Integrative analysis reveals a conserved role for the amyloid precursor protein in proteostasis during aging

Abstract Aβ peptides derived from the amyloid precursor protein (APP) have been strongly implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease. However, the normal function of APP and the importance of that role in neurodegenerative disease is less clear. We recovered the Drosophila ortholog of APP, Appl, in an unbiased forward genetic screen for neurodegeneration mutants. We performed comprehensive single cell transcriptional and proteomic studies of Appl mutant flies to investigate Appl function in the aging brain. We found an unexpected role for Appl in control of multiple cellular pathways, including translation, mitochondrial function, nucleic acid and lipid metabolism, cellular signaling and proteostasis(definition). We mechanistically defined a role for Appl in regulating autophagy(definition) through TGFβ signaling and documented the broader relevance of our findings using mouse genetic, human iPSC and in vivo tauopathy models. Our results demonstrate a conserved role for APP in controlling age-dependent proteostasis with plausible relevance to Alzheimer’s disease.