期刊名称:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN:0027-8424
电子版ISSN:1091-6490
出版年度:2022
卷号:119
期号:26
DOI:10.1073/pnas.2204581119
语种:English
出版社:The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要:Significance
Patients with Alzheimer’s disease show hypoperfusion of the brain and this may contribute to disease progression. To elucidate underlying mechanisms, we studied pial arteries from 18-mo-old mice with Alzheimer’s disease due to overexpression of amyloid precursor protein. We found enhanced pressure-induced constriction of arteries because of reduction in ryanodine receptor-mediated, local calcium-release events (“Ca
2+ sparks”) in arterial smooth muscle cells and a consequent decrease in the activity of large-conductance Ca
2+-activated K
+ (BK) channels. This phenotype was partially recapitulated by application of an amyloid-β peptide to healthy arteries. Our results will direct further research to restore cerebrovascular function, which is damaged in Alzheimer’s disease, leading to potentially new treatment options.
The brain microcirculation is increasingly viewed as a potential target for disease-modifying drugs in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease patients, reflecting a growing appreciation of evidence that cerebral blood flow is compromised in such patients. However, the pathogenic mechanisms in brain resistance arteries underlying blood flow defects have not yet been elucidated. Here we probed the roles of principal vasodilatory pathways in cerebral arteries using the APP23 mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease, in which amyloid precursor protein is increased approximately sevenfold, leading to neuritic plaques and cerebrovascular accumulation of amyloid-β similar to those in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Pial arteries from APP23 mice (18 mo old) exhibited enhanced pressure-induced (myogenic) constriction because of a profound reduction in ryanodine receptor-mediated, local calcium-release events (“Ca
2+ sparks”) in arterial smooth muscle cells and a consequent decrease in the activity of large-conductance Ca
2+-activated K
+ (BK) channels. The ability of the endothelial cell inward rectifier K
+ (Kir2.1) channel to cause dilation was also compromised. Acute application of amyloid-β 1-40 peptide to cerebral arteries from wild-type mice partially recapitulated the BK dysfunction seen in APP23 mice but had no effect on Kir2.1 function. If mirrored in human Alzheimer’s disease, these tandem defects in K
+ channel-mediated vasodilation could account for the clinical cerebrovascular presentation seen in patients: reduced blood flow and crippled functional hyperemia. These data direct future research toward approaches that reverse this dual vascular channel dysfunction, with the ultimate aim of restoring healthy cerebral blood flow and improving clinical outcomes.