Increased neuronal PreP activity reduces Aβ accumulation, attenuates neuroinflammation and improves mitochondrial and synaptic function in Alzheimer disease's mouse model

Accumulation of amyloid-beta (A beta) in synaptic mitochondria is associated with mitochondrial and synaptic injury. The underlying mechanisms and strategies to eliminate A beta and rescue mitochondrial and synaptic defects remain elusive. Presequence protease (PreP), a mitochondrial peptidasome, is a novel mitochondrial A beta degrading enzyme. Here, we demonstrate for the first time that increased expression of active human PreP in cortical neurons attenuates Alzheimer disease's (AD)-like mitochondrial amyloid pathology and synaptic mitochondrial dysfunction, and suppresses mitochondrial oxidative stress. Notably, PreP-overexpressed AD mice show significant reduction in the production of proinflammatory mediators. Accordingly, increased neuronal PreP expression improves learning and memory and synaptic function in vivo AD mice, and alleviates A beta-mediated reduction of long-term potentiation (LTP). Our results provide in vivo evidence that PreP may play an important role in maintaining mitochondrial integrity and function by clearance and degradation of mitochondrial A beta along with the improvement in synaptic and behavioral function in AD mouse model. Thus, enhancing PreP activity/expression may be a new therapeutic avenue for treatment of AD.