Diabetes mellitus and Alzheimer's disease: Vacuolar adenosine triphosphatase as a potential link

Abstract Globally, the incidence of diabetes mellitus (DM) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) is increasing year by year, causing a huge economic and social burden, and their pathogenesis and aetiology have been proven to have a certain correlation. In recent years, more and more studies have shown that vacuolar adenosine triphosphatases (v‐ATPases) in eukaryotes, which are biomolecules regulating lysosomal acidification and glycolipid metabolism, play a key role in DM and AD. This article describes the role of v‐ATPase in DM and AD, including its role in glycolysis, insulin secretion and insulin resistance (IR), as well as its relationship with lysosomal acidification, autophagy and β‐amyloid (Aβ). In DM, v‐ATPase is involved in the regulation of glucose metabolism and IR. v‐ATPase is closely related to glycolysis. On the one hand, v‐ATPase affects the rate of glycolysis by affecting the secretion of insulin and changing the activities of key glycolytic enzymes hexokinase (HK) and phosphofructokinase 1 (PFK‐1). On the other hand, glucose is the main regulator of this enzyme, and the assembly and activity of v‐ATPase depend on glucose, and glucose depletion will lead to its decomposition and inactivation. In addition, v‐ATPase can also regulate free fatty acids, thereby improving IR. In AD, v‐ATPase can not only improve the abnormal brain energy metabolism by affecting lysosomal acidification and autophagy but also change the deposition of Aβ by affecting the production and degradation of Aβ. Therefore, v‐ATPase may be the bridge between DM and AD.