Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia. An early feature of the AD pathology is the dysregulation of intracellular Ca2+ signaling in neurons. In particular, increased Ca2+ release from endoplasmic reticulum-located Ca2+ channels, including inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate type 1 receptors (IP3R1) and ryanodine receptors type 2 (RyR2), have been extensively reported. Known for its anti-apoptotic properties, Bcl-2 also has the ability to bind to and inhibit the Ca2+-flux properties of IP3Rs and RyRs. In this study, the hypothesis that the expression of Bcl-2 proteins can normalize dysregulated Ca2+ signaling in a mouse model of AD (5xFAD) and thereby prevent or slow the progression of AD was examined. Therefore, stereotactic injections of adeno-associated viral vectors expressing Bcl-2 proteins were performed in the CA1 region of the 5xFAD mouse hippocampus. In order to assess the importance of the association with IP3R1, the Bcl-2K17D mutant was also included in these experiments. This K17D mutation has been previously shown to decrease the association of Bcl-2 with IP3R1, thereby impairing its ability to inhibit IP3R1 while not affecting Bcl-2's ability to inhibit RyRs. Here, we demonstrate that Bcl-2 protein expression leads to synaptoprotective and amyloid-protective effects in the 5xFAD animal model. Several of these neuroprotective features are also observed by Bcl-2K17D protein expression, suggesting that these effects are not associated with Bcl-2-mediated inhibition of IP3R1. Potential mechanisms for this Bcl-2 synaptoprotective action may be related to its ability to inhibit RyR2 activity as Bcl-2 and Bcl-2K17D are equally potent in inhibiting RyR2-mediated Ca2+ fluxes. This work indicates that Bcl-2-based strategies hold neuroprotective potential in AD models, though the underlying mechanisms requires further investigation.