Okadaic-acid-induced inhibition of protein phosphatase 2A produces activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases ERK1/2, MEK1/2, and p70 S6, similar to that in Alzheimer's disease.
In Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain the activity of protein phosphatase (PP)-2A is compromised and that of the extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase (ERK1/2) of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family, which can phosphorylate tau, is up-regulated. We investigated whether a decrease in PP-2A activity could underlie the activation of these kinases and the abnormal hyperphosphorylation of tau. Rat brain slices, 400-microm-thick, kept under metabolically active conditions in oxygenated (95% O(2), 5% CO(2)) artificial CSF were treated with 1.0 micromol/L okadaic acid (OA) for 1 hour at 33 degrees C. Under this condition, PP-2A activity was decreased to approximately 35% of the vehicle-treated control slices, and activities of PP-1 and PP-2B were not affected. In the OA-treated slices, we observed a dramatic increase in the phosphorylation/activation of ERK1/2, MEK1/2, and p70 S6 kinase both immunohistochemically and by Western blots using phosphorylation-dependent antibodies against these kinases. Treatment of 6-microm sections of the OA-treated slices with purified PP-2A reversed the phosphorylation/activation of these kinases. Hyperphosphorylation of tau at several abnormal hyperphosphorylation sites was also observed, as seen in AD brain. These results suggest 1) that PP-2A down-regulates ERK1/2, MEK1/2, and p70 S6 kinase activities through dephosphorylation at the serine/threonine residues of these kinases, and 2) that in AD brain the decrease in PP-2A activity could have caused the activation of ERK1/2, MEK1/2, and p70 S6 kinase, and the abnormal hyperphosphorylation of tau both via an increase in its phosphorylation and a decrease in its dephosphorylation.
Pei
Jin-Jing
JJ
Division of Experimental Geriatrics, Karolinska Institutet, NEUROTEC, Huddinge, Sweden.
Gong
Cheng-Xin
CX
An
Wen-Lin
WL
Winblad
Bengt
B
Cowburn
Richard F
RF
Grundke-Iqbal
Inge
I
Iqbal
Khalid
K
D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D004789:Enzyme Activation / Q000187:drug effects; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D048369:MAP Kinase Kinase 1; D048370:MAP Kinase Kinase 2; D020929:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D019319:Okadaic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010749:Phosphoprotein Phosphatases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D054648:Protein Phosphatase 2; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D038762:Ribosomal Protein S6 Kinases, 70-kDa / Q000378:metabolism*
D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D019319:Okadaic Acid; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D038762:Ribosomal Protein S6 Kinases, 70-kDa; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D048369:MAP Kinase Kinase 1; D048370:MAP Kinase Kinase 2; D020929:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases; D010749:Phosphoprotein Phosphatases; D054648:Protein Phosphatase 2