We describe a new mutation causing Alzheimer's disease (AD) in presenilin-1 (N135D) that is at the homologous site to the presenilin 2 mutation (N141I) in Volga German kindreds.
The best studied N141I mutation produces an Alzheimer's disease phenotype with a wide range of onset ages overlapping both early and late onset Alzheimer's disease, often associated with seizures, high penetrance and typical Alzheimer's disease neuropathology.
BrdU labeling was decreased in cells expressing presenilin-1 (PS1), presenilin-2 (PS2), an Alzheimer's disease-associated missense mutation PS2(N141I), and the carboxyl-terminally deleted PS2 construct PS2(166aa), compared with mock and neurofilament-light (NF-L) transfected cells.
Twenty-five familial AD cases with 9 known PSEN 1 mutations and 14 familial AD cases with a single PSEN 2 mutation (N141I) were examined for LBP using alpha-synuclein immunohistochemistry and sampling of multiple brainstem and cortical regions.
This study demonstrates for the first time that COX-2 may be a downstream effector of mutant N141I PS2-mediated apoptotic cell death and that inhibition of COX-2 may neuroprotect in AD through modulation of a GSK-3beta-beta-catenin-mediated response.