Glutaminyl cyclase contributes to the formation of focal and diffuse pyroglutamate (pGlu)-Aβ deposits in hippocampus via distinct cellular mechanisms

In the hippocampal formation of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients, both focal and diffuse deposits of Aβ peptides appear in a subregion- and layer-specific manner. Recently, pyroglutamate (pGlu or pE)-modified Aβ peptides were identified as a highly pathogenic and seeding Aβ peptide species. Since the pE modification is catalyzed by glutaminyl cyclase (QC) this enzyme emerged as a novel pharmacological target for AD therapy. Here, we reveal the role of QC in the formation of different types of hippocampal pE-Aβ aggregates. First, we demonstrate that both, focal and diffuse pE-Aβ deposits are present in defined layers of the AD hippocampus. While the focal type of pE-Aβ aggregates was found to be associated with the somata of QC-expressing interneurons, the diffuse type was not. To address this discrepancy, the hippocampus of amyloid precursor protein transgenic mice was analysed. Similar to observations made in AD, focal (i.e. core-containing) pE-Aβ deposits originating from QC-positive neurons and diffuse pE-Aβ deposits not associated with QC were detected in Tg2576 mouse hippocampus. The hippocampal layers harbouring diffuse pE-Aβ deposits receive multiple afferents from QC-rich neuronal populations of the entorhinal cortex and locus coeruleus. This might point towards a mechanism in which pE-Aβ and/or QC are being released from projection neurons at hippocampal synapses. Indeed, there are a number of reports demonstrating the reduction of diffuse, but not of focal, Aβ deposits in hippocampus after deafferentation experiments. Moreover, we demonstrate in neurons by live cell imaging and by enzymatic activity assays that QC is secreted in a constitutive and regulated manner. Thus, it is concluded that hippocampal pE-Aβ plaques may develop through at least two different mechanisms: intracellularly at sites of somatic QC activity as well as extracellularly through seeding at terminal fields of QC expressing projection neurons. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00401-011-0806-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.