Background and Objective

Genetic linkage and association studies in late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (LOAD) or LOAD endophenotypes have pointed to several candidate regions on chromosome 10q, among these the ~250kb LD block harboring the three genes IDE, KIF11 and HHEX. We explored the association between variants in the genomic region harboring the IDE-KIF11-HHEX complex with plasma Aβ40 and Aβ42 levels in a case-control cohort of Caribbean Hispanics.

Methods

First, we performed single marker multivariate linear regression analysis relating the individual SNPs with plasma Aβ40 and Aβ42 levels. Then we performed 3-SNP sliding window haplotype analyses, correcting all analyses for multiple testing

Results

Out of 32 SNPs in this region, three SNPs in IDE (rs2421943, rs12264682, rs11187060) were significantly associated with plasma Aß40 or Aß42 levels in single marker and haplotype analyses after correction for multiple testing. As described above, all these SNPs lie within the same linkage disequilibrium block, and are in linkage disequilibrium with the previously reported haplotypes.

Conclusion

Our findings provide modest support for an association in the IDE harboring region on chromosome 10q with Aβ 40 and 42 levels.

The extensive autophagic-lysosomal pathology in Alzheimer disease (AD) brain has revealed a major defect in the proteolytic clearance of autophagy substrates. Autophagy failure contributes on several levels to AD pathogenesis and has become an important therapeutic target for AD and other neurodegenerative diseases. We recently observed broad therapeutic effects of stimulating autophagic-lysosomal proteolysis in the TgCRND8 mouse model of AD that exhibits defective proteolytic clearance of autophagic substrates, robust intralysosomal amyloid-β peptide (Aβ) accumulation, extracellular β-amyloid deposition and cognitive deficits. By genetically deleting the lysosomal cysteine protease inhibitor, cystatin B (CstB), to selectively restore depressed cathepsin activities, we substantially cleared Aβ, ubiquitinated proteins and other autophagic substrates from autolysosomes/lysosomes and rescued autophagic-lysosomal pathology, as well as reduced total Aβ40/42 levels and extracellular amyloid deposition, highlighting the underappreciated importance of the lysosomal system for Aβ clearance. Most importantly, lysosomal remediation prevented the marked learning and memory deficits in TgCRND8 mice. Our findings underscore the pathogenic significance of autophagic-lysosomal dysfunction in AD and demonstrate the value of reversing this dysfunction as an innovative therapeutic strategy for AD.

Objectives

To identify novel loci for late-onset Alzheimer disease (LOAD) in Caribbean Hispanic individuals and to replicate the findings in a publicly available data set from the National Institute on Aging Late-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease Family Study.

Design

Nested case-control genome-wide association study.

Setting

The Washington Heights–Inwood Columbia Aging Project and the Estudio Familiar de Influencia Genetica de Alzheimer study.

Participants

Five hundred forty-nine affected and 544 unaffected individuals of Caribbean Hispanic ancestry.

Intervention

The Illumina HumanHap 650Y chip for genotyping.

Main Outcome Measure

Clinical diagnosis or pathologically confirmed diagnosis of LOAD.

Results

The strongest support for allelic association was for rs9945493 on 18q23 (P=1.7 × 10−7), but 22 additional single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) had a P value less than 9 × 10−6 under 3 different analyses: unadjusted and stratified by the presence or absence of the APOE ε4 allele. Of these SNPs, 5 SNPs (rs4669573 and rs10197851 on 2p25.1; rs11711889 on 3q25.2; rs1117750 on 7p21.1; and rs7908652 on 10q23.1) were associated with LOAD in an independent cohort from the National Institute on Aging Late-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease Family Study. We also replicated genetic associations for CLU, PICALM, and BIN1.

Conclusions

Our genome-wide search of Caribbean Hispanic individuals identified several novel genetic variants associated with LOAD and replicated these associations in a white cohort. We also replicated associations in CLU, PICALM, and BIN1 in the Caribbean Hispanic cohort.

Autophagy, a major degradative pathway for proteins and organelles, is essential for survival of mature neurons. Extensive autophagic-lysosomal pathology in Alzheimer’s disease brain contributes to Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis, although the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. Here, we identified and characterized marked intraneuronal amyloid-β peptide/amyloid and lysosomal system pathology in the Alzheimer’s disease mouse model TgCRND8 similar to that previously described in Alzheimer’s disease brains. We further establish that the basis for these pathologies involves defective proteolytic clearance of neuronal autophagic substrates including amyloid-β peptide. To establish the pathogenic significance of these abnormalities, we enhanced lysosomal cathepsin activities and rates of autophagic protein turnover in TgCRND8 mice by genetically deleting cystatin B, an endogenous inhibitor of lysosomal cysteine proteases. Cystatin B deletion rescued autophagic-lysosomal pathology, reduced abnormal accumulations of amyloid-β peptide, ubiquitinated proteins and other autophagic substrates within autolysosomes/lysosomes and reduced intraneuronal amyloid-β peptide. The amelioration of lysosomal function in TgCRND8 markedly decreased extracellular amyloid deposition and total brain amyloid-β peptide 40 and 42 levels, and prevented the development of deficits of learning and memory in fear conditioning and olfactory habituation tests. Our findings support the pathogenic significance of autophagic-lysosomal dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease and indicate the potential value of restoring normal autophagy as an innovative therapeutic strategy for Alzheimer’s disease.

Recently genome-wide association studies have identified significant association between Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and variations in CLU, PICALM, BIN1, CR1, MS4A4/MS4A6E, CD2AP, CD33, EPHA1, and ABCA7. However, the pathogenic variants in these loci have not yet been found. We conducted a genome-wide scan for large copy number variation (CNV) in a dataset of Caribbean Hispanic origin (554 controls and 559 AD cases that were previously investigated in a SNP-based genome-wide association study using Illumina HumanHap 650Y platform). We ran four CNV calling algorithms to obtain high-confidence calls for large CNVs (>100 kb) that were detected by at least two algorithms. Global burden analyses did not reveal significant differences between cases and controls in CNV rate, distribution of deletions or duplications, total or average CNV size; or number of genes affected by CNVs. However, we observed a nominal association between AD and a ∼470 kb duplication on chromosome 15q11.2 (P = 0.037). This duplication, encompassing up to five genes (TUBGCP5, CYFIP1, NIPA2, NIPA1, and WHAMML1) was present in 10 cases (2.6%) and 3 controls (0.8%). The dosage increase of CYFIP1 and NIPA1 genes was further confirmed by quantitative PCR. The current study did not detect CNVs that affect novel AD loci identified by recent genome-wide association studies. However, because the array technology used in our study has limitations in detecting small CNVs, future studies must carefully assess novel AD genes for the presence of disease-related CNVs.

Aberrant accumulation of amyloid beta (Aβ) oligomers may underlie the cognitive failure of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). All species of Aβ peptides are produced physiologically during normal brain activity. Therefore, elucidation of mechanisms that interconnect excitatory glutamatergic neurotransmission, synaptic amyloid precursor protein (APP) processing and production of its metabolite Aβ may reveal synapse-specific strategies for suppressing the pathological accumulation of Aβ oligomers and fibrils that characterize AD. In order to study synaptic APP processing, we used isolated intact nerve terminals (cortical synaptoneurosomes) from TgCRND8 mice, which express a human APP with familial AD mutations. Potassium chloride depolarization caused sustained release from synaptoneurosomes of Aβ42 as well as Aβ40 and appeared to co-activate α-, β- and γ-secretases, which are known to generate a family of released peptides, including Aβ40 and Aβ42. Stimulation of postsynaptic Group I mGluRs with DHPG induced a rapid accumulation of APP carboxy terminal fragments (CTFs) in the synaptoneurosomes, a family of membrane-bound intermediates generated from APP metabolized by α- and β-secretases. Following stimulation with the Group II mGluR agonist DCG-IV, levels of APP CTFs in the synaptoneurosomes initially increased, but then returned to baseline by 10 minutes after stimulation. This APP CTF degradation phase was accompanied by sustained accumulation of Aβ42 in the releasate, which was blocked by the Group II mGluR antagonist LY341495. These data suggest that Group II mGluR may trigger synaptic activation of all three secretases and that suppression of Group II mGluR signaling may be a therapeutic strategy for selectively reducing synaptic generation of Aβ42.

Introduction

Heterogeneity is observed in the patterns of cognition in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Such heterogeneity might suggest the involvement of different aetiological pathways or different host responses to pathology.

Method

627 subjects with mild/moderate AD underwent cognitive assessment with the Mini-Mental Status Exam (MMSE) and the Dementia Rating Scale-2 (DRS-2). Latent class analysis (LCA) was performed on cognition subscale data to identify and characterise cognitive subgroups. Clinical, demographic and genetic factors were explored for association with class membership.

Results

LCA suggested the existence of four subgroups; one group with mild and another with severe global impairment across the cognitive domains, one group with primary impairments in attention and construction, and another group with primary deficits in memory and orientation. Education, disease duration, age, APOE ε4 status, gender, presence of grasp reflex, white matter changes and early or prominent visuospatial impairment were all associated with class membership.

Conclusions

Our results support the existence of heterogeneity in patterns of cognitive impairment in AD. Our observation of classes characterised by predominant deficits in attention/construction and memory respectively deserves further exploration as does the association between membership in the attention/construction class and APOE ε4 negative status.

The mutation of the spatacsin gene is the single most common cause of autosomal recessive hereditary spastic paraplegia with thin corpus callosum. Common clinical, pathological and genetic features between amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and hereditary spastic paraplegia motivated us to investigate 25 families with autosomal recessive juvenile amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and long-term survival for mutations in the spatascin gene. The inclusion criterion was a diagnosis of clinically definite amyotrophic lateral sclerosis according to the revised El Escorial criteria. The exclusion criterion was a diagnosis of hereditary spastic paraplegia with thin corpus callosum in line with an established protocol. Additional pathological and genetic evaluations were also performed. Surprisingly, 12 sequence alterations in the spatacsin gene (one of which is novel, IVS30 + 1 G > A) were identified in 10 unrelated pedigrees with autosomal recessive juvenile amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and long-term survival. The countries of origin of these families were Italy, Brazil, Canada, Japan and Turkey. The variants seemed to be pathogenic since they co-segregated with the disease in all pedigrees, were absent in controls and were associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis neuropathology in one member of one of these families for whom central nervous system tissue was available. Our study indicates that mutations in the spatascin gene could cause a much wider spectrum of clinical features than previously recognized, including autosomal recessive juvenile amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

TMP21 has been shown to be associated with the γ-secretase complex and can specifically regulate γ-cleavage without affecting ϵ-mediated proteolysis. To explore the basis of this activity, TMP21 modulation of γ-secretase activity was investigated independent of ϵ-cleavage using an amyloid-β precursor proteinϵ (APPϵ) construct which lacks the amyloid intracellular domain domain. The APPϵ construct behaves similarly to the full-length precursor protein with respect to α- and β-cleavages and is able to undergo normal γ-processing. Co-expression of APPϵ and TMP21 resulted in the accumulation of membrane-embedded higher molecular weight Aβ-positive fragments, consistent with an inhibition of γ-secretase cleavage. The APPϵ system was used to examine the functional domains of TMP21 through the investigation of a series of TMP21-p24a chimera proteins. It was found that chimeras containing the transmembrane domain bound to the γ-secretase complex and could decrease γ-secretase proteolytic processing. This was confirmed though investigation of a synthetic peptide corresponding to the TMP21 transmembrane helix. The isolated TMP21 TM peptide but not the homologous p24a domain was able to reduce Aβ production in a dose-dependent fashion. These observations suggest that the TMP21 transmembrane domain promotes its association with the presenilin complex that results in decreased γ-cleavage activity.

Complexes involved in the γ/ϵ-secretase-regulated intramembranous proteolysis of substrates such as the amyloid-β precursor protein are composed primarily of presenilin (PS1 or PS2), nicastrin, anterior pharynx defective-1 (APH1), and PEN2. The presenilin aspartyl residues form the catalytic site, and similar potentially functional polar transmembrane residues in APH1 have been identified. Substitution of charged (E84A, R87A) or polar (Q83A) residues in TM3 had no effect on complex assembly or activity. In contrast, changes to either of two highly conserved histidines (H171A, H197A) located in TM5 and TM6 negatively affected PS1 cleavage and altered binding to other secretase components, resulting in decreased amyloid generating activity. Charge replacement with His-to-Lys substitutions rescued nicastrin maturation and PS1 endoproteolysis leading to assembly of the formation of structurally normal but proteolytically inactive γ-secretase complexes. Substitution with a negatively charged side chain (His-to-Asp) or altering the structural location of the histidines also disrupted γ-secretase binding and abolished functionality of APH1. These results suggest that the conserved transmembrane histidine residues contribute to APH1 function and can affect presenilin catalytic activity.

Context

Variants in 3′ and 5′ regions of SORL1, the neuronal sorting protein-related receptor, were recently found to be associated with late onset familial and sporadic Alzheimer’s disease in several datasets that were selected for familial aggregation or were ethnically diverse or clinic-based selected series.

Objective

To investigate the association between Alzheimer’s disease and variant alleles in SORL1 using a series of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in an urban, multiethnic community-based population.

Design & Setting

We used a nested case-control analysis in a population-based, prospective study of aging and dementia in Medicare recipients, 65 years and older, residing in northern Manhattan.

Participants

There were 296 patients with probable Alzheimer’s disease and 428 healthy elderly controls. The participants were of African American (34%), Caribbean Hispanic (51%) or non-Hispanic whites (15%).

Main Outcome Measures

We genotyped all 29 SNPs in SORL1 that were examined in the earlier report. We assessed allelic association with AD using standard case-control methods which included APOE genotype as a covariate.

Results

Several individual SNPs and SNP haplotypes were significantly associated with AD in this prospectively collected community-based cohort, confirming the previously reported positive association of SORL1 with Alzheimer’s disease. SNP 12 near the 5′ region was associated with AD in African-Americans and Hispanics. Two SNPs in the 3′ region were also associated with AD in African-Americans (SNP 26) and Whites (SNP 20). A single haplotype in the 3′ region was associated with AD in Hispanics. However, several different haplotypes were associated with AD in the African-Americans and Whites, including the “TTC” haplotypes at SNPs 23–25 (p=0.035) that was significantly associated with AD in the North European Whites in the previous report.

Conclusions

This study confirms the association between genetic variants in SORL1 and AD. While the associations observed in these datasets overlap with those previously reported, the finding of novel SNP and haplotype associations suggest that there may be extensive allelic heterogeneity in SORL1. Broad regions of the SORL1 gene will therefore need to be scrutinized for functional pathogenic variants.

A broad region on chromosome 12p13 has been intensely investigated for novel genetic variants associated with Alzheimer disease (AD). We examined this region with 23 microsatellite markers using 124 North European (NE) families and 209 Caribbean Hispanic families with late-onset AD (FAD). Significant evidence for linkage was present in a 5 cM interval near 20 cM in both the NE FAD (LOD=3.5) and the Caribbean Hispanic FAD (LOD=2.2) datasets. We further investigated these families and an independent NE case-control dataset using 14 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). The initial screening of the region at ~20 cM in the NE case-control dataset revealed significant association between AD and seven SNPs in several genes, with the strongest result for rs2532500 in TAPBPL (p=0.006). For rs3741916 in GAPDH, the C allele, rather than the G allele as was observed by Li and colleagues (2004), was the risk allele. When the two family datasets were examined, none of the SNPs were significant in NE families, but two SNPs were associated with AD in Caribbean Hispanics: rs740850 in NCAPD2 (p=0.0097) and rs1060620 in GAPDH (p=0.042). In a separate analysis combining the Caribbean Hispanic families and NE cases and controls, rs740850 was significant after correcting for multiple testing (empirical p=0.0048). Subsequent haplotype analyses revealed that two haplotype sets -- haplotype C-A at SNPs 6-7 within NCAPD2 in Caribbean Hispanics, and haplotypes containing C-A-T at SNPs 8-10 within GAPDH in Caribbean Hispanic family and NE case-control datasets -- were associated with AD. Taken together, these SNPs may be in linkage disequilibrium with a pathogenic variant(s) on or near NCAPD2 and GAPDH.

Oligomers of the 40 and 42 residue amyloid-β peptides (Aβ40 and Aβ42) have been implicated in the neuronal damage and impaired cognitive function associated with Alzheimer’s disease. However, little is known about the specific mechanisms by which these misfolded species induce such detrimental effects on cells. In this work, we use single-molecule imaging techniques to examine the initial interactions between Aβ monomers and oligomers and the membranes of live cells. This highly sensitive method enables the visualization of individual Aβ species on the cell surface and characterization of their oligomerization state, all at biologically relevant, nanomolar concentrations. The results indicate that oligomers preferentially interact with cell membranes, relative to monomers and that the oligomers become immobilized on the cell surface. Additionally, we observe that the interaction of Aβ species with the cell membrane is inhibited by the presence of ATP-independent molecular chaperones. This study demonstrates the power of this methodology for characterizing the interactions between protein aggregates and the membranes of live neuronal cells at physiologically relevant concentrations and opens the door to quantitative studies of the cellular responses to potentially pathogenic oligomers.

Multiple lines of evidence suggest that specific subtypes of age-related cataract (ARC) and Alzheimer disease (AD) are related etiologically. To identify shared genetic factors for ARC and AD, we estimated co-heritability of quantitative measures of cataract subtypes with AD-related brain MRI traits among 1,249 members of the Framingham Eye Study who had a brain MRI scan approximately ten years after the eye exam. Cortical cataract (CC) was found to be co-heritable with future development of AD and with several MRI traits, especially temporal horn volume (THV, ρ = 0.24, P<10−4). A genome-wide association study using 187,657 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for the bivariate outcome of CC and THV identified genome-wide significant association with CTNND2 SNPs rs17183619, rs13155993 and rs13170756 (P<2.6×10−7). These SNPs were also significantly associated with bivariate outcomes of CC and scores on several highly heritable neuropsychological tests (5.7×10−9≤P<3.7×10−6). Statistical interaction was demonstrated between rs17183619 and APP SNP rs2096488 on CC (P = 0.0015) and CC-THV (P = 0.038). A rare CTNND2 missense mutation (G810R) 249 base pairs from rs17183619 altered δ-catenin localization and increased secreted amyloid-β1–42 in neuronal cell culture. Immunohistopathological analysis of lens tissue obtained from two autopsy-confirmed AD subjects and two non-AD controls revealed elevated expression of δ-catenin in epithelial and cortical regions of lenses from AD subjects compared to controls. Our findings suggest that genetic variation in delta catenin may underlie both cortical lens opacities in mid-life and subsequent MRI and cognitive changes that presage the development of AD.

Background

We have followed-up on the recent genome-wide association (GWA) of the clusterin gene (CLU) with increased risk for Alzheimer disease (AD), by performing an unbiased resequencing of all CLU coding exons and regulatory regions in an extended Flanders-Belgian cohort of Caucasian AD patients and control individuals (n = 1930). Moreover, we have replicated genetic findings by targeted resequencing in independent Caucasian cohorts of French (n = 2182) and Canadian (n = 573) origin and by performing meta-analysis combining our data with previous genetic CLU screenings.

Results

In the Flanders-Belgian cohort, we identified significant clustering in exons 5-8 of rare genetic variations leading to non-synonymous substitutions and a 9-bp insertion/deletion affecting the CLU β-chain (p = 0.02). Replicating this observation by targeted resequencing of CLU exons 5-8 in 2 independent Caucasian cohorts of French and Canadian origin identified identical as well as novel non-synonymous substitutions and small insertion/deletions. A meta-analysis, combining the datasets of the 3 cohorts with published CLU sequencing data, confirmed that rare coding variations in the CLU β-chain were significantly enriched in AD patients (ORMH = 1.96 [95% CI = 1.18-3.25]; p = 0.009). Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) association analysis indicated the common AD risk association (GWA SNP rs11136000, p = 0.013) in the 3 combined datasets could not be explained by the presence of the rare coding variations we identified. Further, high-density SNP mapping in the CLU locus mapped the common association signal to a more 5' CLU region.

Conclusions

We identified a new genetic risk association of AD with rare coding CLU variations that is independent of the 5' common association signal identified in the GWA studies. At this stage the role of these coding variations and their likely effect on the β-chain domain and CLU protein functioning remains unclear and requires further studies.

Objective

Sorting mechanisms that cause the amyloid precursor protein (APP) and the β-secretases and γ-secretases to colocalize in the same compartment play an important role in the regulation of Aβ production in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We and others have reported that genetic variants in the Sortilin-related receptor (SORL1) increased the risk of AD, that SORL1 is involved in trafficking of APP, and that under expression of SORL1 leads to overproduction of Aβ. Here we explored the role of one of its homologs, the sortilin-related VPS10 domain containing receptor 1 (SORCS1), in AD.

Methods

We analyzed the genetic associations between AD and 16 SORCS1–single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 6 independent data sets (2,809 cases and 3,482 controls). In addition, we compared SorCS1 expression levels of affected and unaffected brain regions in AD and control brains in microarray gene expression and real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) sets, explored the effects of significant SORCS1-SNPs on SorCS1 brain expression levels, and explored the effect of suppression and overexpression of the common SorCS1 isoforms on APP processing and Aβ generation.

Results

Inherited variants in SORCS1 were associated with AD in all datasets (0.001 < p < 0.049). In addition, SorCS1 influenced APP processing. While overexpression of SorCS1 reduced γ-secretase activity and Aβ levels, the suppression of SorCS1 increased γ-secretase processing of APP and the levels of Aβ.

Interpretations

These data suggest that inherited or acquired changes in SORCS1 expression or function may play a role in the pathogenesis of AD.

Objectives

To determine whether genotypes at CLU, PICALM, and CR1 confer risk for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and whether risk for AD associated with these genes is influenced by APOE genotypes.

Design

Association study of AD and CLU, PICALM, CR1 and APOE genotypes.

Setting

Academic research institutions in the United States, Canada, and Israel.

Participants

7,070 AD cases, 3,055 with autopsies, and 8,169 elderly cognitively normal controls, 1,092 with autopsies from 12 different studies, including Caucasians, African Americans, Israeli-Arabs, and Caribbean Hispanics.

Results

Unadjusted, CLU [odds ratio (OR) = 0.91, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.85 – 0.96 for single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs11136000], CR1 (OR = 1.14, CI = 1.07 – 1.22, SNP rs3818361), and PICALM (OR = 0.89, CI = 0.84 – 0.94, SNP rs3851179) were associated with AD in Caucasians. None were significantly associated with AD in the other ethnic groups. APOE ε4 was significantly associated with AD (ORs from 1.80 to 9.05) in all but one small Caucasian cohort and in the Arab cohort. Adjusting for age, sex, and the presence of at least one APOE ε4 allele greatly reduced evidence for association with PICALM but not CR1 or CLU. Models with the main SNP effect, APOE ε4 (+/−), and an interaction term showed significant interaction between APOE ε4 (+/−) and PICALM.

Conclusions

We confirm in a completely independent dataset that CR1, CLU, and PICALM are AD susceptibility loci in European ancestry populations. Genotypes at PICALM confer risk predominantly in APOE ε4-positive subject. Thus, APOE and PICALM synergistically interact.

The Alzheimer Disease Genetics Consortium (ADGC) performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of late-onset Alzheimer disease (LOAD) using a 3 stage design consisting of a discovery stage (Stage 1) and two replication stages (Stages 2 and 3). Both joint and meta-analysis analysis approaches were used. We obtained genome-wide significant results at MS4A4A [rs4938933; Stages 1+2, meta-analysis (PM) = 1.7 × 10−9, joint analysis (PJ) = 1.7 × 10−9; Stages 1–3, PM = 8.2 × 10−12], CD2AP (rs9349407; Stages 1–3, PM = 8.6 × 10−9), EPHA1 (rs11767557; Stages 1–3 PM = 6.0 × 10−10), and CD33 (rs3865444; Stages 1–3, PM = 1.6 × 10−9). We confirmed that CR1 (rs6701713; PM = 4.6×10−10, PJ = 5.2×10−11), CLU (rs1532278; PM = 8.3 × 10−8, PJ = 1.9×10−8), BIN1 (rs7561528; PM = 4.0×10−14; PJ = 5.2×10−14), and PICALM (rs561655; PM = 7.0 × 10−11, PJ = 1.0×10−10) but not EXOC3L2 are LOAD risk loci1–3.

It is unclear whether mutations in fused in sarcoma (FUS) cause familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis via a loss-of-function effect due to titrating FUS from the nucleus or a gain-of-function effect from cytoplasmic overabundance. To investigate this question, we generated a series of independent Caenorhabditis elegans lines expressing mutant or wild-type (WT) human FUS. We show that mutant FUS, but not WT-FUS, causes cytoplasmic mislocalization associated with progressive motor dysfunction and reduced lifespan. The severity of the mutant phenotype in C. elegans was directly correlated with the severity of the illness caused by the same mutation in humans, arguing that this model closely replicates key features of the human illness. Importantly, the mutant phenotype could not be rescued by overexpression of WT-FUS, even though WT-FUS had physiological intracellular localization, and was not recruited to the cytoplasmic mutant FUS aggregates. Our data suggest that FUS mutants cause neuronal dysfunction by a dominant gain-of-function effect related either to neurotoxic aggregates of mutant FUS in the cytoplasm or to dysfunction in its RNA-binding functions.

Objective

To reexamine the association between the neuronal sortilin-related receptor gene (SORL1) and Alzheimer disease (AD).

Design

Comprehensive and unbiased meta-analysis of all published and unpublished data from case-control studies for the SORL1 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that had been repeatedly assessed across studies.

Setting

Academic research institutions in the United States, the Netherlands, Canada, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Japan, Sweden, Germany, France, and Italy.

Participants

All published white and Asian case-control data sets, which included a total of 12 464 cases and 17 929 controls.

Main Outcome Measures

Alzheimer disease according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fourth Edition) and the National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke and the Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Association (now known as the Alzheimer’s Association).

Results

In the white data sets, several markers were associated with AD after correction for multiple testing, including previously reported SNPs 8, 9, and 10 (P<.001). In addition, the C-G-C haplotype at SNPs 8 through 10 was associated with AD risk (P<.001). In the combined Asian data sets, SNPs 19 and 23 through 25 were associated with AD risk (P<.001). The disease-associated alleles at SNPs 8, 9, and 10 (120 873 131-120 886 175 base pairs [bp]; C-G-C alleles), at SNP 19 (120 953 300 bp; G allele), and at SNPs 24 through 25 (120 988 611 bp; T and C alleles) were the same previously reported alleles. The SNPs 4 through 5, 8 through 10, 12, and 19 through 25 belong to distinct linkage disequilibrium blocks. The same alleles at SNPs 8 through 10 (C-G-C), 19 (G), and 24 and 25 (T and C) have also been associated with AD endophenotypes, including white matter hyperintensities and hippocampal atrophy on magnetic resonance imaging, cerebrospinal fluid measures of amyloid β-peptide 42, and full-length SORL1 expression in the human brain.

Conclusion

This comprehensive meta-analysis provides confirmatory evidence that multiple SORL1 variants in distinct linkage disequilibrium blocks are associated with AD.

The aim of the study was to identify chromosomal regions containing putative genetic variants influencing age-at-onset in familial late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Data from a genome-wide scan that included genotyping of APOE was analyzed in 1,161 individuals from 209 families of Caribbean Hispanic ancestry with a mean age-at-onset of 73.3 years multiply affected by late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Two-point and multipoint analyses were conducted using variance component methods from 376 microsatellite markers with an average inter-marker distance of 9.3 cM. Family-based test of association were also conducted for the same set of markers. Age-at-onset of symptoms among affected individuals was used as the quantitative trait. Our results showed that the presence of APOE-ε4 lowered the age-at-onset by three years. Using linkage analysis strategy, the highest LOD scores were obtained using a conservative definition of LOAD at 5q15 (LOD 3.1) 17q25.1 (LOD=2.94) and 14q32.12 (LOD=2.36) and 7q36.3 (LOD=2.29) in covariate adjusted models that included APOE-ε4. Both linkage and family-based association identified 17p13 as a candidate region. In addition, family-based association analysis showed markers at 12q13 (p=0.00002), 13q (p=0.00043) and 14q23 (p=0.00046) to be significantly associated with age at onset. The current study supports the hypothesis that there are additional genetic loci that could influence age-at-onset of late onset Alzheimer’s disease. The novel loci at 5q15, 17q25.1, 13q and 17p13, and the previously reported loci at 7q36.3, 12q13, 14q23 and 14q32 need further investigation.

The recycling of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) from the cell surface via the endocytic pathways plays a key role in the generation of amyloid β-peptide (Aβ) in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). We report here that inherited variants in the SORL1 neuronal sorting receptor are associated with late-onset AD. These variants, which occur in at least two different clusters of intronic sequences may regulate tissue-specific expression of SORL1. We also show that SORL1 directs trafficking of APP into recycling pathways, and that when SORL1 is under-expressed, APP is sorted into Aβ-generating compartments. These data suggest that inherited or acquired changes in SORL1 expression or function are mechanistically involved in causing AD.

The plasmin system is involved in the degradation of Aβ peptides, the accumulation of which in brain is a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In a North European case-control AD dataset we studied 14 common variations in the PLG, PAI-1, PLAT and PLI genes encoding components of the plasmin system. Among the four polymorphisms in the PLAT, PAI-1 and PLI genes showing nominally significant evidence for an association with AD (allele p-value = 0.01–0.00003) the strongest association was detected for the deletion allele in the Alu-repeat region of the PLAT gene. However, none of these positive results were confirmed in follow-up studies using an independent Canadian case-control cohort and two familial AD datasets of North European and Caribbean Hispanic origin. Thus, the current survey does not support the notion that common polymorphisms in the plasmin genes influence the development of AD.