The Possible Roles of the Dentate Granule Cell’s Leptin and Other Ciliary Receptors in Alzheimer’s Neuropathology
James F. Whitfield,
Anna Chiarini,
Ilaria Dal Prà,
Ubaldo Armato,
Balu Chakravarthy
Affiliations
James F. Whitfield
Human Health Therapeutics, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, ON K1A 0R6, Canada
Anna Chiarini
Histology & Embryology Unit, Department of Life & Reproduction Sciences, University of Verona Medical School, 8 Strada Le Grazie, Verona, Venetia 37134, Italy
Ilaria Dal Prà
Histology & Embryology Unit, Department of Life & Reproduction Sciences, University of Verona Medical School, 8 Strada Le Grazie, Verona, Venetia 37134, Italy
Ubaldo Armato
Histology & Embryology Unit, Department of Life & Reproduction Sciences, University of Verona Medical School, 8 Strada Le Grazie, Verona, Venetia 37134, Italy
Balu Chakravarthy
Human Health Therapeutics, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, ON K1A 0R6, Canada
Dentate-gyral granule cells in the hippocampus plus dentate gyrus memory-recording/retrieving machine, unlike most other neurons in the brain, are continuously being generated in the adult brain with the important task of separating overlapping patterns of data streaming in from the outside world via the entorhinal cortex. This “adult neurogenesis” is driven by tools in the mature granule cell’s cilium. Here we report our discovery of leptin’s LepRb receptor in this cilium. In addition, we discuss how ciliary LepRb signaling might be involved with ciliary p75NTR and SSTR3 receptors in adult neurogenesis and memory formation as well as attenuation of Alzheimer’s neuropathology by reducing the production of its toxic amyloid-β-derived drivers.
