Understanding the Neuronal Requirement for Glycolysis

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundThe brain has a high energy demand and consumes large amounts of glucose. In Alzheimer’s disease (AD), glucose uptake is reduced, but the significance of this change for neurodegeneration is unclear. Furthermore, whether or not neurons directly take up glucose has been debated in the field. Indeed, the lactate‐shuttle hypothesis predicts that glucose is primarily metabolized by glia or astrocytes into lactate, which is subsequently delivered to neurons and utilized continuously under aerobic conditions. However, studies utilizing glucose analogs challenge that model, and support direct glucose uptake by neurons. Here, we sought to understand the essential role of the neuronal glucose metabolism, to provide a starting point for new approaches to understand and target metabolic changes in AD.MethodTo interrogate the role of neuronal glucose metabolism, we generated mice with targeted deletion of the dominant glucose transporter (GLUT3), or the enzyme that catalyzes the final step in glycolysis (PKM1), specifically in CA1 and other forebrain neurons from postnatal day 19. Mice were assessed with spatial learning and memory behavioral tests, and glucose metabolism and ATP production were monitored in individual neurons and synapses using a FRET‐based live imaging approach.ResultMale and female GLUT3 KO mice showed age‐dependent memory deficits beginning at 7 months of age, and PKM1 KO mice showed impaired memory at 12 months of age, although this defect was only present in female mice. GLUT3KO neurons had decreased basal glucose levels and uptake. GLUT3KO synapses also showed significantly reduced basal ATP levels, and their ATP levels were unresponsive to electrical stimulation, which increases neuronal energy demand. In hippocampal neurons, blocking the last step of glycolysis by PKM1 knockout decreased the basal level of ATP production at synapses in cultures prepared from female pups, and resulted in unresponsiveness to electrical stimulation in both female and male cultures.ConclusionOur results indicate that to function properly and maintain ATP levels at synapses, neurons require glucose that can be taken up directly and metabolized through glycolysis. Therefore, decreased glucose uptake in AD may contribute to neuronal dysfunction and degeneration.