Home › Research › Drug development
Biguanide metformin acts on tau phosphorylation via mTOR/protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) signaling
Kickstein E, Krauss S, Thornhill P, Rutschow D, Zeller R, Sharkey J, Williamson R, Fuchs M et al.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2010-11-22
Topic: Disease mechanisms in lab and animal studies
Hyperphosphorylated tau plays an important role in the formation of neurofibrillary tangles in brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related tauopathies and is a crucial factor in the pathogenesis of these disorders. Though diverse kinases have been implicated in tau phosphorylation, protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) seems to be the major tau phosphatase. Using murine primary neurons from wild-type and human tau transgenic mice, we show that the antidiabetic drug metformin induces PP2A activity and reduces tau phosphorylation at PP2A-dependent epitopes in vitro and in vivo. This tau dephosphorylating potency can be blocked entirely by the PP2A inhibitors okadaic acid and fostriecin, confirming that PP2A is an important mediator of the observed effects. Surprisingly, metformin effects on PP2A activity and tau phosphorylation seem to be independent of AMPK activation, because in our experiments (i) metformin induces PP2A activity before and at lower levels than AMPK activity and (ii) the AMPK activator AICAR does not influence the phosphorylation of tau at the sites analyzed. Affinity chromatography and immunoprecipitation experiments together with PP2A activity assays indicate that metformin interferes with the association of the catalytic subunit of PP2A (PP2Ac) to the so-called MID1-α4 protein complex, which regulates the degradation of PP2Ac and thereby influences PP2A activity. In summary, our data suggest a potential beneficial role of biguanides such as metformin in the prophylaxis and/or therapy of AD.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Kickstein, E., Krauss, S., Thornhill, P., Rutschow, D., Zeller, R., Sharkey, J., et al. (2010). Biguanide metformin acts on tau phosphorylation via mTOR/protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) signaling. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0912793107
Vancouver
Kickstein E, Krauss S, Thornhill P, Rutschow D, Zeller R, Sharkey J, et al. Biguanide metformin acts on tau phosphorylation via mTOR/protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) signaling. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2010. doi:10.1073/pnas.0912793107. PMID: 21098287.
BibTeX
@article{kickstein2010-21098287,
author = {Kickstein, E. and Krauss, S. and Thornhill, P. and Rutschow, D. and Zeller, R. and Sharkey, J. and Williamson, R. and Fuchs, M. and others},
title = {{Biguanide metformin acts on tau phosphorylation via mTOR/protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) signaling}},
journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America},
year = {2010},
doi = {10.1073/pnas.0912793107},
pmid = {21098287},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0912793107}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- Affinity chromatography and immunoprecipitation experiments together with PP2A activity assays indicate that metformin interferes with the association of the catalytic subunit of PP2A (PP2Ac) to the so-called MID1-α4 protein complex, which regulates the degradation of PP2Ac and thereby influences PP2A activity.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Treatments →
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 36/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 21 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 36 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2010 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 21098287) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 21 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 21 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 36 out of 100. |
| Total | 36 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Free copy unknown: no free-copy check has an answer for this record yet. That does not mean it is paywalled.
Related
Studies in the library that share something with this one. The line above each title says what.
Related studies in Drug development
Also tagged “phosphorylation”
387 studies in the library carry the topic tag “phosphorylation”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 387 tagged studies.