Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disease, which is characterized by cognitive and synaptic plasticity damage. Rapamycin is an activator of autophagy/mitophagy, which plays an important role in identifying and degrading damaged mitochondria. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of rapamycin on cognitive and synaptic plasticity defects induced by AD, and further explore if the underlying mechanism was associated with mitophagy. The results show that rapamycin increases parkin-mediated mitophagy and promotes fusion of mitophagosome and lysosome in the APP/PS1 mouse hippocampus. Rapamycin enhances learning and memory viability, synaptic plasticity and the expression of synapse related proteins, and impedes Cytochrome C-mediated apoptosis, decreases oxidative status and recovers mitochondrial function in APP/PS1 mice. The data suggest that rapamycin effectively alleviates AD-like behaviors and synaptic plasticity deficits in APP/PS1 mice, which is associated with enhanced mitophagy. Our findings possibly uncover an important function of mitophagy in eliminating damaged mitochondria to attenuate Alzheimer's disease-associated pathology.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.