Basic Science and Pathogenesis

A rare reelin gene variant (RELN-COLBOS mutation) delayed dementia onset by 30 years in an autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease (ADAD) mutation carrier. Despite a high amyloid-β (Aβ) load, the brain had low tau accumulation, suggesting that this mutation conferred resilience against tau pathology and cognitive decline. However, whether RELN variants protect against sporadic late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) remains unknown. Here, we evaluated the impact of RELN single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on AD pathophysiology and cognitive decline in LOAD.

We included 189 individuals from ADNI with available data on RELN SNPs, Aβ- and tau-PET, CSF Aβ_1-42 and ptau₁₈₁, APOEε4 status, neuropsychological tests (CDRSB and MMSE), and clinical diagnosis. We investigated the impact of RELN carriership on the association between Aβ and tau burden through regional- and voxel-wise linear regressions, and on cognitive decline based on AT biomarker profile with a linear mixed-effect model. We also analyzed the interaction effects between RELN and APOEε4 carriership on tau pathology (Bonferroni's adjusted p-value < 0.05).

Of the RELN SNPs available in ADNI (Figure 1A), RELN rs802787 protected against Aβ-driven tau pathology (β = -0.603, adj. p-value = 0.0002; Figure 1B). At the voxel level, this protection was mostly associated with the temporal lobe (Figure 1C). Also, RELN rs802787 carriers exhibited a reduced APOEε4-related tau burden (β = -0.572, p-value = 0.035; Figure 2). Stratifying individuals by AT status revealed that RELN rs802787 carriership did not affect cognitive decline in Aβ- groups (Figure 3). In contrast, A+T- carriers showed a slower change in CDRSB (β = -0.45, p-value = 0.007) and MMSE (β = +0.3, p-value = 0.001) scores over the months, an effect absent in individuals with high tau burden (A+T+; Figure 3).

Our findings suggest that RELN rs802787 confers resilience against Aβ-driven tau pathology and cognitive deterioration in LOAD. The reduced APOEε4-associated tau burden suggests a potential mechanism by which RELN could modulate tau accumulation. To our knowledge, this is the first RELN variant identified as protective in LOAD. Our results suggest that reelin signaling is an important player in AD pathophysiology, underscoring it as a promising target for AD therapeutics.