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Green Tea Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate (EGCG) Modulates Amyloid Precursor Protein Cleavage and Reduces Cerebral Amyloidosis in Alzheimer Transgenic Mice

2005; Society for Neuroscience; Volume: 25; Issue: 38 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1523/jneurosci.1521-05.2005

1529-2401

Kavon Rezai‐Zadeh, Doug Shytle, Nan Sun, T. Mori, Huayan Hou, Deborah Jeanniton, Jared Ehrhart, Kirk Townsend, Jin Zeng, David Morgan, John Hardy, Terrence Town, Jun Tan,

Tea Polyphenols and Effects

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder pathologically characterized by deposition of β-amyloid (Aβ) peptides as senile plaques in the brain. Recent studies suggest that green tea flavonoids may be used for the prevention and treatment of a variety of neurodegenerative diseases. Here, we report that (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), the main polyphenolic constituent of green tea, reduces Aβ generation in both murine neuron-like cells (N2a) transfected with the human “Swedish” mutant amyloid precursor protein (APP) and in primary neurons derived from Swedish mutant APP-overexpressing mice (Tg APP sw line 2576). In concert with these observations, we find that EGCG markedly promotes cleavage of the α-C-terminal fragment of APP and elevates the N-terminal APP cleavage product, soluble APP-α. These cleavage events are associated with elevated α-secretase activity and enhanced hydrolysis of tumor necrosis factor α-converting enzyme, a primary candidate α-secretase. As a validation of these findings in vivo , we treated Tg APP sw transgenic mice overproducing Aβ with EGCG and found decreased Aβ levels and plaques associated with promotion of the nonamyloidogenic α-secretase proteolytic pathway. These data raise the possibility that EGCG dietary supplementation may provide effective prophylaxis for AD.