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Distinct Transcriptomic Responses to A beta plaques, Neurofibrillary Tangles, and APOE in Alzheimer's Disease

Das, S.; Li, Z.; Wachter, A.; Alla, S.; Noori, A.; Abdourahman, A.; Tamm, J. A.; Woodbury, M.; Talanian, R. V.; Biber, K.; Karran, E. H.; Hyman, B. T.; Serrano-Pozo, A.

2023-03-21 neuroscience
10.1101/2023.03.20.533303 bioRxiv
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INTRODUCTIONOmics studies have revealed that various brain cell types undergo profound molecular changes in Alzheimers disease (AD) but the spatial relationships with plaques and tangles and APOE-linked differences remain unclear. METHODSWe performed laser capture microdissection of A{beta} plaques, the 50m halo around them, tangles with the 50m halo around them, and areas distant (>50m) from plaques and tangles in the temporal cortex of AD and control donors, followed by RNA-sequencing. RESULTSA{beta} plaques exhibited upregulated microglial (neuroinflammation/phagocytosis) and downregulated neuronal (neurotransmission/energy metabolism) genes, whereas tangles had mostly downregulated neuronal genes. A{beta} plaques had more differentially expressed genes than tangles. We identified a gradient A{beta} plaque>peri-plaque>tangle>distant for these changes. AD APOE{varepsilon}4 homozygotes had greater changes than APOE{varepsilon}3 across locations, especially within A{beta} plaques. DISCUSSIONTranscriptomic changes in AD consist primarily of neuroinflammation and neuronal dysfunction, are spatially associated mainly with A{beta} plaques, and are exacerbated by the APOE{varepsilon}4 allele.

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