The Role of Neutrophil Proteins on the Amyloid Beta-RAGE Axis

We previously showed an elevated expression of the neutrophil protein, cationic antimicrobial protein of 37kDa (CAP37), in brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), suggesting that CAP37 could be involved in AD pathogenesis. The first step in determining how CAP37 might contribute to AD pathogenesis was to identify the receptor through which it induces cell responses. To identify a putative receptor, we performed GAMMA analysis to determine genes that positively correlated with CAP37 in terms of expression. Positive correlations with ligands for the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) were observed. Additionally, CAP37 expression positively correlated with two other neutrophil proteins, neutrophil elastase and cathepsin G. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) demonstrated an interaction between CAP37, neutrophil elastase, and cathepsin G with RAGE. Amyloid beta 1–42 (Aβ(1–42)), a known RAGE ligand, accumulates in AD brains and interacts with RAGE, contributing to Aβ(1–42) neurotoxicity. We questioned whether the binding of CAP37, neutrophil elastase and/or cathepsin G to RAGE could interfere with Aβ(1–42) binding to RAGE. Using ELISAs, we determined that CAP37 and neutrophil elastase inhibited binding of Aβ(1–42) to RAGE, and this effect was reversed by protease inhibitors in the case of neutrophil elastase. Since neutrophil elastase and cathepsin G have enzymatic activity, mass spectrometry was performed to determine the proteolytic activity of all three neutrophil proteins on Aβ(1–42). All three neutrophil proteins bound to Aβ(1–42) with different affinities and cleaved Aβ(1–42) with different kinetics and substrate specificities. We posit that these neutrophil proteins could modulate neurotoxicity in AD by cleaving Aβ(1–42) and influencing the Aβ1–42 –RAGE interaction. Further studies will be required to determine the biological significance of these effects and their relevance in neurodegenerative diseases such as AD. Our findings identify a novel area of study that underscores the importance of neutrophils and neutrophil proteins in neuroinflammatory diseases such as AD.