Alzheimer's Disease-related Overexpression of the Cation-dependent Mannose 6-Phosphate Receptor Increases A Secretion

Prominent endosomal and lysosomal changes are an invariant feature of neurons in sporadic Alzheimer’s disease (AD). These changes include increased levels of lysosomal hydrolases in early endosomes and increased expression of the cation-dependent mannose 6-phosphate receptor (CD-MPR), which is partially localized to early endosomes. To determine whether AD-associated redistribution of lysosomal hydrolases resulting from changes in CD-MPR expression affects amyloid precursor protein (APP) processing, we stably transfected APP-overexpressing murine L cells with human CDMPR. As controls for these cells, we also expressed CDMPR trafficking mutants that either localize to the plasma membrane (CD-MPRpm) or to early endosomes (CD-MPRendo). Expression of CD-MPR resulted in a partial redistribution of a representative lysosomal hydrolase, cathepsin D, to early endosomal compartments. Turnover of APP and secretion of sAPP and sAPP were not altered by overexpression of any of the CDMPR constructs. However, secretion of both human A40 and A42 into the growth media nearly tripled in CD-MPR- and CD-MPRendo-expressing cells when compared with parental or CD-MPRpm-expressing cells. Comparable increases were confirmed for endogenous mouse A40 in L cells expressing these CD-MPR constructs but not overexpressing human APP. These data suggest that redistribution of lysosomal hydrolases to early endocytic compartments mediated by increased expression of the CD-MPR may represent a potentially pathogenic mechanism for accelerating A generation in sporadic AD, where the mechanism of amyloidogenesis is unknown.