Alzheimer's Amyloid-β Accelerates Cell Senescence and Suppresses the SIRT1/NRF2 Pathway in Human Microglial Cells

Microglia play important roles in maintenance of brain homeostasis, while due to some pathological stimuli in aging-related neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease, they are malfunctioning. Here, we demonstrated that amyloid-beta (A beta) accelerated cell senescence characterized by the upregulation of p21 and PAI-1 as well as senescence-associated beta-galactosidase (SA-beta-gal) in human microglial cells. Consistently, A beta induced the senescence-associated mitochondrial dysfunctions such as repression of ATP production, oxygen consumption rate (OCR), and mitochondrial membrane potential and enhancement of ROS production. Furthermore, A beta was found to significantly suppress mRNA expression and protein level of Sirtuin-1 (SIRT1), a key regulator of senescence, and inhibit mRNA expression and translocation of NRF2, a critical transcription factor in inflammatory responses, leading to impairment of phagocytosis. Rescue of SIRT1, as expected, could counteract the pathological effects of A beta. In summary, our findings revealed that A beta accelerates human microglial senescence mainly through its suppression of the SIRT1/NRF2 pathway and suggested that genetic and pharmaceutical rescue of SIRT1 may provide a potential alternative treatment.