Aberrant excitatory neuronal ERBB4 promotes Alzheimer’s disease pathology

Abstract

Neuroinflammation and synapse loss are associated with cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Although microglial hyperphagocytic activity has been implicated in synapse loss1, 2, 3–4, the mechanisms underlying these pathologies remain obscure. Here we demonstrate that, during AD progression in mice, astrocytes and microglia increase phagocytic elimination of excitatory synapses while reducing elimination of inhibitory synapses, suggesting that neuroinflammation alone may be dispensable for early AD synapse loss. Instead, single-nucleus RNA-sequencing analysis identified the emergence of early-responsive excitatory neurons (EREN), characterized by expression of ectopic Erb-B2 receptor tyrosine kinase 4 (Erbb4), as one of the earliest major alterations in AD mouse models. Selective Erbb4 deletion in AD excitatory neurons abrogated abnormal neuronal network activities and synapse loss, as well as reactive gliosis, amyloid plaque deposition and cognitive deficits. Conversely, Erbb4 overexpression in wild-type excitatory neurons recapitulated these core AD-like phenotypes without amyloid plaques. Mechanistically, these effects required mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signalling downstream of ERBB4. Subsequent transcriptomic analyses showed that excitatory neuronal Erbb4 is both necessary and sufficient to induce EREN and reactive gliosis. Directed mediation analysis of human AD transcriptomic data further support a model in which excitatory neuronal ERBB4 contributes to a pathogenic cascade that links amyloid pathology to tau propagation and cognitive decline. These findings identify aberrant Erbb4 expression in excitatory neurons as an early driver of AD pathophysiology and a potential therapeutic target across neurodegenerative diseases. Neuroinflammation alone may be dispensable for early synapse loss in Alzheimer’s disease.