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Hyman, Bradley

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Bradley

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Hyman, Bradley
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    Genetic Meta-Analysis of Diagnosed Alzheimer’s Disease Identifies New Risk Loci and Implicates Aβ, Tau, Immunity and Lipid Processing
    (Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2019-02-28) Grenier-Boley, Benjamin; Sims, Rebecca; Bis, Joshua C.; Damotte, Vincent; Naj, Adam C.; Boland, Anne; Vronskaya, Maria; van der Lee, Sven J.; Amlie-Wolf, Alexandre; Bellenguez, Céline; Frizatti, Aura; Chouraki, Vincent; Martin, Eden R.; Sleegers, Kristel; Badarinarayan, Nandini; Jakobsdottir, Johanna; Hamilton-Nelson, Kara L.; Moreno-Grau, Sonia; Olaso, Robert; Raybould, Rachel; Chen, Yuning; Kuzma, Amanda B.; Hiltunen, Mikko; Morgan, Taniesha; Ahmad, Shahzad; Vardarajan, Badri N.; Epelbaum, Jacques; Hoffmann, Per; Boada, Merce; Beecham, Gary W.; Garnier, Jean-Guillaume; Harold, Denise; Fitzpatrick, Annette L.; Valladares, Otto; Moutet, Marie-Laure; Gerrish, Amy; Smith, Albert V.; Qu, Liming; Bacq, Delphine; Denning, Nicola; Jian, Xueqiu; Zhao, Yi; Del Zompo, Maria; Fox, Nick C.; Choi, Seung-Hoan; Mateo, Ignacio; Hughes, Joseph T.; Adams, Hieab H.; Malamon, John; Sanchez-Garcia, Florentino; Patel, Yogen; Brody, Jennifer A.; Dombroski, Beth A.; Naranjo, Maria Candida Deniz; Daniilidou, Makrina; Eiriksdottir, Gudny; Mukherjee, Shubhabrata; Wallon, David; Uphill, James; Aspelund, Thor; Cantwell, Laura B.; Garzia, Fabienne; Galimberti, Daniela; Hofer, Edith; Butkiewicz, Mariusz; Fin, Bertrand; Scarpini, Elio; Sarnowski, Chloe; Bush, Will S.; Meslage, Stéphane; Kornhuber, Johannes; White, Charles C.; Song, Yuenjoo; Barber, Robert C.; Engelborghs, Sebastiaan; Sordon, Sabrina; Voijnovic, Dina; Adams, Perrie M.; Vandenberghe, Rik; Mayhaus, Manuel; Cupples, L. Adrienne; Albert, Marilyn S.; De Deyn, Peter P.; Gu, Wei; Himali, Jayanadra J.; Beekly, Duane; Squassina, Alessio; Hartmann, Annette M.; Orellana, Adelina; Blacker, Deborah; Rodriguez-Rodriguez, Eloy; Lovestone, Simon; Garcia, Melissa E.; Doody, Rachelle S.; Munoz-Fernadez, Carmen; Sussams, Rebecca; Lin, Honghuang; Fairchild, Thomas J.; Benito, Yolanda A.; Holmes, Clive; Karamujić-Čomić, Hata; Frosch, Matthew P.; Thonberg, Hakan; Maier, Wolfgang; Roshchupkin, Gennady; Ghetti, Bernardino; Giedraitis, Vilmantas; Kawalia, Amit; Li, Shuo; Huebinger, Ryan M.; Kilander, Lena; Moebus, Susanne; Hernández, Isabel; Kamboh, M. Ilyas; Brundin, RoseMarie; Turton, James; Yang, Qiong; Katz, Mindy J.; Concari, Letizia; Lord, Jenny; Beiser, Alexa S.; Keene, C. Dirk; Helisalmi, Seppo; Kloszewska, Iwona; Kukull, Walter A.; Koivisto, Anne Maria; Lynch, Aoibhinn; Tarraga, Lluís; Larson, Eric B.; Haapasalo, Annakaisa; Lawlor, Brian; Mosley, Thomas H.; Lipton, Richard B.; Solfrizzi, Vincenzo; Gill, Michael; Longstreth, W. T.; Montine, Thomas J.; Frisardi, Vincenza; Diez-Fairen, Monica; Rivadeneira, Fernando; Petersen, Ronald C.; Deramecourt, Vincent; Alvarez, Ignacio; Salani, Francesca; Ciaramella, Antonio; Boerwinkle, Eric; Reiman, Eric M.; Fievet, Nathalie; Rotter, Jerome I.; Reisch, Joan S.; Hanon, Olivier; Cupidi, Chiara; Andre Uitterlinden, A. G.; Royall, Donald R.; Dufouil, Carole; Maletta, Raffaele Giovanni; de Rojas, Itziar; Sano, Mary; Brice, Alexis; Cecchetti, Roberta; George-Hyslop, Peter St; Ritchie, Karen; Tsolaki, Magda; Tsuang, Debby W.; Dubois, Bruno; Craig, David; Wu, Chuang-Kuo; Soininen, Hilkka; Avramidou, Despoina; Albin, Roger L.; Fratiglioni, Laura; Germanou, Antonia; Apostolova, Liana G.; Keller, Lina; Koutroumani, Maria; Arnold, Steven E.; Panza, Francesco; Gkatzima, Olymbia; Asthana, Sanjay; Hannequin, Didier; Whitehead, Patrice; Atwood, Craig S.; Caffarra, Paolo; Hampel, Harald; Quintela, Inés; Carracedo, Ángel; Lannfelt, Lars; Rubinsztein, David C.; Barnes, Lisa L.; Pasquier, Florence; Frölich, Lutz; Barral, Sandra; McGuinness, Bernadette; Beach, Thomas G.; Johnston, Janet A.; Becker, James T.; Passmore, Peter; Bigio, Eileen H.; Schott, Jonathan M.; Bird, Thomas D.; Warren, Jason D.; Boeve, Bradley F.; Lupton, Michelle K.; Bowen, James D.; Proitsi, Petra; Boxer, Adam; Powell, John F.; Burke, James R.; Kauwe, John S. K.; Burns, Jeffrey M.; Mancuso, Michelangelo; Buxbaum, Joseph D.; Bonuccelli, Ubaldo; Cairns, Nigel J.; McQuillin, Andrew; Cao, Chuanhai; Livingston, Gill; Carlson, Chris S.; Bass, Nicholas J.; Carlsson, Cynthia M.; Hardy, John; Carney, Regina M.; Bras, Jose; Carrasquillo, Minerva M.; Guerreiro, Rita; Allen, Mariet; Chui, Helena C.; Fisher, Elizabeth; Masullo, Carlo; Crocco, Elizabeth A.; DeCarli, Charles; Bisceglio, Gina; Dick, Malcolm; Ma, Li; Duara, Ranjan; Graff-Radford, Neill R.; Evans, Denis A.; Hodges, Angela; Faber, Kelley M.; Scherer, Martin; Fallon, Kenneth B.; Riemenschneider, Matthias; Fardo, David W.; Heun, Reinhard; Farlow, Martin R.; Kölsch, Heike; Ferris, Steven; Leber, Markus; Foroud, Tatiana M.; Heuser, Isabella; Galasko, Douglas R.; Giegling, Ina; Gearing, Marla; Hüll, Michael; Geschwind, Daniel H.; Gilbert, John R.; Morris, John; Mayo, Kevin; Feulner, Thomas; Hamilton, Ronald L.; Harrell, Lindy E.; Drichel, Dmitriy; Honig, Lawrence S.; Cushion, Thomas D.; Huentelman, Matthew J.; Hollingworth, Paul; Hulette, Christine M.; Marshall, Rachel; Jarvik, Gail P.; Meggy, Alun; Abner, Erin; Menzies, Georgina E.; Jin, Lee-Way; Leonenko, Ganna; Real, Luis M.; Jun, Gyungah R.; Baldwin, Clinton T.; Grozeva, Detelina; Karydas, Anna; Russo, Giancarlo; Kaye, Jeffrey A.; Kim, Ronald; Jessen, Frank; Kowall, Neil W.; Vellas, Bruno; Kramer, Joel H.; Vardy, Emma; LaFerla, Frank M.; Jöckel, Karl-Heinz; Lah, James J.; Dichgans, Martin; Leverenz, James B.; Mann, David; Levey, Allan I.; Pickering-Brown, Stuart; Lieberman, Andrew P.; Klopp, Norman; Lunetta, Kathryn L.; Wichmann, H-Erich; Lyketsos, Constantine G.; Morgan, Kevin; Marson, Daniel C.; Brown, Kristelle; Martiniuk, Frank; Medway, Christopher; Mash, Deborah C.; Nöthen, Markus M.; Masliah, Eliezer; Hooper, Nigel M.; McCormick, Wayne C.; Daniele, Antonio; McCurry, Susan M.; Bayer, Anthony; McDavid, Andrew N.; Gallacher, John; McKee, Ann C.; van den Bussche, Hendrik; Mesulam, Marsel; Brayne, Carol; Miller, Bruce L.; Riedel-Heller, Steffi; Miller, Carol A.; Miller, Joshua W.; Al-Chalabi, Ammar; Morris, John C.; Shaw, Christopher E.; Myers, Amanda J.; Wiltfang, Jens; O’Bryant, Sid; Olichney, John M.; Alvarez, Victoria; Parisi, Joseph E.; Singleton, Andrew B.; Paulson, Henry L.; Collinge, John; Perry, William R.; Mead, Simon; Peskind, Elaine; Cribbs, David H.; Rossor, Martin; Pierce, Aimee; Ryan, Natalie S.; Poon, Wayne W.; Nacmias, Benedetta; Potter, Huntington; Sorbi, Sandro; Quinn, Joseph F.; Sacchinelli, Eleonora; Raj, Ashok; Spalletta, Gianfranco; Raskind, Murray; Caltagirone, Carlo; Bossù, Paola; Orfei, Maria Donata; Reisberg, Barry; Clarke, Robert; Reitz, Christiane; Smith, A David; Ringman, John M.; Warden, Donald; Roberson, Erik D.; Wilcock, Gordon; Rogaeva, Ekaterina; Bruni, Amalia Cecilia; Rosen, Howard J.; Gallo, Maura; Rosenberg, Roger N.; Ben-Shlomo, Yoav; Sager, Mark A.; Mecocci, Patrizia; Saykin, Andrew J.; Pastor, Pau; Cuccaro, Michael L.; Vance, Jeffery M.; Schneider, Julie A.; Schneider, Lori S.; Slifer, Susan; Seeley, William W.; Smith, Amanda G.; Sonnen, Joshua A.; Spina, Salvatore; Stern, Robert A.; Swerdlow, Russell H.; Tang, Mitchell; Trojanowski, John Q.; Troncoso, Juan C.; Van Deerlin, Vivianna M.; Van Eldik, Linda J.; Vinters, Harry V.; Vonsattel, Jean Paul; Weintraub, Sandra; Welsh-Bohmer, Kathleen A.; Wilhelmsen, Kirk C.; Williamson, Jennifer; Wingo, Thomas S.; Woltjer, Randall L.; Wright, Clinton B.; Yu, Chang-En; Yu, Lei; Saba, Yasaman; Pilotto, Alberto; Bullido, Maria J.; Peters, Oliver; Crane, Paul K.; Bennett, David; Bosco, Paola; Coto, Eliecer; Boccardi, Virginia; De Jager, Phil L.; Lleo, Alberto; Warner, Nick; Lopez, Oscar L.; Ingelsson, Martin; Deloukas, Panagiotis; Cruchaga, Carlos; Graff, Caroline; Gwilliam, Rhian; Fornage, Myriam; Goate, Alison M.; Sanchez-Juan, Pascual; Kehoe, Patrick G.; Amin, Najaf; Ertekin-Taner, Nilifur; Berr, Claudine; Debette, Stéphanie; Love, Seth; Launer, Lenore J.; Younkin, Steven G.; Dartigues, Jean-Francois; Corcoran, Chris; Ikram, M. Arfan; Dickson, Dennis W.; Nicolas, Gael; Campion, Dominique; Tschanz, JoAnn; Schmidt, Helena; Hakonarson, Hakon; Clarimon, Jordi; Munger, Ron; Schmidt, Reinhold; Farrer, Lindsay A.; Van Broeckhoven, Christine; C. O’Donovan, Michael; DeStefano, Anita L.; Jones, Lesley; Haines, Jonathan L.; Deleuze, Jean-Francois; Owen, Michael J.; Gudnason, Vilmundur; Mayeux, Richard; Escott-Price, Valentina; Psaty, Bruce M.; Ramirez, Alfredo; Wang, Li-San; Ruiz, Agustin; van Duijn, Cornelia M.; Holmans, Peter A.; Seshadri, Sudha; Williams, Julie; Amouyel, Phillippe; Schellenberg, Gerard D.; Lambert, Jean-Charles; Pericak-Vance, Margaret A.; Kunkle, Brian; Green, Robert; Growdon, John; Hyman, Bradley; Tanzi, Rudolph
    Risk for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (LOAD), the most prevalent dementia, is partially driven by genetics. To identify LOAD risk loci, we performed the largest genome-wide association meta-analysis of clinically diagnosed LOAD to date (94,437 individuals). We confirm 20 previous LOAD risk loci and identify five new genome-wide loci (IQCK, ACE, ADAM10, ADAMTS1 and WWOX). Fine-mapping of the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) region confirms the neurological and immune-mediated disease haplotype HLA-DR15 as a risk factor for LOAD. Pathway analysis implicates immunity, lipid metabolism, tau binding proteins and APP metabolism, showing that genetic variants affecting APP and Aβ processing are not only associated with early-onset autosomal dominant Alzheimer’s disease but also with LOAD. Analysis of risk genes and pathways show enrichment for rare variants (P=1.32x10-7) indicating that additional rare variants remain to be identified. We also identify important genetic correlations between LOAD and traits such as family history of dementia and education.
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    Genome-Encoded Cytoplasmic Double-Stranded RNAs, Found in C9ORF72 ALS-FTD Brain, Propagate Neuronal Loss
    (Science Press / AAAS, 2021-07-07) Rodriguez, Steve; Sahin, Asli; Schrank, Benjamin R.; Al Lawati, Hawra; Costantino, Isabel; Benz, Eric; Fard, Darian; Albers, Alefiya; Cao, Luxiang; Gomez, Alexis; Evans, Kyle; Ratti, Elena; Cudkowicz, Merit; Frosch, Matthew; Talkowski, Michael; Sorger, Peter; Hyman, Bradley; Albers, Mark
    Triggers of innate immune signaling in the CNS of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal degeneration (ALS/FTD) patients remain elusive. We report the presence of cytoplasmic double-stranded RNA (cdsRNA), an established trigger of innate immunity, in ALS-FTD brains carrying C9ORF72 intronic hexanucleotide expansions that included genomically encoded expansions of the G4C2 repeat sequences. Presence of cdsRNA in human brains was coincident with cytoplasmic TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) inclusions, a pathologic hallmark of ALS/FTD. Introducing cdsRNA into cultured human neural cells induced Type I interferon (IFN-I) signaling and death that was rescued by FDA-approved JAK inhibitors. In mice, genomically encoded dsRNAs expressed exclusively in a neuronal class induced IFN-I and death in connected neurons non-cell autonomously. Our findings establish that genomically encoded cdsRNAs trigger sterile, viral-mimetic IFN-I induction, and propagated death within neural circuits and may drive neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration in ALS/FTD patients.
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    Amyloid accelerates tau propagation and toxicity in a model of early Alzheimer’s disease
    (BioMed Central, 2015) Pooler, Amy M; Polydoro, Manuela; Maury, Eduardo A; Nicholls, Samantha B; Reddy, Snigdha M; Wegmann, Susanne; William, Christopher M.; Saqran, Lubna; Cagsal-Getkin, Ozge; Pitstick, Rose; Beier, David R; Carlson, George A; Spires-Jones, Tara L; Hyman, Bradley
    Introduction: In early stages of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) are largely restricted to the entorhinal cortex and medial temporal lobe. At later stages, when clinical symptoms generally occur, NFT involve widespread limbic and association cortices. At this point in the disease, amyloid plaques are also abundantly distributed in the cortex. This observation from human neuropathological studies led us to pose two alternative hypotheses: that amyloid in the cortex is permissive for the spread of tangles from the medial temporal lobe, or that these are co-occurring but not causally related events simply reflecting progression of AD pathology. Results: We now directly test the hypothesis that cortical amyloid acts as an accelerant for spreading of tangles beyond the medial temporal lobe. We crossed rTgTauEC transgenic mice that demonstrate spread of tau from entorhinal cortex to other brain structures at advanced age with APP/PS1 mice, and examined mice with either NFTs, amyloid pathology, or both. We show that concurrent amyloid deposition in the cortex 1) leads to a dramatic increase in the speed of tau propagation and an extraordinary increase in the spread of tau to distal brain regions, and 2) significantly increases tau-induced neuronal loss. Conclusions: These data strongly support the hypothesis that cortical amyloid accelerates the spread of tangles throughout the cortex and amplifies tangle-associated neural system failure in AD. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40478-015-0199-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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    A highly sensitive novel immunoassay specifically detects low levels of soluble Aβ oligomers in human cerebrospinal fluid
    (BioMed Central, 2015) Yang, Ting; O’Malley, Tiernan T; Kanmert, Daniel; Jerecic, Jasna; Zieske, Lynn R; Zetterberg, Henrik; Hyman, Bradley; Walsh, Dominic; Selkoe, Dennis
    Introduction: Amyloid β-protein oligomers play a key role in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but well-validated assays that routinely detect them in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) are just emerging. We sought to confirm and extend a recent study using the Singulex Erenna platform that reported increased mean CSF oligomer levels in AD. Methods: We tested four antibody pairs and chose one pair that was particularly sensitive, using 1C22, our new oligomer-selective monoclonal antibody, for capture. We applied this new assay to extracts of human brain and CSF. Results: A combination of 1C22 for capture and 3D6 for detection yielded an Erenna immunoassay with a lower limit of quantification of approximately 0.15 pg/ml that was highly selective for oligomers over monomers and detected a wide size-range of oligomers. Most CSFs we tested had detectable oligomer levels but with a large overlap between AD and controls and a trend for higher mean levels in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) than controls. Conclusion: Aβ oligomers are detectable in most human CSFs, but AD and controls overlap. MCI CSFs may have a modest elevation in mean value by this assay. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13195-015-0100-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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    Spread of tau down neural circuits precedes synapse and neuronal loss in the rTgTauEC mouse model of early Alzheimer's disease
    (John Wiley and Sons Inc., 2017) Pickett, Eleanor K.; Henstridge, Christopher M.; Allison, Elizabeth; Pitstick, Rose; Pooler, Amy; Wegmann, Susanne; Carlson, George; Hyman, Bradley; Spires‐Jones, Tara L.
    Abstract Synaptic dysfunction and loss is the strongest pathological correlate of cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease (AD) with increasing evidence implicating neuropathological tau protein in this process. Despite the knowledge that tau spreads through defined synaptic circuits, it is currently unknown whether synapse loss occurs before the accumulation of tau or as a consequence. To address this, we have used array tomography to examine an rTgTauEC mouse model expressing a P301L human tau transgene and a transgene labeling cytoplasm red (tdTomato) and presynaptic terminals green (Synaptophysin‐EGFP). All transgenes are restricted primarily to the entorhinal cortex using the neuropsin promotor to drive tTA expression. It has previously been shown that rTgTauEC mice exhibit neuronal loss in the entorhinal cortex and synapse density loss in the middle molecular layer (MML) of the dentate gyrus at 24 months of age. Here, we observed the density of tau‐expressing and total presynapses, and the spread of tau into the postsynapse in the MML of 3–6, 9, and 18 month old red–green‐rTgTauEC mice. We observe no loss of synapse density in the MML up to 18 months even in axons expressing tau. Despite the maintenance of synapse density, we see spread of human tau from presynaptic terminals to postsynaptic compartments in the MML at very early ages, indicating that the spread of tau through neural circuits is not due to the degeneration of axon terminals and is an early feature of the disease process.
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    Tau protein liquid–liquid phase separation can initiate tau aggregation
    (John Wiley and Sons Inc., 2018) Wegmann, Susanne; Eftekharzadeh, Bahareh; Tepper, Katharina; Zoltowska, Katarzyna; Bennett, Rachel; Dujardin, Simon; Laskowski, Pawel R; MacKenzie, Danny; Kamath, Tarun; Commins, Caitlin; Vanderburg, Charles; Roe, Allyson D; Fan, Zhanyun; Molliex, Amandine M; Hernandez‐Vega, Amayra; Muller, Daniel; Hyman, Anthony A; Mandelkow, Eckhard; Taylor, J Paul; Hyman, Bradley
    Abstract The transition between soluble intrinsically disordered tau protein and aggregated tau in neurofibrillary tangles in Alzheimer's disease is unknown. Here, we propose that soluble tau species can undergo liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) under cellular conditions and that phase‐separated tau droplets can serve as an intermediate toward tau aggregate formation. We demonstrate that phosphorylated or mutant aggregation prone recombinant tau undergoes LLPS, as does high molecular weight soluble phospho‐tau isolated from human Alzheimer brain. Droplet‐like tau can also be observed in neurons and other cells. We found that tau droplets become gel‐like in minutes, and over days start to spontaneously form thioflavin‐S‐positive tau aggregates that are competent of seeding cellular tau aggregation. Since analogous LLPS observations have been made for FUS, hnRNPA1, and TDP43, which aggregate in the context of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, we suggest that LLPS represents a biophysical process with a role in multiple different neurodegenerative diseases.
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    Synaptic Tau Seeding Precedes Tau Pathology in Human Alzheimer's Disease Brain
    (Frontiers Media S.A., 2018) Devos, Sarah; Corjuc, Bianca T.; Oakley, Derek; Nobuhara, Chloe K.; Bannon, Riley N.; Chase, Alison; Commins, Caitlin; Gonzalez, Jose A.; Dooley, Patrick M.; Frosch, Matthew; Hyman, Bradley
    Alzheimer's disease (AD) is defined by the presence of intraneuronal neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) composed of hyperphosphorylated tau aggregates as well as extracellular amyloid-beta plaques. The presence and spread of tau pathology through the brain is classified by Braak stages and thought to correlate with the progression of AD. Several in vitro and in vivo studies have examined the ability of tau pathology to move from one neuron to the next, suggesting a “prion-like” spread of tau aggregates may be an underlying cause of Braak tau staging in AD. Using the HEK293 TauRD-P301S-CFP/YFP expressing biosensor cells as a highly sensitive and specific tool to identify the presence of seed competent aggregated tau in brain lysate—i.e., tau aggregates that are capable of recruiting and misfolding monomeric tau—, we detected substantial tau seeding levels in the entorhinal cortex from human cases with only very rare NFTs, suggesting that soluble tau aggregates can exist prior to the development of overt tau pathology. We next looked at tau seeding levels in human brains of varying Braak stages along six regions of the Braak Tau Pathway. Tau seeding levels were detected not only in the brain regions impacted by pathology, but also in the subsequent non-pathology containing region along the Braak pathway. These data imply that pathogenic tau aggregates precede overt tau pathology in a manner that is consistent with transneuronal spread of tau aggregates. We then detected tau seeding in frontal white matter tracts and the optic nerve, two brain regions comprised of axons that contain little to no neuronal cell bodies, implying that tau aggregates can indeed traverse along axons. Finally, we isolated cytosolic and synaptosome fractions along the Braak Tau Pathway from brains of varying Braak stages. Phosphorylated and seed competent tau was significantly enriched in the synaptic fraction of brain regions that did not have extensive cellular tau pathology, further suggesting that aggregated tau seeds move through the human brain along synaptically connected neurons. Together, these data provide further evidence that the spread of tau aggregates through the human brain along synaptically connected networks results in the pathogenesis of human Alzheimer's disease.
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    CRISPR/Cas9 Mediated Disruption of the Swedish APP Allele as a Therapeutic Approach for Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease
    (American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy, 2018) György, Bence; Loov, Camilla; Zaborowski, Mikołaj P.; Takeda, Shuko; Kleinstiver, Benjamin; Commins, Caitlin; Kastanenka, Ksenia; Mu, Dakai; Volak, Adrienn; Giedraitis, Vilmantas; Lannfelt, Lars; Maguire, Casey; Joung, J. Keith; Hyman, Bradley; Breakefield, Xandra; Ingelsson, Martin
    The APPswe (Swedish) mutation in the amyloid precursor protein (APP) gene causes dominantly inherited Alzheimer’s disease (AD) as a result of increased β-secretase cleavage of the amyloid-β (Aβ) precursor protein. This leads to abnormally high Aβ levels, not only in brain but also in peripheral tissues of mutation carriers. Here, we selectively disrupted the human mutant APPSW allele using CRISPR. By applying CRISPR/Cas9 from Streptococcus pyogenes, we generated allele-specific deletions of either APPSW or APPWT. As measured by ELISA, conditioned media of targeted patient-derived fibroblasts displayed an approximate 60% reduction in secreted Aβ. Next, coding sequences for the APPSW-specific guide RNA (gRNA) and Cas9 were packaged into separate adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors. Site-specific indel formation was achieved both in primary neurons isolated from APPSW transgenic mouse embryos (Tg2576) and after co-injection of these vectors into hippocampus of adult mice. Taken together, we here present proof-of-concept data that CRISPR/Cas9 can selectively disrupt the APPSW allele both ex vivo and in vivo—and thereby decrease pathogenic Aβ. Hence, this system may have the potential to be developed as a tool for gene therapy against AD caused by APPswe and other point mutations associated with increased Aβ.
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    Local Nucleation of Microtubule Bundles through Tubulin Concentration into a Condensed Tau Phase
    (2018) Hernández-Vega, Amayra; Braun, Marcus; Scharrel, Lara; Jahnel, Marcus; Wegmann, Susanne; Hyman, Bradley; Alberti, Simon; Diez, Stefan; Hyman, Anthony A.
    SUMMARY Non-centrosomal microtubule bundles play important roles in cellular organization and function. Although many diverse proteins are known that can bundle microtubules, biochemical mechanisms by which cells could locally control the nucleation and formation of microtubule bundles are understudied. Here, we demonstrate that the concentration of tubulin into a condensed, liquid-like compartment composed of the unstructured neuronal protein tau is sufficient to nucleate microtubule bundles. We show that, under conditions of macro-molecular crowding, tau forms liquid-like drops. Tubulin partitions into these drops, efficiently increasing tubulin concentration and driving the nucleation of microtubules. These growing microtubules form bundles, which deform the drops while remaining enclosed by diffusible tau molecules exhibiting a liquid-like behavior. Our data suggest that condensed compartments of microtubule bundling proteins could promote the local formation of microtubule bundles in neurons by acting as non-centrosomal microtubule nucleation centers and that liquid-like tau encapsulation could provide both stability and plasticity to long axonal microtubule bundles.
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    Tau induces blood vessel abnormalities and angiogenesis-related gene expression in P301L transgenic mice and human Alzheimer’s disease
    (National Academy of Sciences, 2018) Bennett, Rachel; Robbins, Ashley B.; Hu, Miwei; Cao, Xinrui; Betensky, Rebecca; Clark, Tim; Das, Sudeshna; Hyman, Bradley
    Mixed pathology, with both Alzheimer’s disease and vascular abnormalities, is the most common cause of clinical dementia in the elderly. While usually thought to be concurrent diseases, the fact that changes in cerebral blood flow are a prominent early and persistent alteration in Alzheimer’s disease raises the possibility that vascular alterations and Alzheimer pathology are more directly linked. Here, we report that aged tau-overexpressing mice develop changes to blood vessels including abnormal, spiraling morphologies; reduced blood vessel diameters; and increased overall blood vessel density in cortex. Blood flow in these vessels was altered, with periods of obstructed flow rarely observed in normal capillaries. These changes were accompanied by cortical atrophy as well as increased expression of angiogenesis-related genes such as Vegfa, Serpine1, and Plau in CD31-positive endothelial cells. Interestingly, mice overexpressing nonmutant forms of tau in the absence of frank neurodegeneration also demonstrated similar changes. Furthermore, many of the genes we observe in mice are also altered in human RNA datasets from Alzheimer patients, particularly in brain regions classically associated with tau pathology such as the temporal lobe and limbic system regions. Together these data indicate that tau pathological changes in neurons can impact brain endothelial cell biology, altering the integrity of the brain’s microvasculature.