Upregulation of amyloid precursor protein gene promoter in rat primary hippocampal neurons by phorbol ester, IL-1 and retinoic acid, but not by reactive oxygen species

The APP gene promoter has multiple regulatory sequences, some of which may contribute to the neuropathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this study, we investigated the effects of phorbol ester (PMA), IL-1, retinoic acid and reactive oxygen species on APP promoter activity in primary hippocampal neurons. We transfected neurons with either of two APP promoter constructs, a −2.8 kb and a shorter −488 bp upstream fragment fused to the chloramphenicol transferase (CAT) reporter gene. We demonstrated that phorbol 12-myristate-13 acetate (PMA), retinoic acid and IL-1 all stimulated both APP promoter constructs in hippocampal neurons after 24 h treatment. PMA and IL-1 treatments led to 2-fold increases of APP promoter activity. Retinoic acid induced a 3-fold increase. In addition, the magnitude of APP promoter responses to PMA and IL-1 treatment was similar between APP −2.8 kb and −488 bp plasmid transfected neurons. This suggests that the AP-1 sequence at −350 to −344 in the APP promoter may mediate the stimulatory effects of PMA and IL-1, as previously observed in endothelial and HeLa cells. In contrast, hydrogen peroxide, which was shown to activate NF-κB in primary neurons, failed to stimulate APP promoter activity, suggesting that the regulatory elements in the APP promoter may not respond to reactive oxygen species. Overall, these data indicate that APP expression in primary neurons can be modulated by PMA, IL-1 and retinoic acid. However, the contribution of reactive oxygen to Alzheimer's disease may not be directly related to the activation of the APP gene promoter but instead to neuronal damage associated with oxidative stress. Since elevated levels of IL-1 have been observed in AD brain, IL-1 could contribute to development of Alzheimer's disease by stimulating APP synthesis in primary neurons.