Nec-1 alleviates cognitive impairment with reduction of A and tau abnormalities in APP/PS1 mice

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by cognitive symptoms of learning and memory deficits. Such cognitive impairments are attributed to brain atrophy resulting from progressive neuronal and synaptic loss; therefore, alleviation of neural cell death is as an important target of treatment as other classical hallmarks of AD, such as aggregation of amyloid- (A) and hyperphosphorylation of tau. Here, we found that an anti-necroptotic molecule necrostatin-1 (Nec-1) directly targets A and tau proteins, alleviates brain cell death and ameliorates cognitive impairment in AD models. In the cortex and hippocampus of APP/PS1 double-transgenic mice, Nec-1 treatment reduced the levels of A oligomers, plaques and hyperphosphorylated tau without affecting production of A, while it altered the levels of apoptotic marker proteins. Our results showing multiple beneficial modes of action of Nec-1 against AD provide evidence that Nec-1 may serve an important role in the development of preventive approach for AD.