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Dynamic Microtubules in Alzheimer’s Disease: Association with Dendritic Spine Pathology

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Abstract

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common incurable neurodegenerative disorder that affects the processes of memory formation and storage. The loss of dendritic spines and alteration in their morphology in AD correlate with the extent of patient’s cognitive decline. Tubulin had been believed to be restricted to dendritic shafts, until recent studies demonstrated that dynamically growing tubulin microtubules enter dendritic spines and promote their maturation. Abnormalities of tubulin cytoskeleton may contribute to the process of dendritic spine shape alteration and their subsequent loss in AD. In this review, association between tubulin cytoskeleton dynamics and dendritic spine morphology is discussed in the context of dendritic spine alterations in AD. Potential implications of these findings for the development of AD therapy are proposed.

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Abbreviations

AD:

Alzheimer’s disease

APP:

amyloid-precursor protein

EB3:

end-binding protein 3

MT:

microtubule

PS1 (2):

Presenilin 1(2)

+TIPs:

microtubule plus-end-tracking proteins

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Molecular Neurodegeneration, Department of Medical Physics, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, 195251, St. Petersburg, Russia

    E. I. Pchitskaya, V. A. Zhemkov & I. B. Bezprozvanny

  2. Department of Physiology, UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Dallas, TX, 75390, USA

    I. B. Bezprozvanny

Authors
  1. E. I. Pchitskaya
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  2. V. A. Zhemkov
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  3. I. B. Bezprozvanny
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Correspondence to I. B. Bezprozvanny.

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Published in Russian in Biokhimiya, 2018, Vol. 83, No. 9, pp. 1343–1350.

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Pchitskaya, E.I., Zhemkov, V.A. & Bezprozvanny, I.B. Dynamic Microtubules in Alzheimer’s Disease: Association with Dendritic Spine Pathology. Biochemistry Moscow 83, 1068–1074 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0006297918090080

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