Perivascular AQP4 dysregulation in the hippocampal CA1 area after traumatic brain injury is alleviated by adenosine A2A receptor inactivation

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can induce cognitive dysfunction due to the regional accumulation of hyperphosphorylated tau protein (p-tau). However, the factors that cause p-tau to concentrate in specific brain regions remain unclear. Here, we show that AQP4 polarization in the perivascular astrocytic end feet was impaired after TBI, which was most prominent in the ipsilateral brain tissue surrounding the directly impacted region and the contralateral hippocampal CA1 area and was accompanied by increased local p-tau, changes in dendritic spine density and morphology, and upregulation of the adenosine A(2A) receptor (A(2A)R). The critical role of the A(2A)R signaling in these pathological changes was confirmed by alleviation of the impairment of AQP4 polarity and accumulation of p-tau in the contralateral CA1 area in A(2A)R knockout mice. Given that p-tau can be released to the extracellular space and that the astroglial water transport via AQP4 is involved in tau clearance from the brain interstitium, our results suggest that regional disruption of AQP4 polarity following TBI may reduce the clearance of the toxic interstitial solutes such as p-tau and lead to changes in dendritic spine density and morphology. This may explain why TBI patients are more vulnerable to cognitive dysfunction.