Hypoxia increases Aβ generation by altering β- and γ-cleavage of APP

Environmental factors are significant contributors for the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The greatly increased incidence of AD following stroke and cerebral ischemia suggests that hypoxia is a risk factor which may accelerate AD pathogenesis by altering amyloid precursor protein (APP) processing. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the hypoxia mediated AD pathogenesis have not been fully elucidated. In the present study we demonstrated that repeated hypoxia increased β-amyloid (Aβ) generation and neuritic plaques formation by elevating β-cleavage of APP in APPswe + PS1A246E transgenic mice. We also found that hypoxia enhanced the expression of APH-1a, a component of γ-secretase complex, which in turn may lead to increase in γ-cleavage activity. Furthermore, we demonstrated that repeated hypoxia treatment can activate macroautophagy, which may contribute to the increases in Aβ production since pretreatment with macroautophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine significantly blocked chemical hypoxic condition-induced increase in Aβ production in SH-SY5Y cells. Taken together, our results suggest an important role of hypoxia in modulating the APP processing by facilitating both β- and γ-cleavage which may result in a significant increase of Aβ generation.