title: Pharmacologic inhibition of transglutaminase-induced cross-linking of Alzheimer's amyloid beta-peptide.
abstract: The brain of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients contains deposits of amyloid beta-peptide (A beta). Recent studies have shown that A beta is a substrate for tissue transglutaminase (TGase), which induces the formation of cross-linked dimers and polymers, and that tacrine, indomethacin and deferoxamine, which have widely different chemical structures, attenuate the progression of symptoms of AD. This report evaluated the potential of a total of ten different pharmacological agents to inhibit TGase-induced cross-linking of A beta, including known TGase inhibitors (dansylcadaverine, spermine), non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (indomethacin, meclofenamic acid, diflunisal, salicylic acid), monoamine oxidase inhibitors (tranylcypromine, phenelzine), an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor (tacrine), and an iron chelating agent (deferoxamine). All but one (salicylic acid) of these ten agents had an inhibitory effect on TGase-induced A beta cross-linking. These results suggest that inhibition of TGase-induced cross-linking of A beta is a potential pharmacologic target for the treatment of AD. A method is also presented for the determination of percent inhibition of TGase-induced A beta cross-linking based on the separated monomer, dimer and polymer bands on SDS-PAGE gels.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107, USA.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: B R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: T D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Bjornsson
mesh_terms: D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002103:Cadaverine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000494:pharmacology; D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003676:Deferoxamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006801:Humans; D007502:Iron Chelating Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008996:Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013619:Tacrine / Q000494:pharmacology; D011503:Transglutaminases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*
chemical_list: D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D002800:Cholinesterase Inhibitors; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D007502:Iron Chelating Agents; D008996:Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors; D013619:Tacrine; D011503:Transglutaminases; C008542:monodansylcadaverine; D003676:Deferoxamine; D002103:Cadaverine