Despite the well-accepted role of the two main neuropathological markers (beta-amyloid and tau) in the progression of Alzheimer's disease, the interaction and specific contribution of each of them is not fully elucidated. To address this question, in the present study, an adeno-associated virus (AAV9) carrying the mutant P301L form of human tau, was injected into the dorsal hippocampi of APP/PS1 transgenic mice or wild type mice (WT). Three months after injections, memory tasks, biochemical and immunohistochemical analysis were performed. We found that the overexpression of hTauP301L accelerates memory deficits in APP/PS1 mice, but it did not affect memory function of WT mice. Likewise, biochemical assays showed that only in the case of APP/PS1-hTauP301L injected mice, an important accumulation of tau was observed in the insoluble urea fraction. Similarly, electron microscopy images revealed that numerous clusters of tau immunoparticles appear at the dendrites of APP/PS1 injected mice and not in WT animals, suggesting that the presence of amyloid is necessary to induce tau aggregation. Interestingly, these tau immunoparticles accumulate in dendritic mitochondria in the APP/PS1 mice, whereas most of mitochondria in WT injected mice remain free of tau immunoparticles. Taken together, it seems that amyloid induces tau aggregation and accumulation in the dendritic mitochondria and subsequently may alter synapse function, thus, contributing to accelerate cognitive decline in APP/PS1 mice.

Clinical studies revealed that some aged-individuals accumulate a significant number of histopathological Alzheimer's disease (AD) lesions in their brain, yet without developing any signs of dementia. Animal models of AD represent suitable tools to identify genes that might promote cognitive resilience and hence, this study first set out to identify cognitively resilient individuals in the aged-Tg2576 mouse model. A transcriptomic analysis of these mice identified PLA2G4E as a gene that might confer resistance to dementia. Indeed, a significant decrease in PLA2G4E is evident in the brain of late-stage AD patients, whereas no such changes are observed in early stage patients with AD neuropathological lesions but no signs of dementia. We demonstrated that adeno-associated viral vector-mediated overexpression of PLA2G4E in hippocampal neurons completely restored cognitive deficits in elderly APP/PS1 mice, without affecting the amyloid or tau pathology. These PLA2G4E overexpressing APP/ PS1 mice developed significantly more dendritic spines than sham-injected mice, coinciding with the cognitive improvement observed. Hence, these results support the idea that a loss of PLA2G4E might play a key role in the onset of dementia in AD, highlighting the potential of PLA2G4E overexpression as a novel therapeutic strategy to manage AD and other disorders that course with memory deficits.

In order to determine the contributions of histone deacetylase (HDAC) isoforms to the beneficial effects of dual phosphodiesterase 5 (PDES) and pan-HDAC inhibitors on in vivo models of Alzheimer's disease (AD), we have designed, synthesized, and tested novel chemical probes with the desired target compound profile of PDES and class I HDAC selective inhibitors. Compared to previous hydroxamate-based series, these molecules exhibit longer residence times on HDACs. In this scenario, shorter or longer preincubation times may have a significant impact on the IC50 values of these compounds and therefore on their corresponding selectivity profiles on the different HDAC isoforms. On the other hand, different chemical series have been explored and, as expected, some pairwise comparisons show a clear impact of the scaffold on biological responses (e.g., 35a vs 40a). The lead identification process led to compound 29a, which shows an adequate ADME-Tox profile and in vivo target engagement (histone acetylation and cAMP/cGMP response element-binding (CREB) phosphorylation) in the central nervous system (CNS), suggesting that this compound represents an optimized chemical probe; thus, 29a has been assayed in a mouse model of AD (Tg2576).

Here, we present a series of dual-target phosphodiesterase 9 (PDE9) and histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors devised as pharmacological tool compounds for assessing the implications of these two targets in Alzheimer's disease (AD). These novel inhibitors were designed taking into account the key pharmacophoric features of known selective PDE9 inhibitors as well as privileged chemical structures, bearing zinc binding groups (hydroxamic acids and ortho-amino anilides) that hit HDAC targets. These substituents were selected according to rational criteria and previous knowledge from our group to explore diverse HDAC selectivity profiles (pan-HDAC, HDAC6 selective, and class I selective) that were confirmed in biochemical screens. Their functional response in inducing acetylation of histone and tubulin and phosphorylation of cAMP response element binding (CREB) was measured as a requisite for further progression into complete in vitro absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME) and in vivo brain penetration profiling. Compound 31b, a selective HDAC6 inhibitor with acceptable brain permeability, was chosen for assessing in vivo efficacy of these first-in-class inhibitors, as well as studying their mode of action (MoA).

We have identified chemical probes that act as dual phosphodiesterase 5 (PDE5) and histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6)-selective inhibitors (>1 log unit difference versus class I HDACs) to decipher the contribution of HDAC isoforms to the positive impact of dual-acting PDE5 and HDAC inhibitors on mouse models of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and fine-tune this systems therapeutics approach. Structure- and knowledge based approaches led to the design of first-in-class molecules with the desired target compound profile: dual PDE5 and HDAC6-selective inhibitors. Compound 44b, which fulfilled the biochemical, functional and ADME-Tox profiling requirements and exhibited adequate pharmacokinetic properties, was selected as pharmacological tool compound and tested in a mouse model of AD (Tg2576) in vivo. (C) 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Simultaneous inhibition of phosphodiesterase 5 (PDE5) and histone deacetylases (HDAC) has recently been validated as a potentially novel therapeutic approach for Alzheimer's disease (AD). To further extend this concept, we designed and synthesized the first chemical series of dual acting PDE5 and HDAC inhibitors, and we validated this systems therapeutics approach. Following the implementation of structure- and knowledge-based approaches, initial hits were designed and were shown to validate our hypothesis of dual in vitro inhibition. Then, an optimization strategy was pursued to obtain a proper tool compound for in vivo testing in AD models. Initial hits were translated into molecules with adequate cellular functional responses (histone acetylation and cAMP/cGMP response element-binding (CREB) phosphorylation in the nanomolar range), an acceptable therapeutic window (>1 log unit), and the ability to cross the blood-brain barrier, leading to the identification of 7 as a candidate for in vivo proof-of-concept testing ( Cuadrado-Tejedor, M.; Garcia-Barroso, C.; Sánchez-Arias, J. A.; Rabal, O.; Mederos, S.; Ugarte, A.; Franco, R.; Segura, V.; Perea, G.; Oyarzabal, J.; Garcia-Osta, A. Neuropsychopharmacology 2016 , in press, doi: 10.1038/npp.2016.163 ).