Impaired neurogenesis in the adult hippocampus has been implicated in Alzheimer’s Disease. In this report Wang and colleagues show that amyloid precursor protein (APP) plays an important role in neural progenitor proliferation and newborn neuron maturation in the mouse dentate gyrus. Selective deletion of GABAergic, but not glutamatergic neurons affected APP’s regulation of adult hippocampal neurogenesis. APP is highly expressed in the majority of GABAergic neurons in the dentate gyrus and enhances the inhibitory tone to granule cells. By regulating both tonic and phasic GABAergic inputs to dentate granule cells, the authors suggest that APP maintains excitatory–inhibitory balance and preserves cognitive functions. They suggest that APP has an indispensable role in the GABAergic system for controlling adult hippocampal neurogenesis. APP dysfunction may contribute to impaired neurogenesis and cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer’s Disease.
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Wang B, Wang Z, Sun L, Yang L, Li H, Cole AL, Rodriguez-Rivera J, Lu H-C and Zheng H: The Amyloid Precursor Protein Controls Adult Hippocampal Neurogenesis through GABAergic Interneurons. J. Neuroscience 34(40): 13314-13325 (2014).
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http://www.jneurosci.org/content/34/40/13314.abstract?etoc