Intestinal epithelial Dicer1 regulates gut microbiome and Alzheimer's pathology in App-knock-in mice

Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients and animal models exhibit an altered gut microbiome that is associated with pathological changes in the brain. Intestinal miRNA enters bacteria and regulates bacterial metabolism and proliferation. This study aimed to investigate whether the manipulation of miRNA could alter the gut microbiome and AD pathologies.

The enzyme producing miRNA was deleted in App-knock-in mice by conditional knock-out of Dicer1 gene in intestinal epithelial cells. 16S rDNA sequencing/microbiome analysis was performed in both the gut and brain. Barrier integrity, inflammatory activation and T cell differentiation in the gut were analyzed by measuring transcripts of relevant marker genes. AD-associated pathologies in the brain, including amyloid pathology, neuroinflammation and synaptic impairment, were investigated by immunohistochemistry, ELISA, quantitative Western blot, mRNA-sequencing/transcriptomic analysis, real-time PCR and behavior tests. To investigate the mechanisms controlling Aβ level, β- and γ-secretase activities, protein levels of LRP1 and ABCB1 in isolated blood microvessels, CD68 immunofluorescence around Aβ deposits and transcription of neprilysin and IDE genes in the brain were analyzed.

Deletion of Dicer1 in intestinal epithelial cells of App-knock-in mice reduced the absolute number and altered the composition of bacteria in both the gut and brain, and inhibited inflammatory activation in the gut, but had no effect on the differentiation of CD4-positive T lymphocytes. It lowered Aβ load in the brain, possibly by inhibiting β-secretase activity, and increasing the expression of LRP1 and ABCB1 at the blood-brain barrier. Deletion of intestinal Dicer1 increased Il-10 transcription and decreased Ccl-2 transcription in the brain tissue. Transcriptomic analysis further showed that Dicer1 deletion reduced transcription of Ndufa2 and Ndufa5 genes. In behavior tests, deletion of intestinal Dicer1 induced anxiety symptoms without improving cognitive function in AD mice.

Deletion of Dicer1 in intestinal epithelial cells modulates the microbiome in both the gut and brain, and AD pathologies in the brain of App-knock-in mice. Future studies should focus on the identification of AD-specific miRNAs in the gut that can be therapeutically utilized to alter the gut microbiome and prevent AD progression.