Key result
In a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease, APOE4 was associated with higher long-term potentiation compared to APOE3, and exogenous angiotensin II suppressed this potentiation by approximately 20%.
Why the study?
The extent to which APOE genotype and angiotensin II modulate the hippocampal neuronal phenotype in Alzheimer disease models was unknown.
Effect estimate: ~20% lower
APOE4 and Aβ are associated with lower basal hippocampal activity but higher responses to high-frequency stimulation, which is suppressed by angiotensin II, suggesting a mechanistic link in Alzheimer's disease.
Does not inform clinical AD management; hypothesis-generating for APOE4-angiotensin II effects on early hippocampal neurons in models.
Progressive hippocampal degeneration is a key component of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) progression. Therefore, identifying how hippocampal neuronal function is modulated early in AD is an important approach to eventually prevent degeneration. AD-risk factors and signaling molecules likely modulate neuronal function, including APOE genotype and angiotensin II. Compared to APOE3 , APOE4 increases AD risk up to 12-fold, and high levels of angiotensin II are hypothesized to disrupt neuronal function in AD. However, the extent that APOE and angiotensin II modulates the hippocampal neuronal phenotype in AD-relevant models is unknown. To address this issue, we used electrophysiological techniques to assess the impact of APOE genotype and angiotensin II on basal synaptic transmission, presynaptic and post-synaptic activity in mice that express human APOE3 (E3FAD) or APOE4 (E4FAD) and overproduce Aβ. We found that compared to E3FAD mice, E4FAD mice had lower basal synaptic activity, but higher levels of paired pulse facilitation (PPF) and Long-Term Potentiation (LTP) in the Schaffer Collateral Commissural Pathway (SCCP) of the hippocampus. We also found that exogenous angiotensin II has a profound inhibitory effect on hippocampal LTP in both E3FAD and E4FAD mice. Collectively, our data suggests that APOE4 and Aβ are associated with a hippocampal phenotype comprised of lower basal activity and higher responses to high frequency stimulation, the latter of which is suppressed by angiotensin II. These novel data suggest a potential mechanistic link between hippocampal activity, APOE4 genotype and angiotensin II in AD.
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Scheinman et al. (2023) studied Alzheimer's disease. Angiotensin II vs. Vehicle was evaluated on Long-term potentiation (LTP) magnitude (~20% lower). In a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease, APOE4 was associated with higher long-term potentiation compared to APOE3, and exogenous angiotensin II suppressed this potentiation by approximately 20%.
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