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The Journal of Neuroscience, January 15, 2002, 22(2):365-376
Contrasting, Species-Dependent Modulation of Copper-Mediated
Neurotoxicity by the Alzheimer's Disease Amyloid Precursor Protein
Anthony R.
White1,
Gerd
Multhaup2,
Denise
Galatis1,
William J.
McKinstry3,
Michael W.
Parker3,
Rüdiger
Pipkorn4,
Konrad
Beyreuther2,
Colin L.
Masters1, and
Roberto
Cappai1
1 Department of Pathology, The University of Melbourne,
Victoria 3010, and The Mental Health Research Institute, Parkville,
Victoria 3052, Australia, 2 Center for Molecular
Biology, The University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg D-69120, Germany,
3 The Biota Structural Biology Laboratory, St. Vincent's
Institute of Medical Research, Fitzroy, Victoria 3065, Australia, and
4 German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg D-69120,
Germany
The amyloid precursor protein (APP) of Alzheimer's disease (AD)
has a copper binding domain (CuBD) located in the N-terminal cysteine-rich region that can strongly bind copper(II) and reduce it to
Cu(I) in vitro. The CuBD sequence is similar among the
APP family paralogs [amyloid precursor-like proteins (APLP1 and
APLP2)] and its orthologs (including Drosophila
melanogaster, Xenopus laevis, and
Caenorhabditis elegans), suggesting an overall
conservation in its function or activity. The APP CuBD is involved in
modulating Cu homeostasis and amyloid peptide production. In this
paper, we demonstrate for the first time that Cu-metallated full-length APP ectodomain induces neuronal cell death in vitro. APP
Cu neurotoxicity can be induced directly or potentiated through
Cu(I)-mediated oxidation of low-density lipoprotein, a finding that may
have important implications for the role of lipoproteins and membrane cholesterol composition in AD. Cu toxicity induced by human APP, Xenopus APP, and APLP2 CuBDs is dependent on
conservation of histidine residues at positions corresponding to 147 and 151 of human APP. Intriguingly, APP orthologs with different amino
acid residues at these positions had dramatically altered Cu
phenotypes. The corresponding C. elegans APL-1 CuBD,
which has tyrosine and lysine residues at positions 147 and 151, respectively, strongly protected against Cu-mediated lipid peroxidation
and neurotoxicity in vitro. Replacement of histidines
147 and 151 with tyrosine and lysine residues conferred this
neuroprotective Cu phenotype to human APP, APLP2, and
Xenopus APP CuBD peptides. Moreover, we show that the
toxic and protective CuBD phenotypes are associated with differences in
Cu binding and reduction. These studies identify a significant evolutionary change in the function of the CuBD in modulating Cu
metabolism. Our findings also suggest that targeting of inhibitors to
histidine residues at positions 147 and 151 of APP could significantly alter the oxidative potential of APP.
Key words:
oxidative stress; neurodegeneration; transition metals; Caenorhabditis elegans; cell culture; lipoprotein
Copyright © 2002 Society for Neuroscience 0270-6474/02/222365-12$05.00/0
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