Analysis of target genes induced by the Amyloid Precursor Protein Intracellular Domain

The amyloid precursor protein (APP) plays a central role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Processing of APP by β- and γ-secretase activities results in the production of ß-amyloid (Aß), the main constituent of Alzheimer plaques, but also in the generation of the APP intracellular domain (AICD). Recently, it has been demonstrated that AICD has transactivation potential, however, the targets of AICD dependent gene regulation and hence the physiological role of AICD remain largely unknown. In this work we analysed transcriptome changes during AICD dependent gene regulation using a human neural cell culture system inducible for expression of AICD, its co-activator Fe65, or the combination of both. Induction of AICD was associated with increased expression of genes with known function in the organization and dynamics of the actin cytoskeleton as well as genes involved in the regulation of apoptosis. Keywords: (Tet-Off) Inducible cell culture system