bexarotene

Science 23 March 2012: 
Vol. 335 no. 6075 pp. 1503-1506 
DOI: 10.1126/science.1217697

• REPORT

ApoE-Directed Therapeutics Rapidly Clear β-Amyloid and Reverse Deficits in AD Mouse Models

1. Paige E. Cramer¹, 
2. John R. Cirrito², 
3. Daniel W. Wesson¹,³, 
4. C. Y. Daniel Lee¹, 
5. J. Colleen Karlo¹, 
6. Adriana E. Zinn¹,
7. Brad T. Casali¹, 
8. Jessica L. Restivo², 
9. Whitney D. Goebel², 
10. Michael J. James⁴, 
11. Kurt R. Brunden⁴, 
12. Donald A. Wilson³,
13. Gary E. Landreth¹,*

+Author Affiliations

1. ¹Department of Neurosciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.
2. ²Department of Neurology, Hope Center for Neurological Disorders, Knight Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
3. ³Emotional Brain Institute, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research and the New York University School of Medicine, Orangeburg, NY 10962, USA.
4. ⁴Center of Neurodegenerative Disease Research, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.

1. ↵*To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: gel2@case.edu

ABSTRACT

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is associated with impaired clearance of β-amyloid (Aβ) from the brain, a process normally facilitated by apolipoprotein E (apoE). ApoE expression is transcriptionally induced through the action of the nuclear receptors peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor gamma and liver X receptors in coordination with retinoid X receptors (RXRs). Oral administration of the RXR agonist bexarotene to a mouse model of AD resulted in enhanced clearance of soluble Aβ within hours in an apoE-dependent manner. Aβ plaque area was reduced more than 50% within just 72 hours. Furthermore, bexarotene stimulated the rapid reversal of cognitive, social, and olfactory deficits and improved neural circuit function. Thus, RXR activation stimulates physiological Aβ clearance mechanisms, resulting in the rapid reversal of a broad range of Aβ-induced deficits.