Frizzled-1 is involved in the neuroprotective effect of Wnt3a against Abeta oligomers.

J Cell Physiol

Centro de Regulación Celular y Patología Joaquín V. Luco (CRCP), Instituto Milenio (MIFAB), Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.

Published: October 2008

AI Article Synopsis

  • Frizzled-1 is crucial for activating the canonical Wnt/beta-catenin pathway in response to Wnt3a in neurons, influencing cell survival against Alzheimer's toxicity.
  • Over-expressing Frizzled-1 enhances cell survival and reduces apoptosis, while its knockdown has the opposite effect.
  • This study highlights the potential therapeutic role of Wnt signaling in Alzheimer's treatment by demonstrating that Wnt3a's protective mechanisms are mediated through Frizzled-1 activation and beta-catenin transcriptional activity.

Article Abstract

The activation of the canonical Wnt signaling pathway protects hippocampal neurons against the toxicity of Alzheimer's amyloid-beta-peptide (Abeta), however, the role played by the Wnt receptors Frizzleds, has not been studied. We report here that Frizzled-1 mediates the activation of the canonical Wnt/beta-catenin pathway by Wnt3a in PC12 cells. In addition, the protective effect of Wnt3a against the toxicity of Abeta oligomers was modulated by Frizzled-1 expression levels in both PC12 cells and hippocampal neurons. Over-expression of Frizzled-1 significantly increased cell survival induced by Wnt3a and diminished caspase-3 activation, while knocking-down Frizzled-1 expression by antisense oligonucleotides decreased the Wnt3a protection. Over-expression of wild-type beta-catenin, but not a transcriptionally inactive mutated version, prevented the toxicity of Abeta suggesting that the transcription of Wnt target genes may be involved in these events. This was confirmed by co-transfecting both Frizzled-1 and the inactive form of beta-catenin, which does not elicited protection levels similar to those showed with endogenous beta-catenin. Our results indicate that Wnt3a protects from Abeta-oligomers toxicity by activating the canonical Wnt signaling pathway through the Frizzled-1 receptor, suggesting a therapeutic potential for this signaling pathway in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

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Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jcp.21497DOI Listing

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