Pharmacological activation of LXRs decreases amyloid-β levels in niemann-pick type C model cells

Niemann-Pick type C disease (NPC) is an inherited disorder mainly caused by loss-of- function mutations in the NPC1 gene, that lead to intracellular cholesterol accomulation and disturbed cholesterol homeostasis. Similarly to Alzheimer's disease (AD), NPC is associated with progressive neurodegeneration and altered metabolism of amyloid precursor protein (APP). Liver X receptors (LXRs), the key transcriptional regulators of cholesterol homeostasis, were reported to play neuroprotective roles in NPC mice. We investigated the impacts of LXRs on APP metabolism in mutant CHO cells lacking NPC1 gene (-NPC1 cells). Pharmacological activation of LXRs in -NPC1 cells tended to reduce the sAPP/flAPP ratio and sAPPβ levels as well as to increase the CTFs/flAPP ratio, resulting in the decreased levels of amyloid β (Aβ) peptides. - NPC1 cells treated with LXR agonist TO901317 (TO90) displayed a modest up-regulation of cholesterol efflux to apolipoprotein A-I (apoA- I) but not to HDL3 or in the absence of extracellular cholesterol acceptors. The observed similar reduction of Aβ levels upon TO90 treatment in the presence or in the absence of extracellular apoA-I indicated cholesterol-efflux independent effect of TO90 on Aβ levels. Furthermore, TO90 had no effect on the cholesterol synthesis rate in -NPC1 cells, while it reduced the rate of cholesterol esterification. The obtained results indicate that LXR activation may decrease Aβ levels in NPC1-deficient conditions. The underlying mechanism of this action does not appear to be related to effects on cholesterol efflux or synthesis rates.