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TheMAPTgene encodes Tau protein, a member of the large family of microtubule-associated proteins. Tau forms large insoluble aggregates that are toxic to neurons in several neurological disorders and neurofibrillary Tau tangles represent a key pathological hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other ‘tauopathies’1,2. Several Tau-lowering strategies are being investigated as a potential treatment for AD but the mechanisms that regulate Tau expression at the transcriptional or translational level are not well understood3,4. Recently, Simone etal.5reported the discovery of a new type of natural antisense transcripts called ‘MIR-NATs’ (referring to Mammalian-wide Interspersed Repeats – Natural Antisense Transcripts). Simone and colleagues usedMAPT-AS1, a MIR-NAT associated to theMAPTgene as an archetype of this new class of long non-coding RNAs. According to Simone etal.,MAPT-AS1represses Tau translation by competing for ribosomal RNA. We investigated the potential functions ofMAPT-AS1in neurons using the same gain- and loss-of-function experiments as described in the original report and expanded our analysis with complementary approaches. Our data do not support a role forMAPT-AS1in regulating Tau expression in human neurons and urge to cautiously interpret the data provided by Simone etal.5.

Background Synaptic degeneration and accumulation of amyloid β-peptides (Aβ) are hallmarks of the Alzheimer diseased brain. Aβ is synaptotoxic and produced by sequential cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) by the β-secretase BACE1 and by γ-secretase. If APP is instead cleaved by the α-secretase ADAM10, Aβ will not be generated. Although BACE1 is considered to be a presynaptic protein and ADAM10 has been reported to mainly localize to the postsynaptic density, we have previously shown that both ADAM10 and BACE1 are highly enriched in synaptic vesicles of rat brain and mouse primary hippocampal neurons. Results Here, using brightfield proximity ligation assay, we expanded our previous result in primary neurons and investigated the in situ synaptic localization of ADAM10 and BACE1 in rat and human adult brain using both pre- and postsynaptic markers. We found that ADAM10 and BACE1 were in close proximity with both the presynaptic marker synaptophysin and the postsynaptic marker PSD-95. The substrate APP was also detected both pre- and postsynaptically. Subcellular fractionation confirmed that ADAM10 and BACE1 are enriched to a similar degree in synaptic vesicles and as well as in the postsynaptic density. Conclusions We show that the α-secretase ADAM10 and the β-secretase BACE1 are located in both the pre- and postsynaptic compartments in intact brain sections. These findings increase our understanding of the regulation of APP processing, thereby facilitating development of more specific treatment strategies.

A disintegrin and metalloproteinase 10 (ADAM10) is a synaptic enzyme that has been previously shown to limit amyloid-β1–42 (Aβ1–42) peptide formation in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Furthermore, ADAM10 participates to spine shaping through the cleavage of adhesion molecules and its activity is under the control of synaptic plasticity events. In particular, long-term depression (LTD) promotes ADAM10 synaptic localization triggering its forward trafficking to the synapse, while long-term potentiation elicits ADAM10 internalization. Here, we show that a short-term in vitro exposure to Aβ1–42 oligomers, at a concentration capable of inducing synaptic depression and spine loss, triggers an increase in ADAM10 synaptic localization in hippocampal neuronal cultures. However, the Aβ1–42 oligomers-induced synaptic depression does not foster ADAM10 delivery to the synapse, as the physiological LTD, but impairs ADAM10 endocytosis. Moreover, Aβ1–42 oligomers-induced inhibition of ADAM10 internalization requires neuronal activity and the activation of the NMDA receptors. These data suggest that, at the synaptic level, Aβ1–42 oligomers trigger an aberrant plasticity mechanism according to which Aβ1–42 oligomers can downregulate Aβ generation through the modulation of ADAM10 synaptic availability. Moreover, the increased activity of ADAM10 towards its synaptic substrates could also affect the structural plasticity phenomena. Overall, these data shed new lights on the strict and complex relationship existing between synaptic activity and the primary mechanisms of AD pathogenesis. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s12035-019-1583-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Cofilin is one of the major regulators of actin dynamics in spines where it is required for structural synaptic plasticity. However, our knowledge of the mechanisms controlling Cofilin activity in spines remains still fragmented. Here, we describe the cyclase-associated protein 2 (CAP2) as a novel master regulator of Cofilin localization in spines. The formation of CAP2 dimers through its Cys32 is important for CAP2 binding to Cofilin and for normal spine actin turnover. The Cys32-dependent CAP2 homodimerization and association to Cofilin are triggered by long-term potentiation (LTP) and are required for LTP-induced Cofilin translocation into spines, spine remodeling and the potentiation of synaptic transmission. This mechanism is specifically affected in the hippocampus, but not in the superior frontal gyrus, of both Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) patients and APP/PS1 mice, where CAP2 is down-regulated and CAP2 dimer synaptic levels are reduced. In AD hippocampi, Cofilin preferentially associates with CAP2 monomer and is aberrantly localized in spines. Taken together, these results provide novel insights into structural plasticity mechanisms that are defective in AD.