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Senolytic therapy alleviates Aβ-associated oligodendrocyte progenitor cell senescence and cognitive deficits in an Alzheimer’s disease model

Nature Neuroscience volume 22, pages 719–728 (2019)Cite this article

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Abstract

Neuritic plaques, a pathological hallmark in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) brains, comprise extracellular aggregates of amyloid-beta (Aβ) peptide and degenerating neurites that accumulate autolysosomes. We found that, in the brains of patients with AD and in AD mouse models, Aβ plaque-associated Olig2- and NG2-expressing oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs), but not astrocytes, microglia, or oligodendrocytes, exhibit a senescence-like phenotype characterized by the upregulation of p21/CDKN1A, p16/INK4/CDKN2A proteins, and senescence-associated β-galactosidase activity. Molecular interrogation of the Aβ plaque environment revealed elevated levels of transcripts encoding proteins involved in OPC function, replicative senescence, and inflammation. Direct exposure of cultured OPCs to aggregating Aβ triggered cell senescence. Senolytic treatment of AD mice selectively removed senescent cells from the plaque environment, reduced neuroinflammation, lessened Aβ load, and ameliorated cognitive deficits. Our findings suggest a role for Aβ-induced OPC cell senescence in neuroinflammation and cognitive deficits in AD, and a potential therapeutic benefit of senolytic treatments.

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Fig. 1: OPCs exhibiting a senescence phenotype are associated with Aβ plaques in brains of patients with AD.
Fig. 2: Association of cellular senescence and OPC markers with Aβ plaques in the brains of APP/PS1 double-mutant transgenic mice.
Fig. 3: Molecular and ultrastructural features of Aβ-associated OPC senescence.
Fig. 4: Senolytic treatment selectively kills p16- and p21-expressing OPCs from the Aβ plaque environment in AD mice.
Fig. 5: Long-term senolytic treatment prevents Aβ accumulation and hippocampus-dependent cognitive impairment in APP/PS1 AD mice.

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Data availability

The data used to generate the figures in this study are available from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank N. Sah, J. Tian, and R. Munk for technical support. We thank D. Baker at the Mayo Clinic for his valuable advice about the use of senolytic agents in vivo. This research was supported by the Intramural Research Programs of the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and by an NIA grant supporting the University of Kentucky Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (no. P30-AG0-28383).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Neurosciences, National Institute on Aging Intramural Research Program, NIH, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Peisu Zhang, Yuki Kishimoto, Roy G. Cutler & Mark P. Mattson

  2. Laboratory of Genetics and Genomics, National Institute on Aging Intramural Research Program, NIH, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Ioannis Grammatikakis, Kotb Abdelmohsen & Myriam Gorospe

  3. Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute on Aging Intramural Research Program, NIH, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Kamalvishnu Gottimukkala & Jyoti Misra Sen

  4. Electron Microscopy Core, National Institute on Drug Abuse Intramural Research Program, NIH, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Shiliang Zhang

  5. Laboratory of Molecular Gerontology, National Institute on Aging Intramural Research Program, NIH, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Vilhelm A. Bohr

  6. Immunology Program, Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Jyoti Misra Sen

  7. Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Mark P. Mattson

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Contributions

P.Z. designed and performed the experiments, analyzed the data, and wrote the manuscript. Y.K. performed the experiments and analyzed the data. I.G., K.A., S.Z., R.G.C., and J.T. generated the data. K.G. and J.M.S. generated and characterized the p16-ZsGreen reporter and the APP/PS1 and p16-ZsGreen reporter mice. M.P.M., M.G., and V.A.B. contributed to the experimental design and writing of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Peisu Zhang or Mark P. Mattson.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Journal peer review information: Nature Neuroscience thanks Valery Krizhanovsky and other anonymous reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Figs. 1–21 and Supplementary Tables 1 & 2.

Reporting Summary

Supplementary Video 1

Spatial relationship between senescent cells and Aβ plaques. p16 mRNA is shown in green, Aβ immunoreactivity in red and cell nuclei in blue (DAPI).

Supplementary Video 2

Spatial relationship between senescent cells and Aβ plaques. p16 mRNA is shown in green and LAMP1 protein immunoreactivity in pink.

Supplementary Video 3

Spatial relationship between senescent cells and Aβ plaques. p16 mRNA is shown in green, LAMP1 protein immunoreactivity in cyan and Aβ immunoreactivity in red.

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Zhang, P., Kishimoto, Y., Grammatikakis, I. et al. Senolytic therapy alleviates Aβ-associated oligodendrocyte progenitor cell senescence and cognitive deficits in an Alzheimer’s disease model. Nat Neurosci 22, 719–728 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-019-0372-9

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