Decreased extrasynaptic δ-GABAA receptors in PNN-associated parvalbumin interneurons correlates with anxiety in APP and tau mouse models of Alzheimer's disease

Background

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with gradual memory loss and anxiety which affects ~75% of AD patients. This study investigated whether AD-associated anxiety correlated with modulation of extrasynaptic δ-subunit-containing GABA_A receptors (δ-GABA_ARs) in experimental mouse models of AD.

Experimental approach

We combined behavioural experimental paradigms to measure cognition performance, and anxiety with neuroanatomy and molecular biology, using familial knock-in (KI) mouse models of AD that harbour β-amyloid (Aβ) precursor protein App (App^NL-F) with or without humanized microtubule-associated protein tau (MAPT), age-matched to wild-type control mice at three different age windows.

Results

App^NL-F KI and App^NL-F/MAPT AD models showed a similar magnitude of cognitive decline and elevated magnitude of anxiety correlated with neuroinflammatory hallmarks, including triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2), reactive astrocytes and activated microglia consistent with accumulation of Aβ, tau and down-regulation of Wnt/β-catenin signalling compared to aged-matched WT controls. In both the CA1 region of the hippocampus and dentate gyrus, there was an age-dependent decline in the expression of δ-GABA_ARs selectively expressed in parvalbumin (PV)-expressing interneurons, encapsulated by perineuronal nets (PNNs) in the AD mouse models compared to WT mice.

In vivo positive allosteric modulation of the δ-GABA_ARs, using a δ-selective-compound DS2, decreased the level of anxiety in the AD mouse models, which was correlated with reduced hallmarks of neuroinflammation, and ‘normalisation’ of the expression of δ-GABA_ARs.

Conclusions

Our data show that the δ-GABA_ARs could potentially be targeted for alleviating symptoms of anxiety, which would greatly improve the quality of life of AD individuals.