Store-Operated Calcium Channel Complex in Postsynaptic Spines: A New Therapeutic Target for Alzheimer's Disease Treatment

• Published in: The Journal of neuroscience Vol. 36; no. 47; pp. 11837 - 11850
• Main Authors: Zhang, Hua, Sun, Suya, Wu, Lili, Pchitskaya, Ekaterina, Zakharova, Olga, Fon Tacer, Klementina, Bezprozvanny, Ilya
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Society for Neuroscience 23.11.2016
• Subjects: Alzheimer Disease - drug therapy; Alzheimer Disease - metabolism; Animals; Brain; Calcium - metabolism; Calcium Channel Agonists - administration & dosage; Calcium Signaling - drug effects; Calcium Signaling - physiology; Dendritic Spines - drug effects; Dendritic Spines - metabolism; Hippocampus - drug effects; Hippocampus - metabolism; Ion Channel Gating - drug effects; Ion Channel Gating - physiology; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Transgenic; ORAI2 Protein - agonists; ORAI2 Protein - metabolism; Synapses - drug effects; Synaptic Potentials - drug effects; Synaptic Potentials - physiology; TRPC Cation Channels - agonists; TRPC Cation Channels - metabolism; dendrites; calcium; synapse; channels; hippocampus; imaging
• ISSN: 0270-6474; 1529-2401
• DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1188-16.2016

Mushroom dendritic spine structures are essential for memory storage and the loss of mushroom spines may explain memory defects in aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD). The stability of mushroom spines depends on stromal interaction molecule 2 (STIM2)-mediated neuronal-store-operated Ca influx (nSOC) pathway, which is compromised in AD mouse models, in aging neurons, and in sporadic AD patients. Here, we demonstrate that the Transient Receptor Potential Canonical 6 (TRPC6) and Orai2 channels form a STIM2-regulated nSOC Ca channel complex in hippocampal mushroom spines. We further demonstrate that a known TRPC6 activator, hyperforin, and a novel nSOC positive modulator, NSN21778 (NSN), can stimulate activity of nSOC pathway in the spines and rescue mushroom spine loss in both presenilin and APP knock-in mouse models of AD. We further show that NSN rescues hippocampal long-term potentiation impairment in APP knock-in mouse model. We conclude that the STIM2-regulated TRPC6/Orai2 nSOC channel complex in dendritic mushroom spines is a new therapeutic target for the treatment of memory loss in aging and AD and that NSN is a potential candidate molecule for therapeutic intervention in brain aging and AD. Mushroom dendritic spine structures are essential for memory storage and the loss of mushroom spines may explain memory defects in Alzheimer's disease (AD). This study demonstrated that Transient Receptor Potential Canonical 6 (TRPC6) and Orai2 form stromal interaction molecule 2 (STIM2)-regulated neuronal-store-operated Ca influx (nSOC) channel complex in hippocampal synapse and the resulting Ca influx is critical for long-term maintenance of mushroom spines in hippocampal neurons. A novel nSOC-positive modulator, NSN21778 (NSN), rescues mushroom spine loss and synaptic plasticity impairment in AD mice models. The TRPC6/Orai2 nSOC channel complex is a new therapeutic target and NSN is a potential candidate molecule for therapeutic intervention in brain aging and AD.