An isoform-selective p38α mitogen-activated protein kinase inhibitor rescues early entorhinal cortex dysfunctions in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease

Grazia Rutigliano, Martina Stazi, Ottavio Arancio, D. Martin Watterson, Nicola Origlia*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

24 Scopus citations

Abstract

Neuroinflammation is a fundamental mechanism in Alzheimer's disease (AD) progression. The stress-induced activation of the p38α mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) leads to increased production of proinflammatory cytokines and neurodegeneration. We investigated the effects of an isoform selective p38α MAPK inhibitor, MW01-18-150SRM (MW150), administered at 2.5 mg/kg/d (i.p.; 14 days) on early entorhinal cortex (EC) alterations in an AD mouse model carrying human mutations of the amyloid precursor protein (mhAPP). We used electrophysiological analyses with long-term potentiation induction in EC-containing brain slices and EC-relevant associative memory tasks. We found that MW150 was capable of rescuing long-term potentiation in 2-month old mhAPP mice. Acute delivery of MW150 to brain slices was similarly effective in rescuing long-term potentiation, with a comparable efficacy to that of the widely used multikinase inhibitor SB203580. MW150-treated mhAPP mice demonstrated improved ability to discriminate novel associations between objects and their position/context. Our findings suggest that the selective inhibition of the stress-activated p38α MAPK with MW150 can attenuate the EC dysfunctions associated with neuroinflammation in an early stage of AD progression.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)86-91
Number of pages6
JournalNeurobiology of Aging
Volume70
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2018

Funding

Funding sources: This work was supported by the CNR Research Project on Aging (N.O.) and by the U01 AG043415 grant (D.M.W.).

Keywords

  • Entorhinal cortex
  • Long-term potentiation
  • Neuroinflammation
  • Novel object recognition
  • p38α MAPK inhibitor
  • β-amyloid

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Neuroscience
  • Aging
  • Clinical Neurology
  • Developmental Biology
  • Geriatrics and Gerontology

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