Anti-Diabetes Drug Pioglitazone Ameliorates Synaptic Defects in AD Transgenic Mice by Inhibiting Cyclin-Dependent Kinase5 Activity

作者：Chen Jinan^*; Li Shenghua; Sun Wenshan; Li Junrong

来源：PLos One, 2015, 10(4): e0123864.

DOI：10.1371/journal.pone.0123864

Cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5) is a serine/threonine kinase that is activated by the neuron specific activators p35/p39 and plays many important roles in neuronal development. However, aberrant activation of Cdk5 is believed to be associated with the pathogenesis of several neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD). Here in the present study, enhanced Cdk5 activity was observed in mouse models of AD; whereas soluble amyloid-beta oligomers (A beta), which contribute to synaptic failures during AD pathogenesis, induced Cdk5 hyperactivation in cultured hippocampal neurons. Inhibition of Cdk5 activity by pharmacological or genetic approaches reversed dendritic spine loss caused by soluble amyloid-beta oligomers (A beta) treatment. Interestingly, we found that the anti-diabetes drug pioglitazone could inhibit Cdk5 activity by decreasing p35 protein level. More importantly, pioglitazone treatment corrected long-term potentiation (LTP) deficit caused by A beta exposure in cultured slices and pioglitazone administration rescued impaired LTP and spatial memory in AD mouse models. Taken together, our study describes an unanticipated role of pioglitazone in alleviating AD and reveals a potential therapeutic drug for AD curing.

• 出版日期2015-4-14
• 单位南京医科大学