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Original Article

Exp Neurobiol 2023; 32(1): 42-55

Published online February 28, 2023

https://doi.org/10.5607/en22044

© The Korean Society for Brain and Neural Sciences

Reelin and APP Cooperatively Modulate Dendritic Spine Formation In Vitro and In Vivo

Hyun-ju Lee1*, Jin-Hee Park1,2, Justin H. Trotter3, James N. Maher4, Kathleen E. Keenoy4, You Mi Jang1, Youngeun Lee5, Jae-Ick Kim5, Edwin J. Weeber3 and Hyang-Sook Hoe1,2,4*

1Department of Neural Development and Disease, Korea Brain Research Institute (KBRI), Daegu 41062, 2Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science & Technology (DGIST), Daegu 42988, Korea, 3Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, USF Health Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33613, 4Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC 20057, USA, 5Department of Biological Sciences, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan 44919, Korea

Correspondence to: *To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Hyang-Sook Hoe, TEL: 82-53-980-8310, FAX: 82-53-980-8309
e-mail: sookhoe72@kbri.re.kr
Hyun-ju Lee, TEL: 82-53-980-8313, FAX: 82-53-980-8309
e-mail: hjlee@kbri.re.kr

Received: November 15, 2022; Revised: January 9, 2023; Accepted: February 8, 2023

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Amyloid precursor protein (APP) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but the normal function of APP at synapses is poorly understood. We and others have found that APP interacts with Reelin and that each protein is individually important for dendritic spine formation, which is associated with learning and memory, in vitro. However, whether Reelin acts through APP to modulate dendritic spine formation or synaptic function remains unknown. In the present study, we found that Reelin treatment significantly increased dendritic spine density and PSD-95 puncta number in primary hippocampal neurons. An examination of the molecular mechanisms by which Reelin regulates dendritic spinogenesis revealed that Reelin enhanced hippocampal dendritic spine formation in a Ras/ERK/CREB signaling-dependent manner. Interestingly, Reelin did not increase dendritic spine number in primary hippocampal neurons when APP expression was reduced or in vivo in APP knockout (KO) mice. Taken together, our data are the first to demonstrate that Reelin acts cooperatively with APP to modulate dendritic spine formation and suggest that normal APP function is critical for Reelin-mediated dendritic spinogenesis at synapses.

Graphical Abstract


Keywords: APP, Reelin, Dendritic spine, Alzheimer’s disease, Ras signaling