Apolipoprotein-E forms dimers in human frontal cortex and hippocampus

BACKGROUND: Apolipoprotein-E (apoE) plays important roles in neurobiology and the apoE4 isoform increases risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD). ApoE3 and apoE2 are known to form disulphide-linked dimers in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid whereas apoE4 cannot form these dimers as it lacks a cysteine residue. Previous in vitro research indicates dimerisation of apoE3 has a significant impact on its functions related to cholesterol homeostasis and amyloid-beta peptide degradation. The possible occurrence of apoE dimers in cortical tissues has not been examined and was therefore assessed. Human frontal cortex and hippocampus from control and AD post-mortem samples were homogenised and analysed for apoE by western blotting under both reducing and non-reducing conditions. RESULTS: In apoE3 homozygous samples, ~12% of apoE was present as a homodimer and ~2% was detected as a 43 kDa heterodimer. The level of dimerisation was not significantly different when control and AD samples were compared. As expected, these dimerised forms of apoE were not detected in apoE4 homozygous samples but were detected in apoE3/4 heterozygotes at a level approximately 60% lower than seen in the apoE3 homozygous samples. Similar apoE3 dimers were also detected in lysates of SK-N-SH neuroblastoma cells and in freshly prepared rabbit brain homogenates. The addition of the thiol trapping agent, iodoacetamide, to block reactive thiols during both human and rabbit brain sample homogenisation and processing did not reduce the amount of apoE homodimer recovered. These data indicate that the apoE dimers we detected in the human brain are not likely to be post-mortem artefacts. CONCLUSION: The identification of disulphide-linked apoE dimers in human cortical and hippocampal tissues represents a distinct structural difference between the apoE3 and apoE4 isoforms that may have functional consequences.