Neuron. 2023 Jul 11. pii: S0896-6273(23)00472-5. [Epub ahead of print]
Amit Kumar,
Saravanan S Karuppagounder,
Yingxin Chen,
Carlo Corona,
Riki Kawaguchi,
Yuyan Cheng,
Mustafa Balkaya,
Botir T Sagdullaev,
Zhexing Wen,
Charles Stuart,
Sunghee Cho,
Guo-Li Ming,
Jürgen Tuvikene,
Tõnis Timmusk,
Daniel H Geschwind,
Rajiv R Ratan.
Intermittent fasting (IF) is a diet with salutary effects on cognitive aging, Alzheimer's disease (AD), and stroke. IF restricts a number of nutrient components, including glucose. 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG), a glucose analog, can be used to mimic glucose restriction. 2-DG induced transcription of the pro-plasticity factor, Bdnf, in the brain without ketosis. Accordingly, 2-DG enhanced memory in an AD model (5xFAD) and functional recovery in an ischemic stroke model. 2-DG increased Bdnf transcription via reduced N-linked glycosylation, consequent ER stress, and activity of ATF4 at an enhancer of the Bdnf gene, as well as other regulatory regions of plasticity/regeneration (e.g., Creb5, Cdc42bpa, Ppp3cc, and Atf3) genes. These findings demonstrate an unrecognized role for N-linked glycosylation as an adaptive sensor to reduced glucose availability. They further demonstrate that ER stress induced by 2-DG can, in the absence of ketosis, lead to the transcription of genes involved in plasticity and cognitive resilience as well as proteostasis.
Keywords: 2-deoxyglucose; Alzheimer’s disease; N-linked glycosylation; activating transcription factor 4; brain-derived neurotrophic factor; cognitive function; endoplasmic reticulum stress; intermittent fasting; ischemic stroke; learning and memory