Ov. Forlenza et al., Muscarinic agonists reduce tau phosphorylation in non-neuronal cells via GSK-3 beta inhibition and in neurons, J NEURAL TR, 107(10), 2000, pp. 1201-1212
Muscarinic agonists alter the metabolism of amyloid precursor protein, lead
ing to an increase in alpha -secretase cleavage and a decreased production
of amyloidogenic peptides; suggesting that these compounds might modify the
Alzheimer's disease process. A second therapeutic target in AD is the accu
mulation of stably phosphorylated tau into neurofibrillary tangles; an earl
y event correlating with cognitive impairment. Glycogen synthase kinase-3 (
GSK-3 beta) phosphorylates tau and is inhibited via protein kinase C (PKC).
As certain muscarinic receptors are linked to PKC, we examined the effect
of a range of agonists on GSK-3 beta phosphorylation of tau. In neurons a n
on-specific muscarinic agonist, carbachol, reduced tau phosphorylation. In
non-neuronal cells expressing the m1 receptor a range of m1 agonists reduce
d transiently-expressed tau phosphorylation and altered its microtubule-bin
ding properties. These findings link the two pathological process of AD - A
PP metabolism and tau phosphorylation - and suggest that muscarinic and oth
er cholinergic compounds might have disease-modifying properties.