Air pollution decreases postsynaptic PSD-95 and NMDA receptor subunits in synaptosomes from mouse cerebral cortex

Air pollution (AirP) increases the risk of accelerated cognitive decline, dementia, and behavioral disorders associated with oxidative damage in humans. These AirP responses are shared with rodent models. The underlying impact of AirP-mediated molecular changes on synapses remains unexplored. We examined synaptosomes extracted from cerebral cortex of mice chronically exposed to inhaled diesel exhaust particles (DEP) for 8 weeks. DEP selectively decreased postsynaptic proteins (PSD-95; p = 0.04, SAP97; p = 0.01) by at least 20 % and NMDA receptor subunits (GluN1; p = 0.03, N2A; p = 0.009, N2B; p = 0.01) by 15 %, without altering the evaluated pre-synaptic proteins. Antioxidant enzymes for oxidized phospholipid repair (GPx4; p = 0.015), iron metabolism (HMOX1; p = 0.04), and glutathione synthesis (GCLC; p = 0.008), which participate in mitigating ferroptosis, a form of cell death present in Alzheimer's disease, increased by at least 15 %. These findings suggest subcellular responses to AirP in glutamatergic synapses. Further analyses of the impact of AirP on synapses may consider protective mechanisms by antioxidant enzymes to enhance cognitive health at all ages.