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Kell DB, Pretorius E. Are fibrinaloid microclots a cause of autoimmunity in Long Covid and other post-infection diseases? Biochem J 2023; 480:1217-1240. [PMID: 37584410 DOI: 10.1042/bcj20230241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2023] [Revised: 08/03/2023] [Accepted: 08/07/2023] [Indexed: 08/17/2023]
Abstract
It is now well established that the blood-clotting protein fibrinogen can polymerise into an anomalous form of fibrin that is amyloid in character; the resultant clots and microclots entrap many other molecules, stain with fluorogenic amyloid stains, are rather resistant to fibrinolysis, can block up microcapillaries, are implicated in a variety of diseases including Long COVID, and have been referred to as fibrinaloids. A necessary corollary of this anomalous polymerisation is the generation of novel epitopes in proteins that would normally be seen as 'self', and otherwise immunologically silent. The precise conformation of the resulting fibrinaloid clots (that, as with prions and classical amyloid proteins, can adopt multiple, stable conformations) must depend on the existing small molecules and metal ions that the fibrinogen may (and is some cases is known to) have bound before polymerisation. Any such novel epitopes, however, are likely to lead to the generation of autoantibodies. A convergent phenomenology, including distinct conformations and seeding of the anomalous form for initiation and propagation, is emerging to link knowledge in prions, prionoids, amyloids and now fibrinaloids. We here summarise the evidence for the above reasoning, which has substantial implications for our understanding of the genesis of autoimmunity (and the possible prevention thereof) based on the primary process of fibrinaloid formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Douglas B Kell
- Department of Biochemistry, Cell and Systems Biology, Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZB, U.K
- The Novo Nordisk Foundation Centre for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, Kemitorvet 200, 2800 Kgs Lyngby, Denmark
- Department of Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1 Matieland, Stellenbosch 7602, South Africa
| | - Etheresia Pretorius
- Department of Biochemistry, Cell and Systems Biology, Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZB, U.K
- Department of Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1 Matieland, Stellenbosch 7602, South Africa
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Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker Disease with F198S Mutation Induces Independent Tau and Prion Protein Pathologies in Bank Voles. Biomolecules 2022; 12:biom12101537. [PMID: 36291746 PMCID: PMC9599806 DOI: 10.3390/biom12101537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2022] [Revised: 10/17/2022] [Accepted: 10/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Gerstmann–Sträussler–Scheinker disease (GSS) is a rare genetic prion disease. A large GSS kindred linked to the serine-for-phenylalanine substitution at codon 198 of the prion protein gene (GSS-F198S) is characterized by conspicuous accumulation of prion protein (PrP)-amyloid deposits and neurofibrillary tangles. Recently, we demonstrated the transmissibility of GSS-F198S prions to bank vole carrying isoleucine at 109 PrP codon (BvI). Here we investigated: (i) the transmissibility of GSS-F198S prions to voles carrying methionine at codon 109 (BvM); (ii) the induction of hyperphosphorylated Tau (pTau) in two vole lines, and (iii) compared the phenotype of GSS-F198S-induced pTau with pTau induced in BvM following intracerebral inoculation of a familial Alzheimer’s disease case carrying Presenilin 1 mutation (fAD-PS1). We did not detect prion transmission to BvM, despite the high susceptibility of BvI previously observed. Immunohistochemistry established the presence of induced pTau depositions in vole brains that were not affected by prions. Furthermore, the phenotype of pTau deposits in vole brains was similar in GSS-F198S and fAD-PS1. Overall, results suggest that, regardless of the cause of pTau deposition and its relationship with PrPSc in GSS-F198S human-affected brains, the two components possess their own seeding properties, and that pTau deposition is similarly induced by GSS-F198S and fAD-PS1.
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Piccardo P, Cervenak J, Goldmann W, Stewart P, Pomeroy KL, Gregori L, Yakovleva O, Asher DM. Experimental Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy in Squirrel Monkeys: The Same Complex Proteinopathy Appearing after Very Different Incubation Times. Pathogens 2022; 11:pathogens11050597. [PMID: 35631118 PMCID: PMC9144249 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens11050597] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2022] [Revised: 05/06/2022] [Accepted: 05/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Incubation periods in humans infected with transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) agents can exceed 50 years. In humans infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) agents, the effects of a “species barrier,” often observed when TSE infections are transmitted from one species to another, would be expected to increase incubation periods compared with transmissions of same infectious agents within the same species. As part of a long-term study investigating the susceptibility to BSE of cell cultures used to produce vaccines, we inoculated squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sp., here designated SQ) with serial dilutions of a bovine brain suspension containing the BSE agent and monitored them for as long as ten years. Previously, we showed that SQ infected with the original “classical” BSE agent (SQ-BSE) developed a neurological disease resembling that seen in humans with variant CJD (vCJD). Here, we report the final characterization of the SQ-BSE model. We observed an unexpectedly marked difference in incubation times between two animals inoculated with the same dilution and volume of the same C-BSE bovine brain extract on the same day. SQ-BSE developed, in addition to spongiform changes and astrogliosis typical of TSEs, a complex proteinopathy with severe accumulations of protease-resistant prion protein (PrPTSE), hyperphosphorylated tau (p-tau), ubiquitin, and α-synuclein, but without any amyloid plaques or β-amyloid protein (Aβ) typical of Alzheimer’s disease. These results suggest that PrPTSE enhanced the accumulation of several key proteins characteristically seen in human neurodegenerative diseases. The marked variation in incubation periods in the same experimental TSE should be taken into account when modeling the epidemiology of human TSEs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pedro Piccardo
- Laboratory of Bacterial and Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy Agents, Division of Emerging and Transfusion-Transmitted Diseases, Office of Blood Research and Review, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, United States Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD 20993, USA; (P.P.); (J.C.); (L.G.); (O.Y.)
- The Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, Midlothian EH25 9RG, UK; (W.G.); (P.S.)
- National Academy of Medicine of Uruguay, Montevideo CP 11200, Uruguay
| | - Juraj Cervenak
- Laboratory of Bacterial and Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy Agents, Division of Emerging and Transfusion-Transmitted Diseases, Office of Blood Research and Review, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, United States Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD 20993, USA; (P.P.); (J.C.); (L.G.); (O.Y.)
| | - Wilfred Goldmann
- The Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, Midlothian EH25 9RG, UK; (W.G.); (P.S.)
| | - Paula Stewart
- The Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, Midlothian EH25 9RG, UK; (W.G.); (P.S.)
| | - Kitty L. Pomeroy
- Laboratory of Bacterial and Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy Agents, Division of Emerging and Transfusion-Transmitted Diseases, Office of Blood Research and Review, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, United States Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD 20993, USA; (P.P.); (J.C.); (L.G.); (O.Y.)
| | - Luisa Gregori
- Laboratory of Bacterial and Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy Agents, Division of Emerging and Transfusion-Transmitted Diseases, Office of Blood Research and Review, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, United States Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD 20993, USA; (P.P.); (J.C.); (L.G.); (O.Y.)
| | - Oksana Yakovleva
- Laboratory of Bacterial and Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy Agents, Division of Emerging and Transfusion-Transmitted Diseases, Office of Blood Research and Review, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, United States Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD 20993, USA; (P.P.); (J.C.); (L.G.); (O.Y.)
| | - David M. Asher
- Laboratory of Bacterial and Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy Agents, Division of Emerging and Transfusion-Transmitted Diseases, Office of Blood Research and Review, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, United States Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD 20993, USA; (P.P.); (J.C.); (L.G.); (O.Y.)
- Correspondence:
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Structure of Tau filaments in Prion protein amyloidoses. Acta Neuropathol 2021; 142:227-241. [PMID: 34128081 PMCID: PMC8270882 DOI: 10.1007/s00401-021-02336-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2021] [Revised: 06/08/2021] [Accepted: 06/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
In human neurodegenerative diseases associated with the intracellular aggregation of Tau protein, the ordered cores of Tau filaments adopt distinct folds. Here, we analyze Tau filaments isolated from the brain of individuals affected by Prion-Protein cerebral amyloid angiopathy (PrP-CAA) with a nonsense mutation in the PRNP gene that leads to early termination of translation of PrP (Q160Ter or Q160X), and Gerstmann–Sträussler–Scheinker (GSS) disease, with a missense mutation in the PRNP gene that leads to an amino acid substitution at residue 198 (F198S) of PrP. The clinical and neuropathologic phenotypes associated with these two mutations in PRNP are different; however, the neuropathologic analyses of these two genetic variants have consistently shown the presence of numerous neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) made of filamentous Tau aggregates in neurons. We report that Tau filaments in PrP-CAA (Q160X) and GSS (F198S) are composed of 3-repeat and 4-repeat Tau isoforms, having a striking similarity to NFTs in Alzheimer disease (AD). In PrP-CAA (Q160X), Tau filaments are made of both paired helical filaments (PHFs) and straight filaments (SFs), while in GSS (F198S), only PHFs were found. Mass spectrometry analyses of Tau filaments extracted from PrP-CAA (Q160X) and GSS (F198S) brains show the presence of post-translational modifications that are comparable to those seen in Tau aggregates from AD. Cryo-EM analysis reveals that the atomic models of the Tau filaments obtained from PrP-CAA (Q160X) and GSS (F198S) are identical to those of the Tau filaments from AD, and are therefore distinct from those of Pick disease, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, and corticobasal degeneration. Our data support the hypothesis that in the presence of extracellular amyloid deposits and regardless of the primary amino acid sequence of the amyloid protein, similar molecular mechanisms are at play in the formation of identical Tau filaments.
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Kumar D, Sharma A, Sharma L. A Comprehensive Review of Alzheimer's Association with Related Proteins: Pathological Role and Therapeutic Significance. Curr Neuropharmacol 2021; 18:674-695. [PMID: 32172687 PMCID: PMC7536827 DOI: 10.2174/1570159x18666200203101828] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2019] [Revised: 11/26/2019] [Accepted: 01/31/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Alzheimer's is an insidious, progressive, chronic neurodegenerative disease which causes the devastation of neurons. Alzheimer's possesses complex pathologies of heterogeneous nature counting proteins as one major factor along with enzymes and mutated genes. Proteins such as amyloid precursor protein (APP), apolipoprotein E (ApoE), presenilin, mortalin, calbindin-D28K, creactive protein, heat shock proteins (HSPs), and prion protein are some of the chief elements in the foremost hypotheses of AD like amyloid-beta (Aβ) cascade hypothesis, tau hypothesis, cholinergic neuron damage, etc. Disturbed expression of these proteins results in synaptic dysfunction, cognitive impairment, memory loss, and neuronal degradation. On the therapeutic ground, attempts of developing anti-amyloid, anti-inflammatory, anti-tau therapies are on peak, having APP and tau as putative targets. Some proteins, e.g., HSPs, which ameliorate oxidative stress, calpains, which help in regulating synaptic plasticity, and calmodulin-like skin protein (CLSP) with its neuroprotective role are few promising future targets for developing anti-AD therapies. On diagnostic grounds of AD C-reactive protein, pentraxins, collapsin response mediator protein-2, and growth-associated protein-43 represent the future of new possible biomarkers for diagnosing AD. The last few decades were concentrated over identifying and studying protein targets of AD. Here, we reviewed the physiological/pathological roles and therapeutic significance of nearly all the proteins associated with AD that addresses putative as well as probable targets for developing effective anti-AD therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deepak Kumar
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shoolini University, Solan, H.P., India
| | - Aditi Sharma
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shoolini University, Solan, H.P., India
| | - Lalit Sharma
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shoolini University, Solan, H.P., India
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De Cecco E, Celauro L, Vanni S, Grandolfo M, Bistaffa E, Moda F, Aguzzi A, Legname G. The uptake of tau amyloid fibrils is facilitated by the cellular prion protein and hampers prion propagation in cultured cells. J Neurochem 2020; 155:577-591. [DOI: 10.1111/jnc.15040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2020] [Revised: 04/08/2020] [Accepted: 04/28/2020] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Elena De Cecco
- Laboratory of Prion BiologyDepartment of NeuroscienceScuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA) Trieste Italy
| | - Luigi Celauro
- Laboratory of Prion BiologyDepartment of NeuroscienceScuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA) Trieste Italy
| | - Silvia Vanni
- Laboratory of Prion BiologyDepartment of NeuroscienceScuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA) Trieste Italy
| | - Micaela Grandolfo
- Laboratory of Prion BiologyDepartment of NeuroscienceScuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA) Trieste Italy
| | - Edoardo Bistaffa
- Unit of Neurology 5 and Neuropathology Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta Milan Italy
| | - Fabio Moda
- Unit of Neurology 5 and Neuropathology Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta Milan Italy
| | - Adriano Aguzzi
- Institute of Neuropathology University Hospital of Zürich Zürich Switzerland
| | - Giuseppe Legname
- Laboratory of Prion BiologyDepartment of NeuroscienceScuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA) Trieste Italy
- ELETTRA Sincrotrone Trieste S.C.p.A Basovizza, Trieste Italy
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Piccardo P, Asher DM. Complex proteinopathies and neurodegeneration: insights from the study of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. ARQUIVOS DE NEURO-PSIQUIATRIA 2018; 76:705-712. [PMID: 30427511 DOI: 10.1590/0004-282x20180111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2018] [Accepted: 08/08/2018] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Protein misfolding diseases are usually associated with deposits of single "key" proteins that somehow drive the pathology; β-amyloid and hyperphosphorylated tau accumulate in Alzheimer's disease, α-synuclein in Parkinson's disease, or abnormal prion protein (PrPTSE) in transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs or prion diseases). However, in some diseases more than two proteins accumulate in the same brain. These diseases might be considered "complex" proteinopathies. We have studied models of TSEs (to explore deposits of PrPTSE and of "secondary proteins") infecting different strains and doses of TSE agent, factors that control incubation period, duration of illness and histopathology. Model TSEs allowed us to investigate whether different features of histopathology are independent of PrPTSE or appear as a secondary result of PrPTSE. Better understanding the complex proteinopathies may help to explain the wide spectrum of degenerative diseases and why some overlap clinically and histopathologically. These studies might also improve diagnosis and eventually even suggest new treatments for human neurodegenerative diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pedro Piccardo
- Laboratory of Bacterial and Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy Agents, Division of Emerging and Transfusion-Transmitted Diseases, Office of Blood Research and Review, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
| | - David M Asher
- Laboratory of Bacterial and Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy Agents, Division of Emerging and Transfusion-Transmitted Diseases, Office of Blood Research and Review, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
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