Corticotropin-releasing factor overexpression gives rise to sex differences in Alzheimer's disease-related signaling

Several neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders share stress as a risk factor and are more prevalent in women than men. Corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) orchestrates the stress response and excessive CRF is thought to contribute to the pathophysiology of these diseases. We previously found that the CRF(1) receptor (CRF(1)) is sex-biased whereby coupling to its GTP-binding protein, Gs, is greater in females, while β-arrestin-2 coupling is greater in males. This study used a phosphoproteomic approach in CRF-overexpressing mice (CRF-OE) to test the proof of principle that when CRF is in excess, sex-biased CRF(1) coupling translates into divergent cell signaling that is expressed as different brain phosphoprotein profiles. Cortical phosphopeptides that distinguished female and male CRF-OE mice were overrepresented in unique pathways that were consistent with Gs-dependent signaling in females and β-arrestin-2 signaling in males. Notably, phosphopeptides that were more abundant in female CRF-OE mice were overrepresented in an Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathway. Phosphoproteomic results were validated by demonstrating that CRF overexpression in females was associated with increased tau phosphorylation and, in a mouse model of AD pathology, phosphorylation of β-secretase, the enzyme involved in formation of amyloid β. These females exhibited increased formation of amyloid β plaques and cognitive impairments relative to males. Collectively, the findings are consistent with a mechanism whereby the excess CRF that characterizes stress-related diseases initiates distinct cellular processes in male and female brains, as a result of sex biased CRF(1) signaling. Promotion of AD-related signaling pathways through this mechanism may contribute to female vulnerability to AD.