairment in a model of AD.
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    Phenylbutyrate ameliorates cognitive deficit and reduces tau pathology in an Alzheimer's disease mouse model
    (Nature Publishing Group, 2009-06) Frechilla, D. (Diana); Perez-Mediavilla, L.A. (Luis Alberto); Ricobaraza, A. (Ana); Garcia-Osta, A. (Ana); Cuadrado-Tejedor, M. (Mar); Rio, J. (Joaquín) del
    Chromatin modification through histone acetylation is a molecular pathway involved in the regulation of transcription underlying memory storage. Sodium 4-phenylbutyrate (4-PBA) is a well-known histone deacetylase inhibitor, which increases gene transcription of a number of genes, and also exerts neuroprotective effects. In this study, we report that administration of 4-PBA reversed spatial learning and memory deficits in an established mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) without altering b-amyloid burden. We also observed that the phosphorylated form of tau was decreased in the AD mouse brain after 4-PBA treatment, an effect probably due to an increase in the inactive form of the glycogen synthase kinase 3b (GSK3b). Interestingly, we found a dramatic decrease in brain histone acetylation in the transgenic mice that may reflect an indirect transcriptional repression underlying memory impairment. The administration of 4-PBA restored brain histone acetylation levels and, as a most likely consequence, activated the transcription of synaptic plasticity markers such as the GluR1 subunit of the AMPA receptor, PSD95, and microtubule-associated protein-2. The results suggest that 4-PBA, a drug already approved for clinical use, may provide a novel approach for the treatment of AD.
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    Ischemia induces cell proliferation and neurogenesis in the gerbil hippocampus in response to neuronal death
    (Elsevier, 2008) Frechilla, D. (Diana); Lanciego, J.L. (José Luis); Salazar-Colocho, P. (Pablo); Rio, J. (Joaquín) del
    We studied hippocampal cellular proliferation and neurogenesis processes in a model of transient global cerebral ischemia in gerbils by labelling dividing cells with 5'-Bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU). Surrounding the region of selective neuronal death (CA1 pyramidal layer of the hippocampus), an important increase in reactive astrocytes and BrdU-labelled cells was detected 5 days after ischemia. A similar result was found in the dentate gyrus (DG) 12 days after ischemia. The differentiation of the BrdU+ cells was investigated 28 days after BrdU administration by analyzing the morphology, anatomic localization and cell phenotype by triple fluorescent labelling (BrdU, adult neural marker NeuN and DNA marker TOPRO-3) using confocal laser-scanning microscopy. This analysis showed increased neurogenesis in the DG in case of ischemia and triple positive labelling in some newborn cells in CA1. Seven brain hemispheres from gerbils subjected to ischemia did not develop CA1 neuronal death; hippocampus from these hemispheres did not show any of the above mentioned findings. Our results indicate that ischemia triggers proliferation in CA1 and neurogenesis in the DG in response to CA1 pyramidal neuronal death, independently of the reduced cerebral blood flow or the cell migration from subventricular zone (SVZ).
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    Chronic mild stress accelerates the onset and progression of the Alzheimer's disease phenotype in tg2576 mice
    (Ios Press, 2012-01) Frechilla, D. (Diana); Perez-Mediavilla, L.A. (Luis Alberto); Ricobaraza, A. (Ana); Franco, R. (Rafael); Garcia-Osta, A. (Ana); Cuadrado-Tejedor, M. (Mar)
    The etiology of the more common (sporadic) forms of Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains unknown, although age is the most important risk factor. Nevertheless, interactions between environmental risk factors and genetic background may also influence the onset and progression of sporadic AD. Chronic stress, associated with altered memory and other neurological processes, is thought to influence the pathogenesis of AD. Hence, we evaluated the effect of unpredictable and consecutive chronic mild stressors on the onset of an AD-related pathology in the Tg2576 mouse line that overexpresses the human amyloid-β protein precursor with the Swedish mutation (hAβPPSwe). Two months after exposure to chronic mild stress, 4 month-old animals that normally display no pathological features of AD, not only expressed pathological markers but also experienced cognitive dysfunction in the Morris water maze test. These findings suggest that chronic mild stress accelerates the onset of cognitive impairment and produces an increase in hippocampal amyloid-β and phospho-tau levels on a background of AD susceptibility.