Affiliations: [a] Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA | [b] Center for Integrative Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA | [c] Institue of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China | [d] Department of Herbal Pharmaceutical Development, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon, Korea
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Yuan Luo, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Maryland, 20 Pine Street, PH501, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA. Tel.: +1 410 706 6639; Fax: +1 410 706 4376; E-mail: yluo@rx.umaryland.edu
Abstract: Substantial evidence supports a central role of Aβ in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We have demonstrated that FLZ, a synthetic cyclic analogue of natural squamosamide, exhibits neuroprotective actions in cells and mouse models, suggesting future investigation of FLZ as a candidate compound for the treatment of AD. In this study, we found that the production of amyloid-β (Aβ) was reduced by FLZ in Aβ-expressing neuroblastoma cells, and correlated with an increase in the soluble α-secretase derived fragment of the amyloid-β protein precursor (sAβPPα) in the medium. Moreover, the active form of ADAM10 and AβPP were elevated at the cell surface of FLZ-treated cells, consistent with an enhanced co-localization of ADAM10 and AβPP on the membrane. Pretreatment with brefeldin, a protein trafficking inhibitor, blocked FLZ-induced translocation of ADAM10 to the cell surface and release of sAβPPα to the culture medium. Furthermore, oral administration of FLZ to APPswe/PS1 transgenic mice significantly reduced the levels of Aβ, paralleling with activation of ADAM10, in the hippocampus. In silico prediction indicates that the structure of FLZ is compatible with the drug-like rules for absorption and permeability. These findings suggest that FLZ reduces Aβ production by promoting AβPP non-amyloidogenic α-secretase processing. As such, FLZ may have therapeutic potential for the treatment of AD.
Keywords: Amyloid-β, amyloid-β protein precursor (AβPP) processing, natural compound, α-secretase
