TYROBP (also known as DAP12 or KARAP) is a transmembrane adaptor protein initially described as a receptor-activating subunit component of natural killer (NK) cells. TYROBP is expressed in numerous cell types, including peripheral blood monocytes, macrophages, dendritic cells, and osteoclasts, but a key point of recent interest is related to the critical role played by TYROBP in the function of many receptors expressed on the plasma membrane of microglia. TYROBP is the downstream adaptor and putative signaling partner for several receptors implicated in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), including SIRP1β, CD33, CR3, and TREM2. TYROBP has received much of its current notoriety because of its importance in brain homeostasis by signal transduction across those receptors. In this review, we provide an overview of evidence indicating that the biology of TYROBP extends beyond its interaction with these four ligand-binding ectodomain-intramembranous domain molecules. In addition to reviewing the structure and localization of TYROBP, we discuss our recent progress using mouse models of either cerebral amyloidosis or tauopathy that were engineered to be TYROBP-deficient or TYROBP-overexpressing. Remarkably, constitutively TYROBP-deficient mice provided a model of genetic resilience to either of the defining proteinopathies of AD. Learning behavior and synaptic electrophysiological function were preserved at normal physiological levels even in the face of robust cerebral amyloidosis (inAPP/PSEN1;Tyrobp^−/−mice) or tauopathy (inMAPT^P301S;Tyrobp^−/−mice). A fundamental underpinning of the functional synaptic dysfunction associated with each proteotype was an accumulation of complement C1q. TYROBP deficiency prevented C1q accumulation associated with either proteinopathy. Based on these data, we speculate that TYROBP plays a key role in the microglial sensome and the emergence of the disease-associated microglia (DAM) phenotype. TYROBP may also play a key role in the loss of markers of synaptic integrity (e.g., synaptophysin-like immunoreactivity) that has long been held to be the feature of human AD molecular neuropathology that most closely correlates with concurrent clinical cognitive function.

Basal forebrain cholinergic neurons (BFCNs) are believed to be one of the first cell types to be affected in all forms of AD, and their dysfunction is clinically correlated with impaired short-term memory formation and retrieval. We present an optimized in vitro protocol to generate human BFCNs from iPSCs, using cell lines from presenilin 2 (PSEN2) mutation carriers and controls. As expected, cell lines harboring the PSEN2 N141I mutation displayed an increase in the Aβ42/40 in iPSC-derived BFCNs. Neurons derived from PSEN2 N141I lines generated fewer maximum number of spikes in response to a square depolarizing current injection. The height of the first action potential at rheobase current injection was also significantly decreased in PSEN2 N141I BFCNs. CRISPR/Cas9 correction of the PSEN2 point mutation abolished the electrophysiological deficit, restoring both the maximal number of spikes and spike height to the levels recorded in controls. Increased Aβ42/40 was also normalized following CRISPR/Cas-mediated correction of the PSEN2 N141I mutation. The genome editing data confirms the robust consistency of mutation-related changes in Aβ42/40 ratio while also showing a PSEN2-mutation-related alteration in electrophysiology.

SorCS1 and SorL1/SorLA/LR11 belong to the sortilin family of vacuolar protein sorting-10 (Vps10) domain-containing proteins. Both are genetically associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD), andSORL1expression is decreased in the brains of patients suffering from AD.SORCS1is also genetically associated with types 1 and 2 diabetes mellitus (T1DM, T2DM). We have undertaken a study of the possible role(s) for SorCS1 in metabolism of the Alzheimer's amyloid-β peptide (Aβ) and the Aβ precursor protein (APP), to test the hypothesis thatSorcs1deficiency might be a common genetic risk factor underlying the predisposition to AD that is associated with T2DM. Overexpression of SorCS1cβ-myc in cultured cells caused a reduction (p= 0.002) in Aβ generation. Conversely, endogenous murine Aβ₄₀and Aβ₄₂levels were increased (Aβ₄₀,p= 0.044; Aβ₄₂,p= 0.007) in the brains of femaleSorcs1hypomorphic mice, possibly paralleling the sexual dimorphism that is characteristic of the genetic associations ofSORCS1with AD and DM. Since SorL1 directly interacts with Vps35 to modulate APP metabolism, we investigated the possibility that SorCS1cβ-myc interacts with APP, SorL1, and/or Vps35. We readily recovered SorCS1:APP, SorCS1:SorL1, and SorCS1:Vps35 complexes from nontransgenic mouse brain. Notably, total Vps35 protein levels were decreased by 49% (p= 0.009) and total SorL1 protein levels were decreased by 29% (p= 0.003) in the brains of femaleSorcs1hypomorphic mice. From these data, we propose that dysfunction of SorCS1 may contribute to both the APP/Aβ disturbance underlying AD and the insulin/glucose disturbance underlying DM.

Abnormalities in brain glucose metabolism and accumulation of abnormal protein deposits called plaques and tangles are neuropathological hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but their relationship to disease pathogenesis and to each other remains unclear. Here we show that succinylation, a metabolism-associated post-translational protein modification (PTM), provides a potential link between abnormal metabolism and AD pathology. We quantified the lysine succinylomes and proteomes from brains of individuals with AD, and healthy controls. In AD, succinylation of multiple mitochondrial proteins declined, and succinylation of small number of cytosolic proteins increased. The largest increases occurred at critical sites of amyloid precursor protein (APP) and microtubule-associated tau. We show that in vitro, succinylation of APP disrupted its normal proteolytic processing thereby promoting Aβ accumulation and plaque formation and that succinylation of tau promoted its aggregation to tangles and impaired microtubule assembly. In transgenic mouse models of AD, elevated succinylation associated with soluble and insoluble APP derivatives and tau. These findings indicate that a metabolism-linked PTM may be associated with AD.