title: Relationship between proteolytically cleaved gelsolin and levels of amyloid-β protein in the brains of Down syndrome subjects.
abstract: Gelsolin plays an important role in the fibrillogenesis of amyloid-β (Aβ). It binds to Aβ and inhibits its fibrillization. Gelsolin also gets proteolytically cleaved under apoptotic conditions. We recently reported a correlation between proteolytic product of gelsolin (carboxyl-terminal fragment of gelsolin, gelsolin-CTF) and severity of Alzheimer's disease. In this study, we report that gelsolin is cleaved in the brains of adult individuals (age, 43-63 years) with Down syndrome (DS), and that levels of gelsolin-CTF are significantly increased in the frontal cortex of adult DS subjects as compared to age-matched control subjects. Gelsolin-CTF was not observed in frontal cortex of young DS (age 0.5-23 years) and age-matched control subjects. In addition, the levels of both soluble and total Aβ40 and Aβ42 were significantly increased in the frontal cortex of adult DS patients as compared to age-matched control subjects. A positive relationship was observed between gelsolin-CTF in frontal cortex of DS, and the levels of soluble Aβ40 (r2= 0.7820, p < 0.01) and Aβ42 (r2 = 0.8179, p < 0.01). Experiments with recombinant full-length gelsolin and its N-terminal and C-terminal fragments showed that similar to gelsolin, proteolytic fragments of gelsolin can also interact with soluble synthetic Aβ. The post-translational modification of gelsolin proteins may not be essential as these proteins (overexpressed in Escherichia coli) were able to form complexes with Aβ. These results suggest that there may be a relationship between proteolytic cleavage of gelsolin and increased Aβ in the brain. Since soluble non-fibrillar forms of Aβ are neurotoxic, they may be involved in apoptosis and proteolysis of gelsolin.
authors.affiliation: New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities, Staten Island, NY 10314, USA.
authors.forename: Lina
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.forename: Ved
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Chauhan
authors.forename: Pankaj
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mehta
authors.forename: Jerzy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wegiel
authors.forename: Sangita
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mehta
authors.forename: Abha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chauhan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000473:pathology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000378:metabolism*; D018260:Gelsolin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D047468:Immunoprecipitation / Q000379:methods; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D018260:Gelsolin; D010446:Peptide Fragments; C078592:amyloid beta-protein (1-40); C075222:amyloid beta-protein (1-42); C485184:enhanced green fluorescent protein; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins