Blockade of the Interaction of Calcineurin with FOXO in Astrocytes Protects Against Amyloid-βInduced Neuronal Death

Astrocytes actively participate in neuro-inflammatory processes associated to Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and other brain pathologies. We recently showed that an astrocyte-specific intracellular signaling pathway involving an interaction of the phosphatase calcineurin with the transcription factor FOX...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Navarro Garrido, Victoria, Vitorica Ferrández, Francisco Javier, Fernández, Ana M., Hervasa, Rubén, Gómez Gutiérrez, Patricia, Vega, Miguel
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2016
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Sevilla (US)
Repositorio:idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
OAI Identifier:oai:idus.us.es:11441/87652
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/11441/87652
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Alzheimer’s disease
Astrocytes
Calcineurin
Decoy compounds
FOXO
Descripción
Sumario:Astrocytes actively participate in neuro-inflammatory processes associated to Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and other brain pathologies. We recently showed that an astrocyte-specific intracellular signaling pathway involving an interaction of the phosphatase calcineurin with the transcription factor FOXO3 is a major driver in AD associated pathological inflammation, suggesting a potential new druggable target for this devastating disease. We have now developed decoy molecules to interfere with calcineurin/FOXO3 interactions, and tested them in astrocytes and neuronal co-cultures exposed to amyloid-β (Aβ) toxicity. We observed that interference of calcineurin/FOXO3 interactions exerts a protective action against A-induced neuronal death and favors the production of a set of growth factors that we hypothesize form part of a cytoprotective pathway to resolve inflammation. Furthermore, interference of the A-induced interaction of calcineurin with FOXO3 by decoy compounds significantly decreased amyloid-β protein precursor (AβPP) synthesis, reduced the AβPP amyloidogenic pathway, resulting in lower Alevels, and blocked the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines TNFα and IL-6 in astrocytes. Collectively, these data indicate that interrupting pro-inflammatory calcineurin/FOXO3 interactions in astrocytes triggered by Aβ accumulation in brain may constitute an effective new therapeutic approach in AD. Future studies with intranasal delivery, or brain barrier permeable decoy compounds, are warranted.