Nitrosylation of GAPDH augments pathological tau acetylation upon exposure to amyloid-β

Acetylation of the microtubule-associated protein tau promotes its polymerization into neurofibrillary tangles that are implicated in the pathology of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The gaseous neurotransmitter nitric oxide (NO) regulates cell signaling through the nitrosylation of proteins. We found that NO production and tau acetylation at Lys 280 occurred in the brain tissue in mice and in cultured mouse cortical neurons in response to exposure to amyloid-β 1–42 (Aβ 1–42 ), a peptide that is also implicated in AD. An increased abundance of NO facilitated the S -nitrosylation (SNO) of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH). S -nitrosylated GAPDH (GAPDH-SNO) promoted the acetylation and activation of the acetyltransferase p300 and facilitated the nitrosylation and inactivation of the deacetylase sirtuin 1 (SIRT1). The abundance of GAPDH-SNO was increased in postmortem brain samples from AD patients. Preventing the increase in GAPDH-SNO abundance in both cultured neurons and mice, either by overexpression of the nitrosylation mutant of GAPDH (GAPDH C150S) or by treatment with the GAPDH nitrosylation inhibitor CGP3466B (also known as omigapil), abrogated Aβ 1–42 –induced tau acetylation, memory impairment, and locomotor dysfunction in mice, suggesting that this drug might be repurposed to treat patients with AD.