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. 2011 Apr 3;16(3):359–372. doi: 10.2478/s11658-011-0011-2

Mislocalization of CDK11/PITSLRE, a regulator of the G2/M phase of the cell cycle, in Alzheimer disease

Vladan P Bajić 1,✉, Bo Su 2, Hyoung-Gon Lee 2, Wataru Kudo 2, Sandra L Siedlak 2, Lada Živković 3, Biljana Spremo-Potparević 3, Ninoslav Djelic 4, Zorana Milicevic 5, Avneet K Singh 2, Lara M Fahmy 2, Xinglong Wang 2, Mark A Smith 2, Xiongwei Zhu 2,✉
PMCID: PMC3153952  NIHMSID: NIHMS315936  PMID: 21461981

Abstract

Post-mitotic neurons are typically terminally differentiated and in a quiescent status. However, in Alzheimer disease (AD), many neurons display ectopic re-expression of cell cycle-related proteins. Cyclin-dependent kinase 11 (CDK11) mRNA produces a 110-kDa protein (CDK11p110) throughout the cell cycle, a 58-kDa protein (CDK11p58) that is specifically translated from an internal ribosome entry site and expressed only in the G2/M phase of the cell cycle, and a 46-kDa protein (CDK11p46) that is considered to be apoptosis specific. CDK11 is required for sister chromatid cohesion and the completion of mitosis. In this study, we found that the expression patterns of CDK11 vary such that cytoplasmic CDK11 is increased in AD cellular processes, compared to a pronounced nuclear expression pattern in most controls. We also investigated the effect of amyloid precursor protein (APP) on CDK11 expression in vitro by using M17 cells overexpressing wild-type APP and APP Swedish mutant phenotype and found increased CDK11 expression compared to empty vector. In addition, amyloid-β25–35 resulted in increased CDK11 in M17 cells. These data suggest that CDK11 may play a vital role in cell cycle re-entry in AD neurons in an APP-dependent manner, thus presenting an intriguing novel function of the APP signaling pathway in AD.

Key words: Alzheimer disease, APP, CDK11, M17 cells

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Abbreviations used

Aβ

amyloid-β

AD

Alzheimer disease

APP

amyloid precursor protein

CDK11

cyclin-dependent kinase 11

CDKIs

cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors

IRES

internal ribosome entry site

MT

microtubule

Contributor Information

Vladan P. Bajić, Email: vladanbajic@yahoo.com

Xiongwei Zhu, Email: xiongwei.zhu@case.edu.

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