A fragment of the scaffolding protein RanBP9 is increased in Alzheimer's disease brains and strongly potentiates amyloid-beta peptide generation

FASEB J. 2010 Jan;24(1):119-27. doi: 10.1096/fj.09-136457. Epub 2009 Sep 3.

Abstract

Increasing biochemical and genetic evidence indicates that the amyloid-beta (Abeta) peptide derived from amyloid precursor protein (APP) plays a central role in Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis. We previously reported that RanBP9 promotes Abeta generation by scaffolding APP/BACE1/LRP complexes together. Interestingly, the RanBP9-Delta1/N60 (residues 1-392) deletion mutant interacted much more strongly with APP/BACE1/LRP than full-length RanBP9. In this study, we found that RanBP9-N60, a processed form of RanBP9 virtually identical to the RanBP9-Delta1/N60 mutant, was strongly increased in AD brains compared with controls. To evaluate the potential pathogenic consequences of this phenotype, we studied the differential biological properties of full-length RanBP9 vs. RanBP9-Delta1/N60 in HEK293T and Neuro-2A cells. The RanBP9-Delta1/N60 fragment, which lacks a nuclear localization signal, displayed enhanced cytoplasmic vs. nuclear localization and >3-fold enhanced stability than full-length RanBP9. Importantly, RanBP9-Delta1/N60, which contains the LisH dimerization domain, retained the capacity to form self-interacting multimeric complexes and increased Abeta generation by approximately 5-fold over vector controls, more potent than the approximately 3-fold increase seen by full-length RanBP9. Taken together, these data indicate that RanBP9-N60 may further drive the amyloid cascade in AD and that the proteolytic processing of RanBP9 may be an attractive therapeutic target.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing / chemistry*
  • Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing / genetics
  • Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing / metabolism*
  • Alzheimer Disease / genetics
  • Alzheimer Disease / metabolism*
  • Amyloid beta-Peptides / biosynthesis*
  • Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor / metabolism
  • Animals
  • Brain / metabolism*
  • CHO Cells
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Cell Line
  • Cricetinae
  • Cricetulus
  • Cytoskeletal Proteins / chemistry*
  • Cytoskeletal Proteins / genetics
  • Cytoskeletal Proteins / metabolism*
  • Humans
  • In Vitro Techniques
  • Multiprotein Complexes
  • Nuclear Localization Signals / chemistry
  • Nuclear Localization Signals / genetics
  • Nuclear Proteins / chemistry*
  • Nuclear Proteins / genetics
  • Nuclear Proteins / metabolism*
  • Peptide Fragments / chemistry
  • Peptide Fragments / genetics
  • Peptide Fragments / metabolism
  • Protein Processing, Post-Translational
  • Protein Stability
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary
  • Recombinant Proteins / chemistry
  • Recombinant Proteins / genetics
  • Recombinant Proteins / metabolism
  • Sequence Deletion

Substances

  • Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing
  • Amyloid beta-Peptides
  • Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor
  • Cytoskeletal Proteins
  • Multiprotein Complexes
  • Nuclear Localization Signals
  • Nuclear Proteins
  • Peptide Fragments
  • Ran binding protein 9
  • Recombinant Proteins