Brain 5-lipoxygenase over-expression worsens memory, synaptic integrity, and tau pathology in the P301S mice

Progressive accumulation of highly phosphorylated tau protein isoforms is the main feature of a group of neurodegenerative diseases collectively called tauopathies. Data from human and animal models of these diseases have shown that neuroinflammation often accompanies their pathogenesis. The 5-lipoxygenase (5LO) is an enzyme widely expressed in the brain and a source of potent pro-inflammatory mediators, while its pharmacological inhibition modulates the phenotype of a tau transgenic mouse model, the htau mice. By employing an adeno-associated viral vector system to over-express 5LO in the brain, we examined its contribution to the behavioral deficits and neuropathology in a different transgenic mouse model of tauopathy, the P301S mouse line. Compared with controls, 5LO-targeted gene brain over-expression in these mice resulted in a worsening of behavioral and motor deficits. Over-expression of 5LO resulted in microglia and astrocyte activation and significant synaptic pathology, which was associated with a significant elevation of tau phosphorylation at specific epitopes, tau insoluble fraction, and activation of the cdk5 kinase. In vitro studies confirmed that 5LO directly modulates tau phosphorylation at the same epitopes via the cdk5 kinase pathway. These data demonstrate that 5LO plays a direct role in tau phosphorylation and is an active player in the development of the entire tau phenotype. They provide further support to the hypothesis that 5LO is a viable therapeutic target for the treatment and/or prevention of human tauopathy.