See Attems and Jellinger (doi:10.1093/brain/awx360) for a scientific commentary on this article.Cognitive changes occurring throughout the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases are directly linked to synaptic loss. We used in-depth proteomics to compare 32 post-mortem human brains in the prefrontal cortex of prospectively followed patients with Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease with dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies and older adults without dementia. In total, we identified 10 325 proteins, 851 of which were synaptic proteins. Levels of 25 synaptic proteins were significantly altered in the various dementia groups. Significant loss of SNAP47, GAP43, SYBU (syntabulin), LRFN2, SV2C, SYT2 (synaptotagmin 2), GRIA3 and GRIA4 were further validated on a larger cohort comprised of 92 brain samples using ELISA or western blot. Cognitive impairment before death and rate of cognitive decline significantly correlated with loss of SNAP47, SYBU, LRFN2, SV2C and GRIA3 proteins. Besides differentiating Parkinson's disease dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, and Alzheimer's disease from controls with high sensitivity and specificity, synaptic proteins also reliably discriminated Parkinson's disease dementia from Alzheimer's disease patients. Our results suggest that these particular synaptic proteins have an important predictive and discriminative molecular fingerprint in neurodegenerative diseases and could be a potential target for early disease intervention.

We conclude that hypercholesterolemia but not hypertriglyceridemia leads to increased formation of superoxide and peroxynitrite, and thereby results in cardiac dysfunction in hearts of human apoB100 transgenic mice.

METHODS: 129 post-mortem human brain samples were analyzed in brain regional specific manner exploring their associations with morphological changes and cognitive decline.RESULTS: We have observed robust changes reflecting synaptic dysfunction in all studied dementia groups. There were significant associations between the rate of cognitive decline and decreased levels of Rab3 in DLB in the inferior parietal lobe and SNAP25 in AD in the prefrontal cortex. Of particular note, synaptic proteins significantly discriminated between dementia cases and controls with over 90% sensitivity and specificity. DISCUSSION: Our findings suggest that the proposition that synaptic markers can predict cognitive decline in AD, should be extended to Lewy body diseases.

Background: Perturbations of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTor) signaling pathway are implicated in Alzheimer disease (AD). Results:The activated mTor alters the activity of major tau kinases contributing to the formation of tau dyshomeostasis. Conclusion:We established a cellular system using genetic activation of mTor that developed authentic AD-like changes. Significance: The study provides potential tools for identifying tau-based therapeutics.

Accumulation of unfolded and misfolded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) results in ER stress and lipid overload-induced ER stress has been implicated in the development of insulin resistance. Here, evidence is provided for a molecular link between hepatic apolipoprotein B100 (apoB100), induction of ER stress, and attenuated insulin signaling. First, in vivo upregulation of hepatic apoB100 by a lipogenic diet was found to be closely associated with ER stress and attenuated insulin signaling in the liver. Direct in vivo overexpression of human apoB100 in a mouse transgenic model further supported the link between excessive apoB100 expression and hepatic ER stress. Human apoB100 transgenic mice exhibited hypertriglyceridemia and hyperglycemia. In vitro, accumulation of cellular apoB100 by free fatty acid ( P erturbations in lipid metabolism and lipid signaling underlie the pathogenesis of a cluster of chronic metabolic diseases, including insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, and atherosclerosis.The atherogenic dyslipidemia commonly associated with insulin-resistant states consists of hypertriglyceridemia, a high level of very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), a low level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, 1 and elevated small, low-density lipoprotein (LDL). High dietary fat intake has been shown to induce insulin resistance (IR) and the lipid synthetic rate by way of increased free fatty acid (FFA) flux, as well as assembly and secretion of both VLDL-apolipoprotein B (apoB) and triglyceride (TG) in animal and human models. 2,3 The association of IR and increased VLDL secretion is thought to be derived from increased FFA delivery to the liver resulting from increased lipolysis in adipose tissue, a phenomenon accompanied by increased hepatic lipogenesis, increased hepatic microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP) level and activity, and loss of apoB regulation by insulin.Recent studies implicate hepatic ER stress as a central abnormality linking obesity, hepatic IR, and hepatic steatosis. 4,5 Ozcan et al. 4 have demonstrated that obesityinduced ER stress leads to hepatic IR by activating c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) through inositol-requiring enzyme-1 (IRE-1), with subsequent inhibition of insulin receptor signaling. ER stress has also been linked to increased hepatic lipogenesis. 6,7 However, loss of MTP activity in mouse hepatocytes by either gene disruption or