APOE4 exacerbates synapse loss and neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease patient iPSC-derived cerebral organoids

Nat Commun. 2020 Nov 2;11(1):5540. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-19264-0.

Abstract

APOE4 is the strongest genetic risk factor associated with late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD). To address the underlying mechanism, we develop cerebral organoid models using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) with APOE ε3/ε3 or ε4/ε4 genotype from individuals with either normal cognition or AD dementia. Cerebral organoids from AD patients carrying APOE ε4/ε4 show greater apoptosis and decreased synaptic integrity. While AD patient-derived cerebral organoids have increased levels of Aβ and phosphorylated tau compared to healthy subject-derived cerebral organoids, APOE4 exacerbates tau pathology in both healthy subject-derived and AD patient-derived organoids. Transcriptomics analysis by RNA-sequencing reveals that cerebral organoids from AD patients are associated with an enhancement of stress granules and disrupted RNA metabolism. Importantly, isogenic conversion of APOE4 to APOE3 attenuates the APOE4-related phenotypes in cerebral organoids from AD patients. Together, our study using human iPSC-organoids recapitulates APOE4-related phenotypes and suggests APOE4-related degenerative pathways contributing to AD pathogenesis.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Alzheimer Disease / genetics
  • Alzheimer Disease / metabolism*
  • Apolipoprotein E3 / genetics*
  • Apolipoprotein E3 / metabolism*
  • Apolipoprotein E4 / genetics
  • Gene Expression Regulation
  • Genotype
  • Humans
  • Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells / metabolism*
  • Organoids / metabolism*
  • Organoids / pathology
  • RNA / metabolism
  • Synapses / metabolism*
  • Transcriptome

Substances

  • Apolipoprotein E3
  • Apolipoprotein E4
  • apolipoprotein E7, human
  • RNA