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Dutta A, Bhattacharya P, Chutia P, Borah A. Targeting of wnt signalling pathway by small bioactive molecules for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. In Silico Pharmacol 2024; 12:50. [PMID: 38840665 PMCID: PMC11147993 DOI: 10.1007/s40203-024-00226-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2023] [Accepted: 05/28/2024] [Indexed: 06/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most occurring neurodegenerative disorder that destroys learning, memory, and thinking skills. Although the pathophysiology of the disease is least understood, the post-mortem brain of AD patients as well as animal models revealed the part of down regulated Wnt signalling in progression of the disease. The deficit in the Wnt signalling leads to the accumulation of amyloid beta peptides, phosphorylation of tau proteins, and synaptic dysfunctions, which are regarded as the major pathological features of AD. As the available drugs for AD are only able to mitigate the symptoms and are also associated with several side effects, the therapeutic potential of the bioactive compounds is being explored for their efficacies in managing the major pathologies. Consequently, a few bioactive compounds fundamentally isolated from Garcinia species are established as promising neuroprotective agents in AD, however; their potential to regulate the Wnt signalling pathway is yet to be discovered. Considering the neuroprotective properties, in the present study efficiency of six small bioactive compounds viz., amentoflavone, isovitexin, orientin, apigenin, kaempferol, and garcinol have been investigated in modulating the receptor proteins (LRP6, DKK1, WIF1 and GSK3β) of the Wnt signalling pathway by molecular docking technique. While all the bioactive compounds could efficiently interact with the target proteins, amentoflavone, orientin, and isovitexin interact with all the target proteins viz., LRP6, DKK1, WIF1, and GSK3β with higher free energy of binding, more number of interactions, and similar mode of binding in comparison to their known or reported modulators. Thus, the present study set forth the investigated small bioactive molecules as potential drug candidates in AD therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ankumoni Dutta
- Department of Life Science and Bioinformatics, Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, Assam University, Silchar, Assam 788011 India
- Department of Zoology, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Adarsha Mahavidyalaya (PDUAM), Behali, Biswanath, Assam 784184 India
| | - Pallab Bhattacharya
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Gujarat 382355 India
| | - Pavitra Chutia
- Department of Life Sciences, Debraj Roy College, Golaghat, Assam 785621 India
| | - Anupom Borah
- Department of Life Science and Bioinformatics, Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, Assam University, Silchar, Assam 788011 India
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Bankapalli K, Thomas RE, Vincow ES, Milstein G, Fisher LV, Pallanck LJ. A Drosophila model for mechanistic investigation of tau protein spread. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.04.21.590466. [PMID: 38712083 PMCID: PMC11071371 DOI: 10.1101/2024.04.21.590466] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/08/2024]
Abstract
Brain protein aggregates are a hallmark of neurodegenerative disease. Previous work indicates that specific protein components of these aggregates are toxic, including tau in Alzheimer's disease and related tauopathies. Increasing evidence also indicates that these toxic proteins traffic between cells in a prion-like fashion, thereby spreading pathology from one brain region to another. However, the mechanisms involved in trafficking are poorly understood. We therefore developed a transgenic Drosophila model to facilitate rapid evaluation of candidate tau trafficking modifiers. Our model uses the bipartite Q system to drive co-expression of tau and GFP in the fly eye. We find age-dependent tau spread into the brain, represented by detection of tau, but not GFP in the brain. We also found that tau trafficking was attenuated upon inhibition of the endocytic factor dynamin or the kinase glycogen synthase kinase-3β ( GSK-3β ). Further work revealed that dynamin promotes tau uptake in recipient tissues, whereas GSK-3β appears to promote tau spread via direct phosphorylation of tau. Our robust and flexible system will promote the identification of tau trafficking components involved in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases. SUMMARY STATEMENT The trafficking of toxic proteins in neurodegenerative disease is well-known but poorly understood. Our model will allow rapid and new insight into molecular mechanisms underlying this process.
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Sultanakhmetov G, Kato I, Asada A, Saito T, Ando K. Microtubule-affinity regulating kinase family members distinctively affect tau phosphorylation and promote its toxicity in a Drosophila model. Genes Cells 2024; 29:337-346. [PMID: 38329182 DOI: 10.1111/gtc.13101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2024] [Revised: 01/22/2024] [Accepted: 01/23/2024] [Indexed: 02/09/2024]
Abstract
Accumulation of abnormally phosphorylated tau and its aggregation constitute a significant hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Tau phosphorylation at Ser262 and Ser356 in the KXGS motifs of microtubule-binding repeats plays a critical role in its physiological function and AD disease progression. Major tau kinases to phosphorylate tau at Ser262 and Ser356 belong to the Microtubule Affinity Regulating Kinase family (MARK1-4), which are considered one of the major contributors to tau abnormalities in AD. However, whether and how each member affects tau toxicity in vivo is unclear. We used transgenic Drosophila as a model to compare the effect on tau-induced neurodegeneration among MARKs in vivo. MARK4 specifically promotes tau accumulation and Ser396 phosphorylation, which yields more tau toxicity than was caused by other MARKs. Interestingly, MARK1, 2, and 4 increased tau phosphorylation at Ser262 and Ser356, but only MARK4 caused tau accumulation, indicating that these sites alone did not cause pathological tau accumulation. Our results revealed MARKs are different in their effect on tau toxicity, and also in tau phosphorylation at pathological sites other than Ser262 and Ser356. Understanding the implementation of each MARK into neurodegenerative disease helps to develop more target and safety therapies to overcome AD and related tauopathies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Grigorii Sultanakhmetov
- Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Iori Kato
- Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Akiko Asada
- Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Taro Saito
- Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Kanae Ando
- Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan
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4
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Perez-Corredor P, Vanderleest TE, Vacano GN, Sanchez JS, Villalba-Moreno ND, Marino C, Krasemann S, Mendivil-Perez MA, Aguillón D, Jiménez-Del-Río M, Baena A, Sepulveda-Falla D, Lopera F, Quiroz YT, Arboleda-Velasquez JF, Mazzarino RC. APOE3 Christchurch modulates β-catenin/Wnt signaling in iPS cell-derived cerebral organoids from Alzheimer's cases. Front Mol Neurosci 2024; 17:1373568. [PMID: 38571814 PMCID: PMC10987717 DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2024.1373568] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2024] [Accepted: 02/22/2024] [Indexed: 04/05/2024] Open
Abstract
A patient with the PSEN1 E280A mutation and homozygous for APOE3 Christchurch (APOE3Ch) displayed extreme resistance to Alzheimer's disease (AD) cognitive decline and tauopathy, despite having a high amyloid burden. To further investigate the differences in biological processes attributed to APOE3Ch, we generated induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell-derived cerebral organoids from this resistant case and a non-protected control, using CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing to modulate APOE3Ch expression. In the APOE3Ch cerebral organoids, we observed a protective pattern from early tau phosphorylation. ScRNA sequencing revealed regulation of Cadherin and Wnt signaling pathways by APOE3Ch, with immunostaining indicating elevated β-catenin protein levels. Further in vitro reporter assays unexpectedly demonstrated that ApoE3Ch functions as a Wnt3a signaling enhancer. This work uncovered a neomorphic molecular mechanism of protection of ApoE3 Christchurch, which may serve as the foundation for the future development of protected case-inspired therapeutics targeting AD and tauopathies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paula Perez-Corredor
- Schepens Eye Research Institute of Mass Eye and Ear and Department of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Timothy E. Vanderleest
- Schepens Eye Research Institute of Mass Eye and Ear and Department of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | | | - Justin S. Sanchez
- Massachusetts General Hospital and Department of Neurology at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Nelson D. Villalba-Moreno
- Molecular Neuropathology of Alzheimer’s Disease, Institute of Neuropathology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Claudia Marino
- Schepens Eye Research Institute of Mass Eye and Ear and Department of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Susanne Krasemann
- Institute of Neuropathology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | | | - David Aguillón
- The Neuroscience Group of Antioquia, University of Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia
| | | | - Ana Baena
- The Neuroscience Group of Antioquia, University of Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia
| | - Diego Sepulveda-Falla
- Molecular Neuropathology of Alzheimer’s Disease, Institute of Neuropathology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Francisco Lopera
- The Neuroscience Group of Antioquia, University of Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia
| | - Yakeel T. Quiroz
- Massachusetts General Hospital and Department of Neurology at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
- The Neuroscience Group of Antioquia, University of Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia
- Massachusetts General Hospital and Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Joseph F. Arboleda-Velasquez
- Schepens Eye Research Institute of Mass Eye and Ear and Department of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Randall C. Mazzarino
- Schepens Eye Research Institute of Mass Eye and Ear and Department of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
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5
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Pena E, San Martin-Salamanca R, El Alam S, Flores K, Arriaza K. Tau Protein Alterations Induced by Hypobaric Hypoxia Exposure. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:889. [PMID: 38255962 PMCID: PMC10815386 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25020889] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2023] [Revised: 12/21/2023] [Accepted: 01/05/2024] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Tauopathies are a group of neurodegenerative diseases whose central feature is dysfunction of the microtubule-associated protein tau (MAPT). Although the exact etiology of tauopathies is still unknown, it has been hypothesized that their onset may occur up to twenty years before the clear emergence of symptoms, which has led to questions about whether the prognosis of these diseases can be improved by, for instance, targeting the factors that influence tauopathy development. One such factor is hypoxia, which is strongly linked to Alzheimer's disease because of its association with obstructive sleep apnea and has been reported to affect molecular pathways related to the dysfunction and aggregation of tau proteins and other biomarkers of neurological damage. In particular, hypobaric hypoxia exposure increases the activation of several kinases related to the hyperphosphorylation of tau in neuronal cells, such as ERK, GSK3β, and CDK5. In addition, hypoxia also increases the levels of inflammatory molecules (IL-β1, IL-6, and TNF-α), which are also associated with neurodegeneration. This review discusses the many remaining questions regarding the influence of hypoxia on tauopathies and the contribution of high-altitude exposure to the development of these diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Samia El Alam
- High Altitude Medicine Research Center (CEIMA), Arturo Prat University, Iquique 1110939, Chile; (E.P.); (R.S.M.-S.); (K.F.); (K.A.)
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6
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Nystuen KL, McNamee SM, Akula M, Holton KM, DeAngelis MM, Haider NB. Alzheimer's Disease: Models and Molecular Mechanisms Informing Disease and Treatments. Bioengineering (Basel) 2024; 11:45. [PMID: 38247923 PMCID: PMC10813760 DOI: 10.3390/bioengineering11010045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2023] [Revised: 12/15/2023] [Accepted: 12/22/2023] [Indexed: 01/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is a complex neurodegenerative disease resulting in progressive loss of memory, language and motor abilities caused by cortical and hippocampal degeneration. This review captures the landscape of understanding of AD pathology, diagnostics, and current therapies. Two major mechanisms direct AD pathology: (1) accumulation of amyloid β (Aβ) plaque and (2) tau-derived neurofibrillary tangles (NFT). The most common variants in the Aβ pathway in APP, PSEN1, and PSEN2 are largely responsible for early-onset AD (EOAD), while MAPT, APOE, TREM2 and ABCA7 have a modifying effect on late-onset AD (LOAD). More recent studies implicate chaperone proteins and Aβ degrading proteins in AD. Several tests, such as cognitive function, brain imaging, and cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) and blood tests, are used for AD diagnosis. Additionally, several biomarkers seem to have a unique AD specific combination of expression and could potentially be used in improved, less invasive diagnostics. In addition to genetic perturbations, environmental influences, such as altered gut microbiome signatures, affect AD. Effective AD treatments have been challenging to develop. Currently, there are several FDA approved drugs (cholinesterase inhibitors, Aß-targeting antibodies and an NMDA antagonist) that could mitigate AD rate of decline and symptoms of distress.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaden L. Nystuen
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
| | - Shannon M. McNamee
- Schepens Eye Research Institute, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Monica Akula
- Schepens Eye Research Institute, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Kristina M. Holton
- Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Margaret M. DeAngelis
- Department of Ophthalmology, Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14203, USA
| | - Neena B. Haider
- Schepens Eye Research Institute, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
- Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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7
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Dourlen P. Identification of Tau Toxicity Modifiers in the Drosophila Eye. Methods Mol Biol 2024; 2754:483-498. [PMID: 38512684 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3629-9_27] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/23/2024]
Abstract
Drosophila is a powerful model to study human diseases thanks to its genetic tools and ease of screening. Human genes can be expressed in targeted organs and their toxicity assessed on easily scorable external phenotypes that can be used as readouts to perform genetic screens of toxicity modifiers. In this chapter, I describe how to express human Tau protein in the Drosophila eye, assess protein expression by Western blot, assess Tau toxicity by quantifying the size of the Tau-induced rough eye, and perform a genetic screen of modifiers of Tau toxicity in the Drosophila eye.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pierre Dourlen
- Univ. Lille, Inserm, CHU Lille, Institut Pasteur de Lille, U1167 - RID-AGE - Facteurs de risque et déterminants moléculaires des maladies liées au vieillissement, Lille, France.
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8
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Jiang Y, MacNeil LT. Simple model systems reveal conserved mechanisms of Alzheimer's disease and related tauopathies. Mol Neurodegener 2023; 18:82. [PMID: 37950311 PMCID: PMC10638731 DOI: 10.1186/s13024-023-00664-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2023] [Accepted: 10/04/2023] [Indexed: 11/12/2023] Open
Abstract
The lack of effective therapies that slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related tauopathies highlights the need for a more comprehensive understanding of the fundamental cellular mechanisms underlying these diseases. Model organisms, including yeast, worms, and flies, provide simple systems with which to investigate the mechanisms of disease. The evolutionary conservation of cellular pathways regulating proteostasis and stress response in these organisms facilitates the study of genetic factors that contribute to, or protect against, neurodegeneration. Here, we review genetic modifiers of neurodegeneration and related cellular pathways identified in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, and the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, focusing on models of AD and related tauopathies. We further address the potential of simple model systems to better understand the fundamental mechanisms that lead to AD and other neurodegenerative disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuwei Jiang
- Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
| | - Lesley T MacNeil
- Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
- Farncombe Family Digestive Health Research Institute, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
- Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, McMaster University, 1280 Main St W, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada.
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9
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Zhu M, Xiao B, Xue T, Qin S, Ding J, Wu Y, Tang Q, Huang M, Zhao N, Ye Y, Zhang Y, Zhang B, Li J, Guo F, Jiang Y, Zhang L, Zhang L. Cdc42GAP deficiency contributes to the Alzheimer's disease phenotype. Brain 2023; 146:4350-4365. [PMID: 37254741 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awad184] [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: 08/18/2022] [Revised: 04/20/2023] [Accepted: 05/05/2023] [Indexed: 06/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease, the most common cause of dementia, is a chronic degenerative disease with typical pathological features of extracellular senile plaques and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles and a significant decrease in the density of neuronal dendritic spines. Cdc42 is a member of the small G protein family that plays an important role in regulating synaptic plasticity and is regulated by Cdc42GAP, which switches Cdc42 from active GTP-bound to inactive GDP-bound states regulating downstream pathways via effector proteins. However, few studies have focused on Cdc42 in the progression of Alzheimer's disease. In a heterozygous Cdc42GAP mouse model that exhibited elevated Cdc42-GTPase activity accompanied by increased Cdc42-PAK1-cofilin signalling, we found impairments in cognitive behaviours, neuron senescence, synaptic loss with depolymerization of F-actin and the pathological phenotypes of Alzheimer's disease, including phosphorylated tau (p-T231, AT8), along with increased soluble and insoluble Aβ1-42 and Aβ1-40, which are consistent with typical Alzheimer's disease mice. Interestingly, these impairments increased significantly with age. Furthermore, the results of quantitative phosphoproteomic analysis of the hippocampus of 11-month-old GAP mice suggested that Cdc42GAP deficiency induces and accelerates Alzheimer's disease-like phenotypes through activation of GSK-3β by dephosphorylation at Ser9, Ser389 and/or phosphorylation at Tyr216. In addition, overexpression of dominant-negative Cdc42 in the primary hippocampal and cortical neurons of heterozygous Cdc42GAP mice reversed synaptic loss and tau hyperphosphorylation. Importantly, the Cdc42 signalling pathway, Aβ1-42, Aβ1-40 and GSK-3β activity were increased in the cortical sections of Alzheimer's disease patients compared with those in healthy controls. Together, these data indicated that Cdc42GAP is involved in regulating Alzheimer's disease-like phenotypes such as cognitive deficits, dendritic spine loss, phosphorylated tau (p-T231, AT8) and increased soluble and insoluble Aβ1-42 and Aβ1-40, possibly through the activation of GSK-3β, and these impairments increased significantly with age. Thus, we provide the first evidence that Cdc42 is involved in the progression of Alzheimer's disease-like phenotypes, which may provide new targets for Alzheimer's disease treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengjuan Zhu
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Functional Proteomics, Key Laboratory of Mental Health of the Ministry of Education, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery of the Third Affiliated Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
| | - Bin Xiao
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Functional Proteomics, Key Laboratory of Mental Health of the Ministry of Education, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery of the Third Affiliated Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
| | - Tao Xue
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Functional Proteomics, Key Laboratory of Mental Health of the Ministry of Education, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery of the Third Affiliated Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
| | - Sifei Qin
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Functional Proteomics, Key Laboratory of Mental Health of the Ministry of Education, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery of the Third Affiliated Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
| | - Jiuyang Ding
- School of Forensic Medicine, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang 550004, China
| | - Yue Wu
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Functional Proteomics, Key Laboratory of Mental Health of the Ministry of Education, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery of the Third Affiliated Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
| | - Qingqiu Tang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Functional Proteomics, Key Laboratory of Mental Health of the Ministry of Education, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery of the Third Affiliated Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
| | - Mengfan Huang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Functional Proteomics, Key Laboratory of Mental Health of the Ministry of Education, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery of the Third Affiliated Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
| | - Na Zhao
- School of Forensic Medicine, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang 550004, China
| | - Yingshan Ye
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Functional Proteomics, Key Laboratory of Mental Health of the Ministry of Education, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery of the Third Affiliated Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
| | - Yuning Zhang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Functional Proteomics, Key Laboratory of Mental Health of the Ministry of Education, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery of the Third Affiliated Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
| | - Boya Zhang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Functional Proteomics, Key Laboratory of Mental Health of the Ministry of Education, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery of the Third Affiliated Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
| | - Juan Li
- Department of Histology and Embryology, NMPA Key Laboratory for Safety Evaluation of Cosmetics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Construction and Detection in Tissue Engineering, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Center for Orthopedic Surgery of the Third Affiliated Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
| | - Fukun Guo
- Division of Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology, Children's Hospital Research Foundation, Cincinnati, OH 45229-3026, USA
| | - Yong Jiang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Functional Proteomics, Key Laboratory of Mental Health of the Ministry of Education, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery of the Third Affiliated Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
| | - Lin Zhang
- Department of Histology and Embryology, NMPA Key Laboratory for Safety Evaluation of Cosmetics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Construction and Detection in Tissue Engineering, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Center for Orthopedic Surgery of the Third Affiliated Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
| | - Lu Zhang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Functional Proteomics, Key Laboratory of Mental Health of the Ministry of Education, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery of the Third Affiliated Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China
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10
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Wu M, Li Y, Miao Y, Qiao H, Wang Y. Exploring the efficient natural products for Alzheimer's disease therapy via Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly) models. J Drug Target 2023; 31:817-831. [PMID: 37545435 DOI: 10.1080/1061186x.2023.2245582] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2023] [Revised: 07/11/2023] [Accepted: 07/31/2023] [Indexed: 08/08/2023]
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a grievous neurodegenerative disorder and a major form of senile dementia, which is partially caused by abnormal amyloid-beta peptide deposition and Tau protein phosphorylation. But until now, the exact pathogenesis of AD and its treatment strategy still need to investigate. Fortunately, natural products have shown potential as therapeutic agents for treating symptoms of AD due to their neuroprotective activity. To identify the excellent lead compounds for AD control from natural products of herbal medicines, as well as, detect their modes of action, suitable animal models are required. Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly) is an important model for studying genetic and cellular biological pathways in complex biological processes. Various Drosophila AD models were broadly used for AD research, especially for the discovery of neuroprotective natural products. This review focused on the research progress of natural products in AD disease based on the fruit fly AD model, which provides a reference for using the invertebrate model in developing novel anti-AD drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengdi Wu
- School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
| | - Ying Li
- School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
| | - Yaodong Miao
- Second Affiliated Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, China
| | - Huanhuan Qiao
- Academy of Medical Engineering and Translational Medicine, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
| | - Yiwen Wang
- School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
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11
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Yang M, Zinkgraf M, Fitzgerald-Cook C, Harrison BR, Putzier A, Promislow DEL, Wang AM. Using Drosophila to identify naturally occurring genetic modifiers of amyloid beta 42- and tau-induced toxicity. G3 (BETHESDA, MD.) 2023; 13:jkad132. [PMID: 37311212 PMCID: PMC10468303 DOI: 10.1093/g3journal/jkad132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2023] [Revised: 04/15/2023] [Accepted: 05/15/2023] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease is characterized by 2 pathological proteins, amyloid beta 42 and tau. The majority of Alzheimer's disease cases in the population are sporadic and late-onset Alzheimer's disease, which exhibits high levels of heritability. While several genetic risk factors for late-onset Alzheimer's disease have been identified and replicated in independent studies, including the ApoE ε4 allele, the great majority of the heritability of late-onset Alzheimer's disease remains unexplained, likely due to the aggregate effects of a very large number of genes with small effect size, as well as to biases in sample collection and statistical approaches. Here, we present an unbiased forward genetic screen in Drosophila looking for naturally occurring modifiers of amyloid beta 42- and tau-induced ommatidial degeneration. Our results identify 14 significant SNPs, which map to 12 potential genes in 8 unique genomic regions. Our hits that are significant after genome-wide correction identify genes involved in neuronal development, signal transduction, and organismal development. Looking more broadly at suggestive hits (P < 10-5), we see significant enrichment in genes associated with neurogenesis, development, and growth as well as significant enrichment in genes whose orthologs have been identified as significantly or suggestively associated with Alzheimer's disease in human GWAS studies. These latter genes include ones whose orthologs are in close proximity to regions in the human genome that are associated with Alzheimer's disease, but where a causal gene has not been identified. Together, our results illustrate the potential for complementary and convergent evidence provided through multitrait GWAS in Drosophila to supplement and inform human studies, helping to identify the remaining heritability and novel modifiers of complex diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ming Yang
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Matthew Zinkgraf
- Department of Biology, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225, USA
| | - Cecilia Fitzgerald-Cook
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Benjamin R Harrison
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Alexandra Putzier
- Department of Biology, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225, USA
| | - Daniel E L Promislow
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Adrienne M Wang
- Department of Biology, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225, USA
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12
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Cembran A, Fernandez-Funez P. Intrinsic determinants of prion protein neurotoxicity in Drosophila: from sequence to (dys)function. Front Mol Neurosci 2023; 16:1231079. [PMID: 37645703 PMCID: PMC10461008 DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2023.1231079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2023] [Accepted: 08/02/2023] [Indexed: 08/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Prion diseases are fatal brain disorders characterized by deposition of insoluble isoforms of the prion protein (PrP). The normal and pathogenic structures of PrP are relatively well known after decades of studies. Yet our current understanding of the intrinsic determinants regulating PrP misfolding are largely missing. A 3D subdomain of PrP comprising the β2-α2 loop and helix 3 contains high sequence and structural variability among animals and has been proposed as a key domain regulating PrP misfolding. We combined in vivo work in Drosophila with molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, which provide additional insight to assess the impact of candidate substitutions in PrP from conformational dynamics. MD simulations revealed that in human PrP WT the β2-α2 loop explores multiple β-turn conformations, whereas the Y225A (rabbit PrP-like) substitution strongly favors a 310-turn conformation, a short right-handed helix. This shift in conformational diversity correlates with lower neurotoxicity in flies. We have identified additional conformational features and candidate amino acids regulating the high toxicity of human PrP and propose a new strategy for testing candidate modifiers first in MD simulations followed by functional experiments in flies. In this review we expand on these new results to provide additional insight into the structural and functional biology of PrP through the prism of the conformational dynamics of a 3D domain in the C-terminus. We propose that the conformational dynamics of this domain is a sensitive measure of the propensity of PrP to misfold and cause toxicity. This provides renewed opportunities to identify the intrinsic determinants of PrP misfolding through the contribution of key amino acids to different conformational states by MD simulations followed by experimental validation in transgenic flies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Cembran
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, MN, United States
| | - Pedro Fernandez-Funez
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth, MN, United States
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13
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Reinhardt L, Musacchio F, Bichmann M, Behrendt A, Ercan-Herbst E, Stein J, Becher I, Haberkant P, Mader J, Schöndorf DC, Schmitt M, Korffmann J, Reinhardt P, Pohl C, Savitski M, Klein C, Gasparini L, Fuhrmann M, Ehrnhoefer DE. Dual truncation of tau by caspase-2 accelerates its CHIP-mediated degradation. Neurobiol Dis 2023; 182:106126. [PMID: 37086756 DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2023.106126] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2022] [Revised: 03/30/2023] [Accepted: 04/12/2023] [Indexed: 04/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Intraneuronal aggregates of the microtubule binding protein Tau are a hallmark of different neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease (AD). In these aggregates, Tau is modified by posttranslational modifications such as phosphorylation as well as by proteolytic cleavage. Here we identify a novel Tau cleavage site at aspartate 65 (D65) that is specific for caspase-2. In addition, we show that the previously described cleavage site at D421 is also efficiently processed by caspase-2, and both sites are cleaved in human brain samples. Caspase-2-generated Tau fragments show increased aggregation potential in vitro, but do not accumulate in vivo after AAV-mediated overexpression in mouse hippocampus. Interestingly, we observe that steady-state protein levels of caspase-2 generated Tau fragments are low in our in vivo model despite strong RNA expression, suggesting efficient clearance. Consistent with this hypothesis, we find that caspase-2 cleavage significantly improves the recognition of Tau by the ubiquitin E3 ligase CHIP, leading to increased ubiquitination and faster degradation of Tau fragments. Taken together our data thus suggest that CHIP-induced ubiquitination is of particular importance for the clearance of caspase-2 generated Tau fragments in vitro and in vivo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lydia Reinhardt
- BioMed X Institute, Im Neuenheimer Feld 515, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany; AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, Neuroscience Discovery, Knollstrasse, 67061 Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany
| | - Fabrizio Musacchio
- Neuroimmunology and Imaging Group, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Venusberg-Campus 1, Building 99, 53127 Bonn, Germany
| | - Maria Bichmann
- BioMed X Institute, Im Neuenheimer Feld 515, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Annika Behrendt
- BioMed X Institute, Im Neuenheimer Feld 515, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Ebru Ercan-Herbst
- BioMed X Institute, Im Neuenheimer Feld 515, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Juliane Stein
- AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, Neuroscience Discovery, Knollstrasse, 67061 Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany
| | - Isabelle Becher
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Meyerhofstraße 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Per Haberkant
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Meyerhofstraße 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Julia Mader
- AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, Neuroscience Discovery, Knollstrasse, 67061 Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany
| | - David C Schöndorf
- BioMed X Institute, Im Neuenheimer Feld 515, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany; AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, Neuroscience Discovery, Knollstrasse, 67061 Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany
| | - Melanie Schmitt
- AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, Neuroscience Discovery, Knollstrasse, 67061 Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany
| | - Jürgen Korffmann
- AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, Neuroscience Discovery, Knollstrasse, 67061 Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany
| | - Peter Reinhardt
- AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, Neuroscience Discovery, Knollstrasse, 67061 Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany
| | - Christian Pohl
- AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, Neuroscience Discovery, Knollstrasse, 67061 Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany
| | - Mikhail Savitski
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Meyerhofstraße 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Corinna Klein
- AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, Neuroscience Discovery, Knollstrasse, 67061 Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany
| | - Laura Gasparini
- AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, Neuroscience Discovery, Knollstrasse, 67061 Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany
| | - Martin Fuhrmann
- Neuroimmunology and Imaging Group, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Venusberg-Campus 1, Building 99, 53127 Bonn, Germany
| | - Dagmar E Ehrnhoefer
- BioMed X Institute, Im Neuenheimer Feld 515, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany; AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, Neuroscience Discovery, Knollstrasse, 67061 Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany.
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14
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Ye C, Behnke JA, Hardin KR, Zheng JQ. Drosophila melanogaster as a model to study age and sex differences in brain injury and neurodegeneration after mild head trauma. Front Neurosci 2023; 17:1150694. [PMID: 37077318 PMCID: PMC10106652 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1150694] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2023] [Accepted: 03/09/2023] [Indexed: 04/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Repetitive physical insults to the head, including those that elicit mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), are a known risk factor for a variety of neurodegenerative conditions including Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Although most individuals who sustain mTBI typically achieve a seemingly full recovery within a few weeks, a subset experience delayed-onset symptoms later in life. As most mTBI research has focused on the acute phase of injury, there is an incomplete understanding of mechanisms related to the late-life emergence of neurodegeneration after early exposure to mild head trauma. The recent adoption of Drosophila-based brain injury models provides several unique advantages over existing preclinical animal models, including a tractable framework amenable to high-throughput assays and short relative lifespan conducive to lifelong mechanistic investigation. The use of flies also provides an opportunity to investigate important risk factors associated with neurodegenerative conditions, specifically age and sex. In this review, we survey current literature that examines age and sex as contributing factors to head trauma-mediated neurodegeneration in humans and preclinical models, including mammalian and Drosophila models. We discuss similarities and disparities between human and fly in aging, sex differences, and pathophysiology. Finally, we highlight Drosophila as an effective tool for investigating mechanisms underlying head trauma-induced neurodegeneration and for identifying therapeutic targets for treatment and recovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Changtian Ye
- Department of Cell Biology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Joseph A. Behnke
- Department of Cell Biology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Katherine R. Hardin
- Department of Cell Biology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - James Q. Zheng
- Department of Cell Biology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, United States
- Department of Neurology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, United States
- Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, United States
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15
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Yusuff T, Chang YC, Sang TK, Jackson GR, Chatterjee S. Codon-optimized TDP-43 mediates neurodegeneration in a Drosophila model of ALS/FTLD. Front Genet 2023; 14:881638. [PMID: 36968586 PMCID: PMC10034021 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2023.881638] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2022] [Accepted: 02/13/2023] [Indexed: 03/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Transactive response DNA binding protein-43 (TDP-43) is known to mediate neurodegeneration associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). The exact mechanism by which TDP-43 exerts toxicity in the brains, spinal cord, and lower motor neurons of affected patients remains unclear. In a novel Drosophila melanogaster model, we report gain-of-function phenotypes due to misexpression of insect codon-optimized version of human wild-type TDP-43 (CO-TDP-43) using both the binary GAL4/UAS system and direct promoter fusion constructs. The CO-TDP-43 model showed robust tissue specific phenotypes in the adult eye, wing, and bristles in the notum. Compared to non-codon optimized transgenic flies, the CO-TDP-43 flies produced increased amount of high molecular weight protein, exhibited pathogenic phenotypes, and showed cytoplasmic aggregation with both nuclear and cytoplasmic expression of TDP-43. Further characterization of the adult retina showed a disruption in the morphology and function of the photoreceptor neurons with the presence of acidic vacuoles that are characteristic of autophagy. Based on our observations, we propose that TDP-43 has the propensity to form toxic protein aggregates via a gain-of-function mechanism, and such toxic overload leads to activation of protein degradation pathways such as autophagy. The novel codon optimized TDP-43 model is an excellent resource that could be used in genetic screens to identify and better understand the exact disease mechanism of TDP-43 proteinopathies and find potential therapeutic targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tanzeen Yusuff
- Department of Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, TX, United States
- Mitchell Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, TX, United States
- *Correspondence: Tanzeen Yusuff, ; Shreyasi Chatterjee,
| | - Ya-Chu Chang
- Department of Life Science, Institute of Biotechnology, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
- Brain Research Center, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
| | - Tzu-Kang Sang
- Department of Life Science, Institute of Biotechnology, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
- Brain Research Center, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
| | - George R. Jackson
- Mitchell Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, TX, United States
- Department of Neurology, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, TX, United States
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, TX, United States
- Department of Neurology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
- National Parkinson’s Disease Research Education and Clinical Center, Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Shreyasi Chatterjee
- Mitchell Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, TX, United States
- Department of Neurology, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, TX, United States
- Department of Biochemistry, School of Science and Technology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, United Kingdom
- *Correspondence: Tanzeen Yusuff, ; Shreyasi Chatterjee,
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16
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Rathnayake S, Narayan B, Elber R, Wong CF. Milestoning simulation of ligand dissociation from the glycogen synthase kinase 3β. Proteins 2023; 91:209-217. [PMID: 36104870 PMCID: PMC9822852 DOI: 10.1002/prot.26423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2022] [Revised: 08/26/2022] [Accepted: 09/06/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
As drug-binding kinetics has become an important factor to be considered in modern drug discovery, this work evaluated the ability of the Milestoning method in computing the absolute dissociation rate of a ligand from the serine-threonine kinase, glycogen synthase kinase 3β, which is a target for designing drugs to treat diseases such as neurodegenerative disorders and diabetes. We found that the Milestoning method gave good agreement with experiment with modest computational costs. Although the time scale for dissociation lasted tens of seconds, the collective molecular dynamics simulations total less than 1μs. Computing the committor function helped to identify the transition states (TSs), in which the ligand moved substantially away from the binding pocket. The glycine-rich loop with a serine residue attaching to its tips was found to undergo large movement from the bound to the TSs and might play a role in controlling drug-dissociation kinetics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samith Rathnayake
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Missouri-St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States
| | - Brajesh Narayan
- School of Physics, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Ron Elber
- Department of Chemistry, Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Science, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, United States
| | - Chung F. Wong
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Missouri-St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States
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17
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Oliveira AC, Santos M, Pinho M, Lopes CS. String/Cdc25 phosphatase is a suppressor of Tau-associated neurodegeneration. Dis Model Mech 2023; 16:286255. [PMID: 36601903 PMCID: PMC9903143 DOI: 10.1242/dmm.049693] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2022] [Accepted: 12/19/2022] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Tau pathology is defined by the intracellular accumulation of abnormally phosphorylated Tau (MAPT) and is prevalent in several neurodegenerative disorders. The identification of modulators of Tau abnormal phosphorylation and aggregation is key to understanding disease progression and developing targeted therapeutic approaches. In this study, we identified String (Stg)/Cdc25 phosphatase as a suppressor of abnormal Tau phosphorylation and associated toxicity. Using a Drosophila model of tauopathy, we showed that Tau dephosphorylation by Stg/Cdc25 correlates with reduced Tau oligomerization, brain vacuolization and locomotor deficits in flies. Moreover, using a disease mimetic model, we provided evidence that Stg/Cdc25 reduces Tau phosphorylation levels independently of Tau aggregation status and delays neurodegeneration progression in the fly. These findings uncover a role for Stg/Cdc25 phosphatases as regulators of Tau biology that extends beyond their well-characterized function as cell-cycle regulators during cell proliferation, and indicate Stg/Cdc25-based approaches as promising entry points to target abnormal Tau phosphorylation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreia C. Oliveira
- Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde (i3S), Universidade do Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
- PhD Program in Molecular and Cell Biology, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS), Universidade do Porto, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal
- Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular (IBMC), Universidade do Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
| | - Madalena Santos
- Department of Anatomy, Unit for Multidisciplinary Research in Biomedicine (UMIB), ICBAS, Universidade do Porto, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal
- Laboratory for Integrative and Translational Research in Population Health (ITR), 4050-600 Porto, Portugal
- Department of Pathological, Cytological and Thanatological Anatomy, ESS|P.PORTO, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal
| | - Mafalda Pinho
- Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde (i3S), Universidade do Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
| | - Carla S. Lopes
- Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde (i3S), Universidade do Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
- Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular (IBMC), Universidade do Porto, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
- Author for correspondence ()
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18
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Veselkina ER, Trostnikov MV, Roshina NV, Pasyukova EG. The Effect of the Tau Protein on D. melanogaster Lifespan Depends on GSK3 Expression and Sex. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:2166. [PMID: 36768490 PMCID: PMC9916465 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24032166] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2022] [Revised: 01/16/2023] [Accepted: 01/18/2023] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
The microtubule-associated conserved protein tau has attracted significant attention because of its essential role in the formation of pathological changes in the nervous system, which can reduce longevity. The study of the effects caused by tau dysfunction and the molecular mechanisms underlying them is complicated because different forms of tau exist in humans and model organisms, and the changes in protein expression can be multidirectional. In this article, we show that an increase in the expression of the main isoform of the Drosophila melanogaster tau protein in the nervous system has differing effects on lifespan depending on the sex of individuals but has no effect on the properties of the nervous system, in particular, the synaptic activity and distribution of another microtubule-associated protein, Futsch, in neuromuscular junctions. Reduced expression of tau in the nervous system does not affect the lifespan of wild-type flies, but it does increase the lifespan dramatically shortened by overexpression of the shaggy gene encoding the GSK3 (Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3) protein kinase, which is one of the key regulators of tau phosphorylation levels. This effect is accompanied by the normalization of the Futsch protein distribution impaired by shaggy overexpression. The results presented in this article demonstrate that multidirectional changes in tau expression can lead to effects that depend on the sex of individuals and the expression level of GSK3.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ekaterina R. Veselkina
- Institute of Molecular Genetics, National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute”, 123182 Moscow, Russia
| | - Mikhail V. Trostnikov
- Institute of Molecular Genetics, National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute”, 123182 Moscow, Russia
- Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, 121205 Moscow, Russia
| | - Natalia V. Roshina
- Institute of Molecular Genetics, National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute”, 123182 Moscow, Russia
- Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991 Moscow, Russia
| | - Elena G. Pasyukova
- Institute of Molecular Genetics, National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute”, 123182 Moscow, Russia
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19
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Sakakibara Y, Yamashiro R, Chikamatsu S, Hirota Y, Tsubokawa Y, Nishijima R, Takei K, Sekiya M, Iijima KM. Drosophila Toll-9 is induced by aging and neurodegeneration to modulate stress signaling and its deficiency exacerbates tau-mediated neurodegeneration. iScience 2023; 26:105968. [PMID: 36718365 PMCID: PMC9883205 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.105968] [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: 11/14/2022] [Revised: 12/06/2022] [Accepted: 01/10/2023] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Drosophila Toll-9 is most closely related to mammalian Toll-like receptors; however, physiological functions of Toll-9 remain elusive. We examined the roles of Toll-9 in fly brains in aging and neurodegeneration. Toll-9 mRNA levels were increased in aged fly heads accompanied by activation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kB) and stress-activated protein kinase (SAPK) signaling, and many of these changes were modulated by Toll-9 in glial cells. The loss of Toll-9 did not affect lifespan or brain integrity, whereas it exacerbated hydrogen peroxide-induced lethality. Toll-9 expression was also induced by nerve injury but did not affect acute stress response or glial engulfment activity, suggesting Toll-9 may modulate subsequent neurodegeneration. In a fly tauopathy model, Toll-9 deficiency enhanced neurodegeneration and disease-related tau phosphorylation with reduced SAPK activity, and blocking SAPK enhanced tau phosphorylation and neurodegeneration. In sum, Toll-9 is induced upon aging and nerve injury and affects neurodegeneration by modulating stress kinase signaling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yasufumi Sakakibara
- Department of Neurogenetics, Center for Development of Advanced Medicine for Dementia, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu, Aichi 474-8511, Japan
| | - Risa Yamashiro
- Department of Experimental Gerontology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nagoya City University, Nagoya 467-8603, Japan
| | - Sachie Chikamatsu
- Department of Neurogenetics, Center for Development of Advanced Medicine for Dementia, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu, Aichi 474-8511, Japan,Department of Experimental Gerontology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nagoya City University, Nagoya 467-8603, Japan
| | - Yu Hirota
- Department of Neurogenetics, Center for Development of Advanced Medicine for Dementia, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu, Aichi 474-8511, Japan,Reseach Fellow of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Yoko Tsubokawa
- Department of Neurogenetics, Center for Development of Advanced Medicine for Dementia, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu, Aichi 474-8511, Japan
| | - Risa Nishijima
- Department of Neurogenetics, Center for Development of Advanced Medicine for Dementia, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu, Aichi 474-8511, Japan
| | - Kimi Takei
- Department of Neurogenetics, Center for Development of Advanced Medicine for Dementia, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu, Aichi 474-8511, Japan
| | - Michiko Sekiya
- Department of Neurogenetics, Center for Development of Advanced Medicine for Dementia, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu, Aichi 474-8511, Japan,Department of Experimental Gerontology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nagoya City University, Nagoya 467-8603, Japan,Corresponding author
| | - Koichi M. Iijima
- Department of Neurogenetics, Center for Development of Advanced Medicine for Dementia, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu, Aichi 474-8511, Japan,Department of Experimental Gerontology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nagoya City University, Nagoya 467-8603, Japan,Corresponding author
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20
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Mazzarino RC, Perez-Corredor P, Vanderleest TE, Vacano GN, Sanchez JS, Villalba-Moreno ND, Krausemann S, Mendivil-Perez MA, Aguillón D, Jimenez-Del-Río M, Baena A, Sepulveda-Falla D, Lopera FJ, Quiroz YT, Arboleda-Velasquez JF. APOE3 Christchurch modulates tau phosphorylation and β-catenin/Wnt/Cadherin signaling in induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cerebral organoids from Alzheimer's cases. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.01.11.523290. [PMID: 36712026 PMCID: PMC9882052 DOI: 10.1101/2023.01.11.523290] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia among older adults. APOE3 Christchurch (R136S, APOE3Ch ) variant homozygosity was reported in an individual with extreme resistance to autosomal dominant AD due to the PSEN1 E280A mutation. This subject had a delayed clinical age at onset and resistance to tauopathy and neurodegeneration despite extremely high amyloid plaque burden. We established induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell-derived cerebral organoids from this resistant case and from a non-protected kindred control (with PSEN1 E280A and APOE3/3 ). We used CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing to successfully remove the APOE3Ch to wild type in iPS cells from the protected case and to introduce the APOE3Ch as homozygote in iPS cells from the non-protected case to examine causality. We found significant reduction of tau phosphorylation (pTau 202/205 and pTau396) in cerebral organoids with the APOE3Ch variant, consistent with the strikingly reduced tau pathology found in the resistant case. We identified Cadherin and Wnt pathways as signaling mechanisms regulated by the APOE3Ch variant through single cell RNA sequencing in cerebral organoids. We also identified elevated β-catenin protein, a regulator of tau phosphorylation, as a candidate mediator of APOE3Ch resistance to tauopathy. Our findings show that APOE3Ch is necessary and sufficient to confer resistance to tauopathy in an experimental ex-vivo model establishing a foundation for the development of novel, protected case-inspired therapeutics for tauopathies, including Alzheimer's.
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21
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Age-related changes in tau and autophagy in human brain in the absence of neurodegeneration. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0262792. [PMID: 36701399 PMCID: PMC9879510 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0262792] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2021] [Accepted: 08/19/2022] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Tau becomes abnormally hyper-phosphorylated and aggregated in tauopathies like Alzheimers disease (AD). As age is the greatest risk factor for developing AD, it is important to understand how tau protein itself, and the pathways implicated in its turnover, change during aging. We investigated age-related changes in total and phosphorylated tau in brain samples from two cohorts of cognitively normal individuals spanning 19-74 years, without overt neurodegeneration. One cohort utilised resected tissue and the other used post-mortem tissue. Total soluble tau levels declined with age in both cohorts. Phosphorylated tau was undetectable in the post-mortem tissue but was clearly evident in the resected tissue and did not undergo significant age-related change. To ascertain if the decline in soluble tau was correlated with age-related changes in autophagy, three markers of autophagy were tested but only two appeared to increase with age and the third was unchanged. This implies that in individuals who do not develop neurodegeneration, there is an age-related reduction in soluble tau which could potentially be due to age-related changes in autophagy. Thus, to explore how an age-related increase in autophagy might influence tau-mediated dysfunctions in vivo, autophagy was enhanced in a Drosophila model and all age-related tau phenotypes were significantly ameliorated. These data shed light on age-related physiological changes in proteins implicated in AD and highlights the need to study pathways that may be responsible for these changes. It also demonstrates the therapeutic potential of interventions that upregulate turnover of aggregate-prone proteins during aging.
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22
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Giunti E, Collu R, Daley S, Querfurth H, Morin P, Killick R, Melamed RD, Xia W. Reduction of Phosphorylated Tau in Alzheimer's Disease Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Neuro-Spheroids by Rho-Associated Coiled-Coil Kinase Inhibitor Fasudil. J Alzheimers Dis 2023; 96:1695-1709. [PMID: 38007655 DOI: 10.3233/jad-230551] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most predominant form of dementia. Rho-associated coiled coil kinase (ROCK) inhibitor, fasudil, is one of the candidate drugs against the AD progression. OBJECTIVE We aimed to investigate possible changes of AD associated markers in three-dimensional neuro-spheroids (3D neuro-spheroids) generated from induced pluripotent stem cells derived from AD patients or healthy control subjects (HC) and to determine the impact of pharmacological intervention with the ROCK inhibitor fasudil. METHODS We treated 3D neuro-spheroids with fasudil and tested the possible effect on AD markers by ELISA, transcriptomic and proteomic analyses. RESULTS Transcriptomic analysis revealed a reduction in the expression of AKT serine/threonine-protein kinase 1 (AKT1) in AD neuro-spheroids, compared to HC. This decrease was reverted in the presence of fasudil. Proteomic analysis showed up- and down-regulation of proteins related to AKT pathway in fasudil-treated neuro-spheroids. We found an evident increase of phosphorylated tau at four different residues (pTau181, 202, 231, and 396) in AD compared to HC-derived neuro-spheroids. This was accompanied by a decrease of secreted clusterin (clu) and an increase of intracellular clu levels in AD patient-derived neuro-spheroids. Increases of phosphorylated tau in AD patient-derived neuro-spheroids were suppressed in the presence of fasudil. CONCLUSIONS Fasudil modulates clu protein levels and enhances AKT1 that results in the suppression of AD associated tau phosphorylation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisa Giunti
- Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center, Bedford VA Healthcare System, Bedford, MA, USA
- Department of Pharmacology, Physiology & Biophysics, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Roberto Collu
- Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center, Bedford VA Healthcare System, Bedford, MA, USA
- Department of Pharmacology, Physiology & Biophysics, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Sarah Daley
- Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center, Bedford VA Healthcare System, Bedford, MA, USA
- Department of Pharmacology, Physiology & Biophysics, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Henry Querfurth
- Department of Neurology, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Peter Morin
- Department of Neurology, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Richard Killick
- Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Rachel D Melamed
- Department of Biological Sciences, Kennedy College of Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA, USA
| | - Weiming Xia
- Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center, Bedford VA Healthcare System, Bedford, MA, USA
- Department of Pharmacology, Physiology & Biophysics, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Biological Sciences, Kennedy College of Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA, USA
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Development of p-Tau Differentiated Cell Model of Alzheimer's Disease to Screen Novel Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms232314794. [PMID: 36499118 PMCID: PMC9741399 DOI: 10.3390/ijms232314794] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2022] [Revised: 10/30/2022] [Accepted: 11/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by an initial accumulation of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, along with the depletion of cholinergic markers. The currently available therapies for AD do not present any disease-modifying effects, with the available in vitro platforms to study either AD drug candidates or basic biology not fully recapitulating the main features of the disease or being extremely costly, such as iPSC-derived neurons. In the present work, we developed and validated a novel cell-based AD model featuring Tau hyperphosphorylation and degenerative neuronal morphology. Using the model, we evaluated the efficacy of three different groups of newly synthesized acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors, along with a new dual acetylcholinesterase/glycogen synthase kinase 3 inhibitor, as potential AD treatment on differentiated SH-SY5Y cells treated with glyceraldehyde to induce Tau hyperphosphorylation, and subsequently neurite degeneration and cell death. Testing of such compounds on the newly developed model revealed an overall improvement of the induced defects by inhibition of AChE alone, showing a reduction of S396 aberrant phosphorylation along with a moderate amelioration of the neuron-like morphology. Finally, simultaneous AChE/GSK3 inhibition further enhanced the limited effects observed by AChE inhibition alone, resulting in an improvement of all the key parameters, such as cell viability, morphology, and Tau abnormal phosphorylation.
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Jiang H, Liu J, Guo S, Zeng L, Cai Z, Zhang J, Wang L, Li Z, Liu R. miR-23b-3p rescues cognition in Alzheimer's disease by reducing tau phosphorylation and apoptosis via GSK-3β signaling pathways. MOLECULAR THERAPY. NUCLEIC ACIDS 2022; 28:539-557. [PMID: 35592504 PMCID: PMC9092887 DOI: 10.1016/j.omtn.2022.04.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2021] [Accepted: 04/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Dysregulated microRNA (miRNA) expression in the brain can contribute to cognitive dysfunction and aberrant tau hyperphosphorylation in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Several studies have reported a role for microRNA-23b-3p (miR-23b-3p) in various neurologic disorders; however, its involvement in cognition-related functions remains unclear. In the present study, we investigated the potential therapeutic effects and mechanisms of miR-23b-3p in AD. miRNA profiles in the cortex of amyloid precursor protein (APP)/presenilin 1 (PS1) double transgenic mice (APP/PS1 mice) demonstrated that miR-23b-3p was reduced. This decrease was verified in APPswe cells, SAMP8 mouse brains, and plasma from AD patients. Furthermore, glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β), a major tau kinase implicated in tau pathology, was identified as a target of miR-23b-3p. Functional in vivo studies demonstrated that intracerebroventricular delivery of miR-23b-3p in APP/PS1 mice ameliorated cognitive deficits, histopathological changes, and tau phosphorylation immunoreactivity at several sites by inhibiting GSK-3β expression and activation. Similarly, the upregulation of miR-23b-3p in APPswe cells inhibited GSK-3β-mediated tau hyperphosphorylation, Aβ1-42 generation, and neuronal apoptosis, resulting in the suppression of the GSK-3β/p-tau and Bax/caspase-3 pathways. Collectively, our findings strongly support the hypothesis that miR-23b-3p plays a neuroprotective role in AD, thereby identifying miR-23b-3p as a promising therapeutic target for AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hailun Jiang
- Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, P.R. China
| | - Jianghong Liu
- Department of Neurology, Xuan Wu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100053, P.R. China
| | - Shuilong Guo
- Department of Gastroenterology, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100050, P.R. China.,National Clinical Research Center for Digestive Disease, Beijing Key Laboratory for Precancerous Lesion of Digestive Disease, Beijing 100050, P.R. China
| | - Li Zeng
- Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, P.R. China
| | - Zhongdi Cai
- Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, P.R. China
| | - Junxia Zhang
- Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, P.R. China
| | - Linlin Wang
- Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, P.R. China
| | - Zhuorong Li
- Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, P.R. China
| | - Rui Liu
- Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, P.R. China
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25
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Law AD, Cassar M, Long DM, Chow ES, Giebultowicz JM, Venkataramanan A, Strauss R, Kretzschmar D. FTD-associated mutations in Tau result in a combination of dominant and recessive phenotypes. Neurobiol Dis 2022; 170:105770. [PMID: 35588988 PMCID: PMC9261467 DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2022.105770] [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: 12/14/2021] [Revised: 04/29/2022] [Accepted: 05/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Although mutations in the microtubules-associated protein Tau have long been connected with several neurodegenerative diseases, the underlying molecular mechanisms causing these tauopathies are still not fully understood. Studies in various models suggested that dominant gain-of-function effects underlie the pathogenicity of these mutants; however, there is also evidence that the loss of normal physiological functions of Tau plays a role in tauopathies. Previous studies on Tau in Drosophila involved expressing the human Tau protein in the background of the endogenous Tau gene in addition to inducing high expression levels. To study Tau pathology in more physiological conditions, we recently created Drosophila knock-in models that express either wildtype human Tau (hTauWT) or disease-associated mutant hTau (hTauV337M and hTauK369I) in place of the endogenous Drosophila Tau (dTau). Analyzing these flies as homozygotes, we could therefore detect recessive effects of the mutations while identifying dominant effects in heterozygotes. Using memory, locomotion and sleep assays, we found that homozygous mutant hTau flies showed deficits already when quite young whereas in heterozygous flies, disease phenotypes developed with aging. Homozygotes also revealed an increase in microtubule diameter, suggesting that changes in the cytoskeleton underlie the axonal degeneration we observed in these flies. In contrast, heterozygous mutant hTau flies showed abnormal axonal targeting and no detectable changes in microtubules. However, we previously showed that heterozygosity for hTauV337M interfered with synaptic homeostasis in central pacemaker neurons and we now show that heterozygous hTauK369I flies have decreased levels of proteins involved in the release of synaptic vesicles. Taken together, our results demonstrate that both mutations induce a combination of dominant and recessive disease-related phenotypes that provide behavioral and molecular insights into the etiology of Tauopathies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander D Law
- Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences, 3181 S.W. Sam Jackson Park Road, Portland, OR 97219, USA
| | - Marlène Cassar
- Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences, 3181 S.W. Sam Jackson Park Road, Portland, OR 97219, USA
| | - Dani M Long
- Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences, 3181 S.W. Sam Jackson Park Road, Portland, OR 97219, USA
| | - Eileen S Chow
- Department of Integrative Biology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
| | | | - Anjana Venkataramanan
- Institut für Entwicklungsbiologie und Neurobiologie, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Hanns-Dieter-Hüsch Weg 15, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Roland Strauss
- Institut für Entwicklungsbiologie und Neurobiologie, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Hanns-Dieter-Hüsch Weg 15, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Doris Kretzschmar
- Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences, 3181 S.W. Sam Jackson Park Road, Portland, OR 97219, USA.
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Wang S, Jiang Y, Liu Y, Liu Q, Sun H, Mei M, Liao X. Ferroptosis promotes microtubule-associated protein tau aggregation via GSK-3β activation and proteasome inhibition. Mol Neurobiol 2022; 59:1486-1501. [PMID: 34997541 DOI: 10.1007/s12035-022-02731-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2021] [Accepted: 12/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Ferroptosis is a form of regulated cell death resulting from iron accumulation and lipid peroxidation. Iron dyshomeostasis and peroxidation damage of neurons in some particular brain regions are closely related to a wide range of neurodegenerative diseases known as "tauopathies," in which intracellular aggregation of microtubule-associated protein tau is the common neuropathological feature. However, the relationship between ferroptosis and tau aggregation is not well understood. The current study demonstrates that erastin-induced ferroptosis can promote tau hyperphosphorylation and aggregation in mouse neuroblastoma cells (N2a cells). Moreover, ferroptosis inhibitor ferrostatin-1 can alleviate tau aggregation effectively. In-depth mechanism research indicates that activated glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) is responsible for the abnormal hyperphosphorylation of tau. More importantly, proteasome inhibition can exacerbate tau degradation obstacle and accelerate tau aggregation in the process of ferroptosis. Our results indicate that ferroptosis can lead to abnormal aggregation of tau protein and might be a promising therapeutic target of tauopathies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shaohui Wang
- Hubei Key Lab of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, School of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, People's Republic of China
| | - Yao Jiang
- Hubei Key Lab of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, School of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, People's Republic of China
| | - Yabo Liu
- Hubei Key Lab of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, School of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, People's Republic of China
| | - Qianhui Liu
- Hubei Key Lab of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, School of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, People's Republic of China
| | - Hongwei Sun
- Key Laboratory of Pesticide & Chemical Biology of Ministry of Education, Institute of Environmental & Applied Chemistry, College of Chemistry, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, 430079, People's Republic of China
| | - Mengjie Mei
- Hubei Key Lab of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, School of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiaomei Liao
- Hubei Key Lab of Genetic Regulation and Integrative Biology, School of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, People's Republic of China.
- Key Laboratory of Pesticide & Chemical Biology of Ministry of Education, Institute of Environmental & Applied Chemistry, College of Chemistry, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, 430079, People's Republic of China.
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27
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He Z, You G, Liu Q, Li N. Alzheimer's Disease and Diabetes Mellitus in Comparison: The Therapeutic Efficacy of the Vanadium Compound. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:ijms222111931. [PMID: 34769364 PMCID: PMC8584792 DOI: 10.3390/ijms222111931] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2021] [Revised: 10/22/2021] [Accepted: 10/28/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an intractable neurodegenerative disease that leads to dementia, primarily in elderly people. The neurotoxicity of amyloid-beta (Aβ) and tau protein has been demonstrated over the last two decades. In line with these findings, several etiological hypotheses of AD have been proposed, including the amyloid cascade hypothesis, the oxidative stress hypothesis, the inflammatory hypothesis, the cholinergic hypothesis, et al. In the meantime, great efforts had been made in developing effective drugs for AD. However, the clinical efficacy of the drugs that were approved by the US Food and Drug Association (FDA) to date were determined only mild/moderate. We recently adopted a vanadium compound bis(ethylmaltolato)-oxidovanadium (IV) (BEOV), which was originally used for curing diabetes mellitus (DM), to treat AD in a mouse model. It was shown that BEOV effectively reduced the Aβ level, ameliorated the inflammation in brains of the AD mice, and improved the spatial learning and memory activities of the AD mice. These finding encouraged us to further examine the mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effects of BEOV in AD. In this review, we summarized the achievement of vanadium compounds in medical studies and investigated the prospect of BEOV in AD and DM treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhijun He
- College of Life Sciences and Oceanography, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518055, China; (Z.H.); (G.Y.); (Q.L.)
| | - Guanying You
- College of Life Sciences and Oceanography, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518055, China; (Z.H.); (G.Y.); (Q.L.)
| | - Qiong Liu
- College of Life Sciences and Oceanography, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518055, China; (Z.H.); (G.Y.); (Q.L.)
- Shenzhen-Hong Kong Institute of Brain Science-Shenzhen Fundamental Research Institutions, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Nan Li
- College of Life Sciences and Oceanography, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518055, China; (Z.H.); (G.Y.); (Q.L.)
- Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, Shenzhen 518055, China
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +86-(0)755-2653-5432; Fax: +86-(0)755-8671-3951
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Choi M, Kim AK, Ham Y, Lee JY, Kim D, Yang A, Jo MJ, Yoon E, Heo JN, Han SB, Ki MH, Lee KS, Cho S. Aristolactam BIII, a naturally derived DYRK1A inhibitor, rescues Down syndrome-related phenotypes. PHYTOMEDICINE : INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHYTOTHERAPY AND PHYTOPHARMACOLOGY 2021; 92:153695. [PMID: 34500300 DOI: 10.1016/j.phymed.2021.153695] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2021] [Revised: 07/28/2021] [Accepted: 07/30/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Dual-specificity tyrosine phosphorylation-regulated kinase 1A (DYRK1A) is a significant pathogenic factor in Down syndrome (DS), wherein DYRK1A is overexpressed by 1.5-fold because of trisomy of human chromosome 21. Thus, DYRK1A inhibition is considered a therapeutic strategy to modify the disease. PURPOSE This study aims to identify a novel DYRK1A inhibitor and validate its therapeutic potential in DS-related pathological conditions. STUDY DESIGN In order to identify a novel DYRK1A inhibitor, we carried out two-step screening: a structure-based virtual screening of > 300,000 chemical library (first step) and cell-based nuclear factor of activated T-cells (NFAT)-response element (RE) promoter assay (second step). Primary hits were evaluated for their DYRK1A inhibitory activity using in vitro kinase assay and Tau phosphorylation in mammalian cells. Confirmed hit was further evaluated in pathological conditions including DYRK1A-overexpressing fibroblasts, flies, and mice. RESULTS We identified aristolactam BIII, a natural product derived from herbal plants, as a novel DYRK1A inhibitor. It potently inhibited the kinase activity of DYRK1A in vitro (IC50 = 9.67 nM) and effectively suppressed DYRK1A-mediated hyperphosphorylation of Tau in mammalian cells. Aristolactam BIII rescued the proliferative defects of DYRK1A transgenic (TG) mouse-derived fibroblasts and neurological and phenotypic defects of DS-like Drosophila models. Oral administration of aristolactam BIII acutely suppressed Tau hyperphosphorylation in the brain of DYRK1A TG mice. In the open field test, aristolactam BIII significantly ameliorated the exploratory behavioral deficit of DYRK1A TG mice. CONCLUSION Our work revealed that aristolactam BIII as a novel DYRK1A inhibitor rescues DS phenotypes in cells and in vivo and suggested its therapeutic potential for the treatment of DYRK1A-related diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miri Choi
- Natural Medicine Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB), 30 Yeongudanji-ro, Ochang-eup, Cheongwon-gu, Cheongju-si, Chungbuk 28116, Republic of Korea; College of Pharmacy, Chungbuk National University, 30-1 Yeonje-ri, Osong-eup, Heungduk-gu, Cheongju-si, Chungbuk 28644, Republic of Korea
| | - Ae-Kyeong Kim
- Bionanotechnology Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, 125 Gwahak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Youngwook Ham
- Natural Medicine Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB), 30 Yeongudanji-ro, Ochang-eup, Cheongwon-gu, Cheongju-si, Chungbuk 28116, Republic of Korea; Department of Biomolecular Science, KRIBB School of Bioscience, Korea University of Science and Technology, 217, Gajeong-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34113, Republic of Korea
| | - Joo-Youn Lee
- Therapeutics and Biotechnology Division, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, 141 Gajeong-ro, Jang-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34114, Republic of Korea
| | - Daeyong Kim
- Natural Medicine Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB), 30 Yeongudanji-ro, Ochang-eup, Cheongwon-gu, Cheongju-si, Chungbuk 28116, Republic of Korea; Department of Biomolecular Science, KRIBB School of Bioscience, Korea University of Science and Technology, 217, Gajeong-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34113, Republic of Korea
| | - Ansook Yang
- Natural Medicine Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB), 30 Yeongudanji-ro, Ochang-eup, Cheongwon-gu, Cheongju-si, Chungbuk 28116, Republic of Korea; College of Pharmacy, Chungbuk National University, 30-1 Yeonje-ri, Osong-eup, Heungduk-gu, Cheongju-si, Chungbuk 28644, Republic of Korea
| | - Min Ju Jo
- Natural Medicine Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB), 30 Yeongudanji-ro, Ochang-eup, Cheongwon-gu, Cheongju-si, Chungbuk 28116, Republic of Korea; College of Pharmacy, Chungbuk National University, 30-1 Yeonje-ri, Osong-eup, Heungduk-gu, Cheongju-si, Chungbuk 28644, Republic of Korea
| | - Eunyoung Yoon
- Therapeutics and Biotechnology Division, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, 141 Gajeong-ro, Jang-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34114, Republic of Korea
| | - Jung-Nyoung Heo
- Therapeutics and Biotechnology Division, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, 141 Gajeong-ro, Jang-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34114, Republic of Korea
| | - Sang-Bae Han
- College of Pharmacy, Chungbuk National University, 30-1 Yeonje-ri, Osong-eup, Heungduk-gu, Cheongju-si, Chungbuk 28644, Republic of Korea
| | - Min-Hyo Ki
- Center Research Institute, Samjin Pharm. Co., Ltd., 16, Daewangpangyo-ro 712 beon-gil, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi 13488, Republic of Korea
| | - Kyu-Sun Lee
- Bionanotechnology Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, 125 Gwahak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Sungchan Cho
- Natural Medicine Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB), 30 Yeongudanji-ro, Ochang-eup, Cheongwon-gu, Cheongju-si, Chungbuk 28116, Republic of Korea; Department of Biomolecular Science, KRIBB School of Bioscience, Korea University of Science and Technology, 217, Gajeong-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34113, Republic of Korea.
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Giong HK, Subramanian M, Yu K, Lee JS. Non-Rodent Genetic Animal Models for Studying Tauopathy: Review of Drosophila, Zebrafish, and C. elegans Models. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:8465. [PMID: 34445171 PMCID: PMC8395099 DOI: 10.3390/ijms22168465] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2021] [Revised: 08/03/2021] [Accepted: 08/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Tauopathy refers to a group of progressive neurodegenerative diseases, including frontotemporal lobar degeneration and Alzheimer's disease, which correlate with the malfunction of microtubule-associated protein Tau (MAPT) due to abnormal hyperphosphorylation, leading to the formation of intracellular aggregates in the brain. Despite extensive efforts to understand tauopathy and develop an efficient therapy, our knowledge is still far from complete. To find a solution for this group of devastating diseases, several animal models that mimic diverse disease phenotypes of tauopathy have been developed. Rodents are the dominating tauopathy models because of their similarity to humans and established disease lines, as well as experimental approaches. However, powerful genetic animal models using Drosophila, zebrafish, and C. elegans have also been developed for modeling tauopathy and have contributed to understanding the pathophysiology of tauopathy. The success of these models stems from the short lifespans, versatile genetic tools, real-time in-vivo imaging, low maintenance costs, and the capability for high-throughput screening. In this review, we summarize the main findings on mechanisms of tauopathy and discuss the current tauopathy models of these non-rodent genetic animals, highlighting their key advantages and limitations in tauopathy research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hoi-Khoanh Giong
- Disease Target Structure Research Center, KRIBB, 125 Gwahak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34141, Korea; (H.-K.G.); (M.S.)
- KRIBB School, University of Science and Technology, 125 Gwahak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34141, Korea
- Dementia DTC R&D Convergence Program, KIST, Hwarang-ro 14 gil 5, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 02792, Korea
| | - Manivannan Subramanian
- Disease Target Structure Research Center, KRIBB, 125 Gwahak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34141, Korea; (H.-K.G.); (M.S.)
- Dementia DTC R&D Convergence Program, KIST, Hwarang-ro 14 gil 5, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 02792, Korea
| | - Kweon Yu
- Disease Target Structure Research Center, KRIBB, 125 Gwahak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34141, Korea; (H.-K.G.); (M.S.)
- KRIBB School, University of Science and Technology, 125 Gwahak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34141, Korea
- Dementia DTC R&D Convergence Program, KIST, Hwarang-ro 14 gil 5, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 02792, Korea
| | - Jeong-Soo Lee
- Disease Target Structure Research Center, KRIBB, 125 Gwahak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34141, Korea; (H.-K.G.); (M.S.)
- KRIBB School, University of Science and Technology, 125 Gwahak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34141, Korea
- Dementia DTC R&D Convergence Program, KIST, Hwarang-ro 14 gil 5, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 02792, Korea
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30
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Costa-Rodrigues C, Couceiro J, Moreno E. Cell competition from development to neurodegeneration. Dis Model Mech 2021; 14:269331. [PMID: 34190316 PMCID: PMC8277968 DOI: 10.1242/dmm.048926] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Cell competition is a process by which suboptimal cells are eliminated to the benefit of cells with higher fitness. It is a surveillance mechanism that senses differences in the fitness status by several modes, such as expression of fitness fingerprints, survival factor uptake rate and resistance to mechanical stress. Fitness fingerprints-mediated cell competition recognizes isoforms of the transmembrane protein Flower, and translates the relative fitness of cells into distinct fates through the Flower code. Impairments in cell competition potentiate the development of diseases like cancer and ageing-related pathologies. In cancer, malignant cells acquire a supercompetitor behaviour, killing the neighbouring cells and overtaking the tissue, thus avoiding elimination. Neurodegenerative disorders affect millions of people and are characterized by cognitive decline and locomotor deficits. Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia, and one of the largely studied diseases. However, the cellular processes taking place remain unclear. Drosophila melanogaster is an emerging neurodegeneration model due to its versatility as a tool for genetic studies. Research in a Drosophila Alzheimer's disease model detected fitness markers in the suboptimal and hyperactive neurons, thus establishing a link between cell competition and Alzheimer's disease. In this Review, we overview cell competition and the new insights related to neurodegenerative disorders, and discuss how research in the field might contribute to the development of new therapeutic targets for these diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Joana Couceiro
- Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, 1400-038 Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Eduardo Moreno
- Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, 1400-038 Lisbon, Portugal
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Saito T, Chiku T, Oka M, Wada-Kakuda S, Nobuhara M, Oba T, Shinno K, Abe S, Asada A, Sumioka A, Takashima A, Miyasaka T, Ando K. Disulfide bond formation in microtubule-associated tau protein promotes tau accumulation and toxicity in vivo. Hum Mol Genet 2021; 30:1955-1967. [PMID: 34137825 PMCID: PMC8522637 DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddab162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2021] [Revised: 06/11/2021] [Accepted: 06/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Accumulation of microtubule-associated tau protein is thought to cause neuron loss in a group of neurodegenerative diseases called tauopathies. In diseased brains, tau molecules adopt pathological structures that propagate into insoluble forms with disease-specific patterns. Several types of posttranslational modifications in tau are known to modulate its aggregation propensity in vitro, but their influence on tau accumulation and toxicity at the whole-organism level has not been fully elucidated. Herein, we utilized a series of transgenic Drosophila models to compare systematically the toxicity induced by five tau constructs with mutations or deletions associated with aggregation, including substitutions at seven disease-associated phosphorylation sites (S7A and S7E), deletions of PHF6 and PHF6* sequences (ΔPHF6 and ΔPHF6*), and substitutions of cysteine residues in the microtubule binding repeats (C291/322A). We found that substitutions and deletions resulted in different patterns of neurodegeneration and accumulation, with C291/322A having a dramatic effect on both tau accumulation and neurodegeneration. These cysteines formed disulfide bonds in mouse primary cultured neurons and in the fly retina, and stabilized tau proteins. Additionally, they contributed to tau accumulation under oxidative stress. We also found that each of these cysteine residues contributes to the microtubule polymerization rate and microtubule levels at equilibrium, but none of them affected tau binding to polymerized microtubules. Since tau proteins expressed in the Drosophila retina are mostly present in the early stages of tau filaments self-assembly, our results suggest that disulfide bond formation by these cysteine residues could be attractive therapeutic targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taro Saito
- Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan.,Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Tomoki Chiku
- Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Mikiko Oka
- Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Satoko Wada-Kakuda
- Department of Neuropathology, Faculty of Life and Medical Sciences, Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Mika Nobuhara
- Department of Neuropathology, Faculty of Life and Medical Sciences, Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Toshiya Oba
- Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Kanako Shinno
- Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Saori Abe
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Akiko Asada
- Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan.,Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Akio Sumioka
- Faculty of Science, Department of Life Science, Gakushuin University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Akihiko Takashima
- Faculty of Science, Department of Life Science, Gakushuin University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Tomohiro Miyasaka
- Department of Neuropathology, Faculty of Life and Medical Sciences, Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Kanae Ando
- Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan.,Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan
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32
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Zhang H, Wei W, Zhao M, Ma L, Jiang X, Pei H, Cao Y, Li H. Interaction between Aβ and Tau in the Pathogenesis of Alzheimer's Disease. Int J Biol Sci 2021; 17:2181-2192. [PMID: 34239348 PMCID: PMC8241728 DOI: 10.7150/ijbs.57078] [Citation(s) in RCA: 113] [Impact Index Per Article: 37.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2020] [Accepted: 04/23/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Extracellular neuritic plaques composed of amyloid‑β (Aβ) protein and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles containing phosphorylated tau protein are the two hallmark proteins of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and the separate neurotoxicity of these proteins in AD has been extensively studied. However, interventions that target Aβ or tau individually have not yielded substantial breakthroughs. The interest in the interactions between Aβ and tau in AD is increasing, but related drug investigations are in their infancy. This review discusses how Aβ accelerates tau phosphorylation and the possible mechanisms and pathways by which tau mediates Aβ toxicity. This review also describes the possible synergistic effects between Aβ and tau on microglial cells and astrocytes. Studies suggest that the coexistence of Aβ plaques and phosphorylated tau is related to the mechanism by which Aβ facilitates the propagation of tau aggregation in neuritic plaques. The interactions between Aβ and tau mediate cognitive dysfunction in patients with AD. In summary, this review summarizes recent data on the interplay between Aβ and tau to promote a better understanding of the roles of these proteins in the pathological process of AD and provide new insights into interventions against AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huiqin Zhang
- Institute of Geriatrics, Xiyuan Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100091, China
| | - Wei Wei
- Institute of Geriatrics, Xiyuan Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100091, China
| | - Ming Zhao
- Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100029, China
| | - Lina Ma
- Institute of Geriatrics, Xiyuan Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100091, China
| | - Xuefan Jiang
- Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100029, China
| | - Hui Pei
- Institute of Geriatrics, Xiyuan Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100091, China
| | - Yu Cao
- Institute of Geriatrics, Xiyuan Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100091, China
| | - Hao Li
- Institute of Geriatrics, Xiyuan Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100091, China
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RACK1 modulates polyglutamine-induced neurodegeneration by promoting ERK degradation in Drosophila. PLoS Genet 2021; 17:e1009558. [PMID: 33983927 PMCID: PMC8118270 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1009558] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2020] [Accepted: 04/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Polyglutamine diseases are neurodegenerative diseases caused by the expansion of polyglutamine (polyQ) tracts within different proteins. Although multiple pathways have been found to modulate aggregation of the expanded polyQ proteins, the mechanisms by which polyQ tracts induced neuronal cell death remain unknown. We conducted a genome-wide genetic screen to identify genes that suppress polyQ-induced neurodegeneration when mutated. Loss of the scaffold protein RACK1 alleviated cell death associated with the expression of polyQ tracts alone, as well as in models of Machado-Joseph disease (MJD) and Huntington's disease (HD), without affecting proteostasis of polyQ proteins. A genome-wide RNAi screen for modifiers of this rack1 suppression phenotype revealed that knockdown of the E3 ubiquitin ligase, POE (Purity of essence), further suppressed polyQ-induced cell death, resulting in nearly wild-type looking eyes. Biochemical analyses demonstrated that RACK1 interacts with POE and ERK to promote ERK degradation. These results suggest that RACK1 plays a key role in polyQ pathogenesis by promoting POE-dependent degradation of ERK, and implicate RACK1/POE/ERK as potent drug targets for treatment of polyQ diseases.
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34
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Behnke JA, Ye C, Setty A, Moberg KH, Zheng JQ. Repetitive mild head trauma induces activity mediated lifelong brain deficits in a novel Drosophila model. Sci Rep 2021; 11:9738. [PMID: 33958652 PMCID: PMC8102574 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-89121-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2021] [Accepted: 04/21/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Mild head trauma, including concussion, can lead to chronic brain dysfunction and degeneration but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we developed a novel head impact system to investigate the long-term effects of mild head trauma on brain structure and function, as well as the underlying mechanisms in Drosophila melanogaster. We find that Drosophila subjected to repetitive head impacts develop long-term deficits, including impaired startle-induced climbing, progressive brain degeneration, and shortened lifespan, all of which are substantially exacerbated in female flies. Interestingly, head impacts elicit an elevation in neuronal activity and its acute suppression abrogates the detrimental effects in female flies. Together, our findings validate Drosophila as a suitable model system for investigating the long-term effects of mild head trauma, suggest an increased vulnerability to brain injury in female flies, and indicate that early altered neuronal excitability may be a key mechanism linking mild brain trauma to chronic degeneration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph A Behnke
- Department of Cell Biology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
| | - Changtian Ye
- Department of Cell Biology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
| | - Aayush Setty
- Department of Cell Biology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
| | - Kenneth H Moberg
- Department of Cell Biology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
| | - James Q Zheng
- Department of Cell Biology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
- Department of Neurology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
- Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
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Aberrant role of ALK in tau proteinopathy through autophagosomal dysregulation. Mol Psychiatry 2021; 26:5542-5556. [PMID: 33452442 PMCID: PMC8758490 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-020-01003-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2020] [Revised: 12/04/2020] [Accepted: 12/15/2020] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
Proteinopathy in neurodegenerative diseases is typically characterized by deteriorating activity of specific protein aggregates. In tauopathies, including Alzheimer's disease (AD), tau protein abnormally accumulates and induces dysfunction of the affected neurons. Despite active identification of tau modifications responsible for tau aggregation, a critical modulator inducing tau proteinopathy by affecting its protein degradation flux is not known. Here, we report that anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), a receptor tyrosine kinase, is crucial for the tau-mediated AD pathology. ALK caused abnormal accumulation of highly phosphorylated tau in the somatodendritic region of neurons through its tyrosine kinase activity. ALK-induced LC3-positive axon swelling and loss of spine density, leading to tau-dependent neuronal degeneration. Notably, ALK activation in neurons impaired Stx17-dependent autophagosome maturation and this defect was reversed by a dominant-negative Grb2. In a Drosophila melanogaster model, transgenic flies neuronally expressing active Drosophila Alk exhibited the aggravated tau rough eye phenotype with retinal degeneration and shortened lifespan. In contrast, expression of kinase-dead Alk blocked these phenotypes. Consistent with the previous RNAseq analysis showing upregulation of ALK expression in AD [1], ALK levels were significantly elevated in the brains of AD patients showing autophagosomal defects. Injection of an ALK.Fc-lentivirus exacerbated memory impairment in 3xTg-AD mice. Conversely, pharmacologic inhibition of ALK activity with inhibitors reversed the memory impairment and tau accumulation in both 3xTg-AD and tauC3 (caspase-cleaved tau) transgenic mice. Together, we propose that aberrantly activated ALK is a bona fide mediator of tau proteinopathy that disrupts autophagosome maturation and causes tau accumulation and aggregation, leading to neuronal dysfunction in AD.
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36
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Cowan CM, Sealey MA, Mudher A. Suppression of tau-induced phenotypes by vitamin E demonstrates the dissociation of oxidative stress and phosphorylation in mechanisms of tau toxicity. J Neurochem 2020; 157:684-694. [PMID: 33251603 DOI: 10.1111/jnc.15253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2020] [Revised: 10/02/2020] [Accepted: 11/09/2020] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Various lines of evidence implicate oxidative stress in the pathogenic mechanism(s) underpinning tauopathies. Consequently, antioxidant therapies have been considered in clinical practice for the treatment of tauopathies such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), but with mixed results. We and others have previously reported increased protein oxidation upon expression of both human 0N3R (hTau0N3R ) and 0N4R (hTau0N4R ) tau in vivo. Building on these studies, we demonstrate here the suppression of hTau0N3R associated phenotypes in Drosophila melanogaster after treatment with vitamin C or vitamin E. Curiously the rescue of phenotype was seen without alteration in total tau level or alteration in phosphorylation at a number of disease-associated sites. Moreover, treatment with paraquat, a pro-oxidant drug, did not exacerbate the hTau0N3R phenotypes. This result following paraquat treatment is reminiscent of our previous findings with hTau0N4R which also causes greater oxidative stress when compared to hTau0N3R but has a milder phenotype. Collectively our data imply that the role of oxidative stress in tau-mediated toxicity is not straight forward and there may be isoform-specific effects as well as contribution of other factors. This may explain the ambiguous effects of anti-oxidant treatments on clinical outcome in dementia patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Catherine M Cowan
- Centre for Biological Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - Megan A Sealey
- Centre for Biological Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - Amritpal Mudher
- Centre for Biological Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
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37
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Oba T, Saito T, Asada A, Shimizu S, Iijima KM, Ando K. Microtubule affinity-regulating kinase 4 with an Alzheimer's disease-related mutation promotes tau accumulation and exacerbates neurodegeneration. J Biol Chem 2020; 295:17138-17147. [PMID: 33020179 PMCID: PMC7863894 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.ra120.014420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2020] [Revised: 09/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Accumulation of the microtubule-associated protein tau is associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD). In AD brain, tau is abnormally phosphorylated at many sites, and phosphorylation at Ser-262 and Ser-356 plays critical roles in tau accumulation and toxicity. Microtubule affinity-regulating kinase 4 (MARK4) phosphorylates tau at those sites, and a double de novo mutation in the linker region of MARK4, ΔG316E317D, is associated with an elevated risk of AD. However, it remains unclear how this mutation affects phosphorylation, aggregation, and accumulation of tau and tau-induced neurodegeneration. Here, we report that MARK4ΔG316E317D increases the abundance of highly phosphorylated, insoluble tau species and exacerbates neurodegeneration via Ser-262/356-dependent and -independent mechanisms. Using transgenic Drosophila expressing human MARK4 (MARK4wt) or a mutant version of MARK4 (MARK4ΔG316E317D), we found that coexpression of MARK4wt and MARK4ΔG316E317D increased total tau levels and enhanced tau-induced neurodegeneration and that MARK4ΔG316E317D had more potent effects than MARK4wt Interestingly, the in vitro kinase activities of MARK4wt and MARK4ΔG316E317D were similar. When tau phosphorylation at Ser-262 and Ser-356 was blocked by alanine substitutions, MARK4wt did not promote tau accumulation or exacerbate neurodegeneration, whereas coexpression of MARK4ΔG316E317D did. Both MARK4wt and MARK4ΔG316E317D increased the levels of oligomeric forms of tau; however, only MARK4ΔG316E317D further increased the detergent insolubility of tau in vivo Together, these findings suggest that MARK4ΔG316E317D increases tau levels and exacerbates tau toxicity via a novel gain-of-function mechanism and that modification in this region of MARK4 may affect disease pathogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Toshiya Oba
- Graduate School of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Taro Saito
- Graduate School of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Biological Sciences, School of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Akiko Asada
- Graduate School of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Biological Sciences, School of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Sawako Shimizu
- Graduate School of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Koichi M Iijima
- Department of Alzheimer's Disease Research, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu, Japan; Department of Experimental Gerontology, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nagoya City University, Nagoya, Japan
| | - Kanae Ando
- Graduate School of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Biological Sciences, School of Science, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo, Japan.
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38
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Jiang X, Zhou J, Wang Y, Chen L, Duan Y, Huang J, Liu C, Chen Y, Liu W, Sun H, Feng F, Qu W. Rational design and biological evaluation of a new class of thiazolopyridyl tetrahydroacridines as cholinesterase and GSK-3 dual inhibitors for Alzheimer’s disease. Eur J Med Chem 2020; 207:112751. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2020.112751] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2020] [Revised: 07/06/2020] [Accepted: 08/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
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39
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Aqsa, Sarkar S. Age dependent trans-cellular propagation of human tau aggregates in Drosophila disease models. Brain Res 2020; 1751:147207. [PMID: 33212022 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2020.147207] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2020] [Revised: 11/09/2020] [Accepted: 11/11/2020] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Tauopathies is a class of neurodegenerative disorders which involves the transformation of physiological tau into pathogenic tau. One of the prime causes reported to drive this conversion is tau hyperphosphorylation and the subsequent propagation of pathogenic protein aggregates across the nervous system. Although past attempts have been made to deduce the details of tau propagation, yet not much is known about its mechanism. A better understanding of this aspect of disease pathology can prove to be beneficial for the development of diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. For the first time, we demonstrate that the human tau possesses an intrinsic property to spread trans-cellularly in the fly nervous system irrespective of the tau allele or the neuronal tissue type. Aggregate migration restricted by targeted down-regulation of a specific kinase, elucidates the role of hyper-phosphorylation in its movement. On the contrary to the previous models, our study delivers an easy and rapid in-vivo model for comprehensive examination of tau migration pathology. Henceforth, the developed model would not only be immensely helpful in uncovering the mechanistic in-depths of tau propagation pathology but also aid in modifier and/or drug screening for amelioration of tauopathies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aqsa
- Department of Genetics, University of Delhi South Campus, Benito Juarez Road, Dhaula Kuan, New Delhi 110 021, India
| | - Surajit Sarkar
- Department of Genetics, University of Delhi South Campus, Benito Juarez Road, Dhaula Kuan, New Delhi 110 021, India.
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40
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Oakley SS, Maina MB, Marshall KE, Al-Hilaly YK, Harrington CR, Wischik CM, Serpell LC. Tau Filament Self-Assembly and Structure: Tau as a Therapeutic Target. Front Neurol 2020; 11:590754. [PMID: 33281730 PMCID: PMC7688747 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2020.590754] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2020] [Accepted: 09/04/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Tau plays an important pathological role in a group of neurodegenerative diseases called tauopathies, including Alzheimer's disease, Pick's disease, chronic traumatic encephalopathy and corticobasal degeneration. In each disease, tau self-assembles abnormally to form filaments that deposit in the brain. Tau is a natively unfolded protein that can adopt distinct structures in different pathological disorders. Cryo-electron microscopy has recently provided a series of structures for the core of the filaments purified from brain tissue from patients with different tauopathies and revealed that they share a common core region, while differing in their specific conformation. This structurally resolvable part of the core is contained within a proteolytically stable core region from the repeat domain initially isolated from AD tau filaments. Tau has recently become an important target for therapy. Recent work has suggested that the prevention of tau self-assembly may be effective in slowing the progression of Alzheimer's disease and other tauopathies. Here we review the work that explores the importance of tau filament structures and tau self-assembly mechanisms, as well as examining model systems that permit the exploration of the mode of action of potential inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian S Oakley
- Sussex Neuroscience, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
| | - Mahmoud B Maina
- Sussex Neuroscience, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom.,College of Medical Sciences, Yobe State University, Damaturu, Nigeria
| | - Karen E Marshall
- Sussex Neuroscience, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
| | - Youssra K Al-Hilaly
- Sussex Neuroscience, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom.,Chemistry Department, College of Science, Mustansiriyah University, Baghdad, Iraq
| | - Charlie R Harrington
- School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, United Kingdom.,TauRx Therapeutics Ltd., Aberdeen, United Kingdom
| | - Claude M Wischik
- School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, United Kingdom.,TauRx Therapeutics Ltd., Aberdeen, United Kingdom
| | - Louise C Serpell
- Sussex Neuroscience, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
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41
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Caenorhabditis elegans Models to Investigate the Mechanisms Underlying Tau Toxicity in Tauopathies. Brain Sci 2020; 10:brainsci10110838. [PMID: 33187241 PMCID: PMC7697895 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci10110838] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2020] [Revised: 11/09/2020] [Accepted: 11/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The understanding of the genetic, biochemical, and structural determinants underlying tau aggregation is pivotal in the elucidation of the pathogenic process driving tauopathies and the design of effective therapies. Relevant information on the molecular basis of human neurodegeneration in vivo can be obtained using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). To this end, two main approaches can be applied: the overexpression of genes/proteins leading to neuronal dysfunction and death, and studies in which proteins prone to misfolding are exogenously administered to induce a neurotoxic phenotype. Thanks to the easy generation of transgenic strains expressing human disease genes, C. elegans allows the identification of genes and/or proteins specifically associated with pathology and the specific disruptions of cellular processes involved in disease. Several transgenic strains expressing human wild-type or mutated tau have been developed and offer significant information concerning whether transgene expression regulates protein production and aggregation in soluble or insoluble form, onset of the disease, and the degenerative process. C. elegans is able to specifically react to the toxic assemblies of tau, thus developing a neurodegenerative phenotype that, even when exogenously administered, opens up the use of this assay to investigate in vivo the relationship between the tau sequence, its folding, and its proteotoxicity. These approaches can be employed to screen drugs and small molecules that can interact with the biogenesis and dynamics of formation of tau aggregates and to analyze their interactions with other cellular proteins.
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42
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Lee KS, Choi M, Kwon DW, Kim D, Choi JM, Kim AK, Ham Y, Han SB, Cho S, Cheon CK. A novel de novo heterozygous DYRK1A mutation causes complete loss of DYRK1A function and developmental delay. Sci Rep 2020; 10:9849. [PMID: 32555303 PMCID: PMC7299959 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-66750-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2019] [Accepted: 05/14/2020] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Dual-specificity tyrosine phosphorylation-regulated kinase 1 A (DYRK1A) is essential for human development, and DYRK1A haploinsufficiency is associated with a recognizable developmental syndrome and variable clinical features. Here, we present a patient with DYRK1A haploinsufficiency syndrome, including facial dysmorphism, delayed motor development, cardiovascular system defects, and brain atrophy. Exome sequencing identified a novel de novo heterozygous mutation of the human DYRK1A gene (c.1185dup), which generated a translational termination codon and resulted in a C-terminally truncated protein (DYRK1A-E396ter). To study the molecular effect of this truncation, we generated mammalian cell and Drosophila models that recapitulated the DYRK1A protein truncation. Analysis of the structure and deformation energy of the mutant protein predicted a reduction in protein stability. Experimentally, the mutant protein was efficiently degraded by the ubiquitin-dependent proteasome pathway and was barely detectable in mammalian cells. More importantly, the mutant kinase was intrinsically inactive and had little negative impact on the wild-type protein. Similarly, the mutant protein had a minimal effect on Drosophila phenotypes, confirming its loss-of-function in vivo. Together, our results suggest that the novel heterozygous mutation of DYRK1A resulted in loss-of-function of the kinase activity of DYRK1A and may contribute to the developmental delay observed in the patient.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kyu-Sun Lee
- Bionanotechnology Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, 125 Gwahak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
- Department of Functional Genomics, KRIBB School of Bioscience, Korea University of Science and Technology, 217 Gajeong-ro, Gajeong-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34113, Republic of Korea
| | - Miri Choi
- Natural Medicine Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, 30 Yeongudanji-ro, Ochang-eup, Cheongwon-gu, Cheongju-si, Chungbuk, 28116, Republic of Korea
- College of Pharmacy, Chungbuk National University, 30-1 Yeonje-ri, Osong-eup, Heungduk-gu, Cheongju-si, Chungbuk, 28644, Republic of Korea
| | - Dae-Woo Kwon
- Bionanotechnology Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, 125 Gwahak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
- Department of Functional Genomics, KRIBB School of Bioscience, Korea University of Science and Technology, 217 Gajeong-ro, Gajeong-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34113, Republic of Korea
| | - Doyoun Kim
- Innovative Target Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, 141 Gajeong-ro, Jang-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34114, Republic of Korea
| | - Jong-Moon Choi
- Green Cross Genome, Green Cross Laboratories, 107 Ihyeon-ro 30 beon-gil, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi, 16924, Republic of Korea
| | - Ae-Kyeong Kim
- Bionanotechnology Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, 125 Gwahak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Youngwook Ham
- Natural Medicine Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, 30 Yeongudanji-ro, Ochang-eup, Cheongwon-gu, Cheongju-si, Chungbuk, 28116, Republic of Korea
- College of Pharmacy, Chungbuk National University, 30-1 Yeonje-ri, Osong-eup, Heungduk-gu, Cheongju-si, Chungbuk, 28644, Republic of Korea
| | - Sang-Bae Han
- College of Pharmacy, Chungbuk National University, 30-1 Yeonje-ri, Osong-eup, Heungduk-gu, Cheongju-si, Chungbuk, 28644, Republic of Korea
| | - Sungchan Cho
- Natural Medicine Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, 30 Yeongudanji-ro, Ochang-eup, Cheongwon-gu, Cheongju-si, Chungbuk, 28116, Republic of Korea.
- Department of Biomolecular Science, KRIBB School of Bioscience, Korea University of Science and Technology, 217 Gajeong-ro, Gajeong-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34113, Republic of Korea.
| | - Chong Kun Cheon
- Division of Medical Genetics and Metabolism, Department of Pediatrics, Pusan National University Children's Hospital, Pusan National University School of Medicine, 20 Geumo-ro, Mulgeum-eup, Yangsan-si, Gyeongnam, 50612, Republic of Korea.
- Research Institute for Convergence of Biomedical Science and Technology, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, 20 Geumo-ro, Mulgeum-eup, Yangsan-si, Gyeongnam, 50612, Republic of Korea.
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43
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Biophysical studies of protein misfolding and aggregation in in vivo models of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. Q Rev Biophys 2020; 49:e22. [PMID: 32493529 DOI: 10.1017/s0033583520000025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's (AD) and Parkinson's diseases (PD), are characterised by the formation of aberrant assemblies of misfolded proteins. The discovery of disease-modifying drugs for these disorders is challenging, in part because we still have a limited understanding of their molecular origins. In this review, we discuss how biophysical approaches can help explain the formation of the aberrant conformational states of proteins whose neurotoxic effects underlie these diseases. We discuss in particular models based on the transgenic expression of amyloid-β (Aβ) and tau in AD, and α-synuclein in PD. Because biophysical methods have enabled an accurate quantification and a detailed understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying protein misfolding and aggregation in vitro, we expect that the further development of these methods to probe directly the corresponding mechanisms in vivo will open effective routes for diagnostic and therapeutic interventions.
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Wen X, An P, Li H, Zhou Z, Sun Y, Wang J, Ma L, Lu B. Tau Accumulation via Reduced Autophagy Mediates GGGGCC Repeat Expansion-Induced Neurodegeneration in Drosophila Model of ALS. Neurosci Bull 2020; 36:1414-1428. [PMID: 32500377 DOI: 10.1007/s12264-020-00518-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2020] [Accepted: 03/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Expansions of trinucleotide or hexanucleotide repeats lead to several neurodegenerative disorders, including Huntington disease [caused by expanded CAG repeats (CAGr) in the HTT gene], and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis [ALS, possibly caused by expanded GGGGCC repeats (G4C2r) in the C9ORF72 gene], of which the molecular mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we demonstrated that lowering the Drosophila homologue of tau protein (dtau) significantly rescued in vivo neurodegeneration, motor performance impairments, and the shortened life-span in Drosophila expressing expanded CAGr or expanded G4C2r. Expression of human tau (htau4R) restored the disease-related phenotypes that had been mitigated by the loss of dtau, suggesting an evolutionarily-conserved role of tau in neurodegeneration. We further revealed that G4C2r expression increased tau accumulation by inhibiting autophagosome-lysosome fusion, possibly due to lowering the level of BAG3, a regulator of autophagy and tau. Taken together, our results reveal a novel mechanism by which expanded G4C2r causes neurodegeneration via an evolutionarily-conserved mechanism. Our findings provide novel autophagy-related mechanistic insights into C9ORF72-ALS and possible entry points to disease treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xue Wen
- Neurology Department at Huashan Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and Ministry of Education Frontiers Center for Brain Science, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, China
| | - Ping An
- Neurology Department at Huashan Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and Ministry of Education Frontiers Center for Brain Science, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, China
| | - Hexuan Li
- Neurology Department at Huashan Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and Ministry of Education Frontiers Center for Brain Science, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, China
| | - Zijian Zhou
- Neurology Department at Huashan Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and Ministry of Education Frontiers Center for Brain Science, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, China
| | - Yimin Sun
- Neurology Department at Huashan Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and Ministry of Education Frontiers Center for Brain Science, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, China
| | - Jian Wang
- Neurology Department at Huashan Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and Ministry of Education Frontiers Center for Brain Science, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, China.
| | - Lixiang Ma
- Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China.
| | - Boxun Lu
- Neurology Department at Huashan Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and Ministry of Education Frontiers Center for Brain Science, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, China.
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Dubey SK, Lakshmi KK, Krishna KV, Agrawal M, Singhvi G, Saha RN, Saraf S, Saraf S, Shukla R, Alexander A. Insulin mediated novel therapies for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Life Sci 2020; 249:117540. [PMID: 32165212 DOI: 10.1016/j.lfs.2020.117540] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2020] [Revised: 03/03/2020] [Accepted: 03/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease, a progressive neurodegenerative disorder, is one of the leading causes of death in the USA, along with cancer and cardiac disorders. AD is characterized by various neurological factors like amyloid plaques, tau hyperphosphorylation, mitochondrial dysfunction, acetylcholine deficiency, etc. Together, impaired insulin signaling in the brain is also observed as essential factor to be considered in AD pathophysiology. Hence, currently researchers focused on studying the effect of brain insulin metabolism and relation of diabetes with AD. Based on the investigations, AD is also considered as type 3 or brain diabetes. Besides the traditional view of correlating AD with aging, a better understanding of various pathological factors and effects of other physical ailments is necessary to develop a promising therapeutic approach. There is a vast scope of studying the relation of systemic insulin level, insulin signaling, its neuroprotective potency and effect of diabetes on AD progression. The present work describes worldwide status of AD and its relation with diabetes mellitus and insulin metabolism; pathophysiology of AD; different metabolic pathways associating insulin metabolism with AD; insulin receptor and signaling in the brain; glucose metabolism; insulin resistance; and various preclinical and clinical studies reported insulin-based therapies to treat AD via systemic route and through direct intranasal delivery to the brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sunil Kumar Dubey
- Department of Pharmacy, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (BITS-PILANI), Pilani Campus, Rajasthan, India.
| | - K K Lakshmi
- Department of Pharmacy, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (BITS-PILANI), Pilani Campus, Rajasthan, India
| | - Kowthavarapu Venkata Krishna
- Department of Pharmacy, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (BITS-PILANI), Pilani Campus, Rajasthan, India
| | - Mukta Agrawal
- Rungta College of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research, Kohka-Kurud Road, Bhilai, Chhattisgarh 490 024, India
| | - Gautam Singhvi
- Department of Pharmacy, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (BITS-PILANI), Pilani Campus, Rajasthan, India
| | - Ranendra Narayana Saha
- Department of Biotechnology, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani (BITS-PILANI), Dubai Campus, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
| | - Swarnlata Saraf
- University Institute of Pharmacy, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur, Chhattisgarh 492010, India
| | - Shailendra Saraf
- University Institute of Pharmacy, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur, Chhattisgarh 492010, India
| | - Rahul Shukla
- Department of Pharmaceutics, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER-R), New Transit Campus, Bijnor Road, Sarojini Nagar, Lucknow 226002, India
| | - Amit Alexander
- National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER-Guwahati), Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, Govt. of India, NH 37, NITS Mirza, Kamrup-781125, Guwahati, Assam, India.
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Lam I, Hallacli E, Khurana V. Proteome-Scale Mapping of Perturbed Proteostasis in Living Cells. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol 2020; 12:cshperspect.a034124. [PMID: 30910772 DOI: 10.1101/cshperspect.a034124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Proteinopathies are degenerative diseases in which specific proteins adopt deleterious conformations, leading to the dysfunction and demise of distinct cell types. They comprise some of the most significant diseases of aging-from Alzheimer's disease to Parkinson's disease to type 2 diabetes-for which not a single disease-modifying or preventative strategy exists. Here, we survey approaches in tractable cellular and organismal models that bring us toward a more complete understanding of the molecular consequences of protein misfolding. These include proteome-scale profiling of genetic modifiers, as well as transcriptional and proteome changes. We describe assays that can capture protein interactomes in situ and distinct protein conformational states. A picture of cellular drivers and responders to proteotoxicity emerges from this work, distinguishing general alterations of proteostasis from cellular events that are deeply tied to the intrinsic function of the misfolding protein. These distinctions have consequences for the understanding and treatment of proteinopathies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isabel Lam
- Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Disease, Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115
| | - Erinc Hallacli
- Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Disease, Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115
| | - Vikram Khurana
- Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Disease, Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115.,Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142.,Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138.,New York Stem Cell Foundation - Robertson Investigator
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Lauretti E, Dincer O, Praticò D. Glycogen synthase kinase-3 signaling in Alzheimer's disease. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-MOLECULAR CELL RESEARCH 2020; 1867:118664. [PMID: 32006534 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbamcr.2020.118664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 211] [Impact Index Per Article: 52.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2019] [Revised: 01/21/2020] [Accepted: 01/24/2020] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of neurodegenerative disorder with dementia, accounting for approximately 70% of the all cases. Currently, 5.8 million people in the U.S. are living with AD and by 2050 this number is expected to double resulting in a significant socio-economic burden. Despite intensive research, the exact mechanisms that trigger AD are still not known and at the present there is no cure for it. In recent years, many signaling pathways associated with AD neuropathology have been explored as possible candidate targets for the treatment of this condition including glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK3-β). GSK3-β is considered a key player in AD pathophysiology since dysregulation of this kinase influences all the major hallmarks of the disease including: tau phosphorylation, amyloid-β production, memory, neurogenesis and synaptic function. The present review summarizes the current understanding of the GSK3-β neurobiology with particular emphasis on its effects on specific signaling pathways associated with AD pathophysiology. Moreover, it discusses the feasibility of targeting GSK3-β for AD treatment and provides a summary of the current research effort to develop GSK3-β inhibitors in preclinical and clinical studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisabetta Lauretti
- Alzheimer's Center at Temple, Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19140, United States of America
| | - Ozlem Dincer
- Alzheimer's Center at Temple, Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19140, United States of America
| | - Domenico Praticò
- Alzheimer's Center at Temple, Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19140, United States of America.
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Genetic Dissection of Alzheimer's Disease Using Drosophila Models. Int J Mol Sci 2020; 21:ijms21030884. [PMID: 32019113 PMCID: PMC7037931 DOI: 10.3390/ijms21030884] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2020] [Revised: 01/26/2020] [Accepted: 01/26/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a main cause of dementia, is the most common neurodegenerative disease that is related to abnormal accumulation of the amyloid β (Aβ) protein. Despite decades of intensive research, the mechanisms underlying AD remain elusive, and the only available treatment remains symptomatic. Molecular understanding of the pathogenesis and progression of AD is necessary to develop disease-modifying treatment. Drosophila, as the most advanced genetic model, has been used to explore the molecular mechanisms of AD in the last few decades. Here, we introduce Drosophila AD models based on human Aβ and summarize the results of their genetic dissection. We also discuss the utility of functional genomics using the Drosophila system in the search for AD-associated molecular mechanisms in the post-genomic era.
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Wang Y, Huang Y, Liu J, Zhang J, Xu M, You Z, Peng C, Gong Z, Liu W. Acetyltransferase GCN5 regulates autophagy and lysosome biogenesis by targeting TFEB. EMBO Rep 2020; 21:e48335. [PMID: 31750630 PMCID: PMC6945067 DOI: 10.15252/embr.201948335] [Citation(s) in RCA: 80] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2019] [Revised: 10/04/2019] [Accepted: 10/28/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Accumulating evidence highlights the role of histone acetyltransferase GCN5 in the regulation of cell metabolism in metazoans. Here, we report that GCN5 is a negative regulator of autophagy, a lysosome-dependent catabolic mechanism. In animal cells and Drosophila, GCN5 inhibits the biogenesis of autophagosomes and lysosomes by targeting TFEB, the master transcription factor for autophagy- and lysosome-related gene expression. We show that GCN5 is a specific TFEB acetyltransferase, and acetylation by GCN5 results in the decrease in TFEB transcriptional activity. Induction of autophagy inactivates GCN5, accompanied by reduced TFEB acetylation and increased lysosome formation. We further demonstrate that acetylation at K274 and K279 disrupts the dimerization of TFEB and the binding of TFEB to its target gene promoters. In a Tau-based neurodegenerative Drosophila model, deletion of dGcn5 improves the clearance of Tau protein aggregates and ameliorates the neurodegenerative phenotypes. Together, our results reveal GCN5 as a novel conserved TFEB regulator, and the regulatory mechanisms may be involved in autophagy- and lysosome-related physiological and pathological processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yusha Wang
- Department of Biochemistry and Department of Cardiology of the Second Affiliated HospitalZhejiang University School of MedicineHangzhouChina
| | - Yewei Huang
- Department of Biochemistry and Department of Cardiology of the Second Affiliated HospitalZhejiang University School of MedicineHangzhouChina
| | - Jiaqi Liu
- Department of Biochemistry and Department of Cardiology of the Second Affiliated HospitalZhejiang University School of MedicineHangzhouChina
| | - Jinna Zhang
- Department of Biochemistry and Department of Cardiology of the Second Affiliated HospitalZhejiang University School of MedicineHangzhouChina
| | - Mingming Xu
- Department of Biochemistry and Department of Cardiology of the Second Affiliated HospitalZhejiang University School of MedicineHangzhouChina
| | - Zhiyuan You
- Department of Biochemistry and Department of Cardiology of the Second Affiliated HospitalZhejiang University School of MedicineHangzhouChina
| | - Chao Peng
- National Center for Protein Science ShanghaiInstitute of Biochemistry and Cell BiologyShanghai Institutes of Biological SciencesChinese Academy of SciencesShanghaiChina
| | - Zhefeng Gong
- Department of NeurobiologyKey Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology of the Ministry of Health of ChinaZhejiang University School of MedicineHangzhouChina
| | - Wei Liu
- Department of Biochemistry and Department of Cardiology of the Second Affiliated HospitalZhejiang University School of MedicineHangzhouChina
- Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious DiseaseFirst Affiliated HospitalZhejiang University School of MedicineHangzhouChina
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50
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Modeling Late-Onset Sporadic Alzheimer's Disease through BMI1 Deficiency. Cell Rep 2019; 23:2653-2666. [PMID: 29847796 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2018.04.097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2017] [Revised: 02/20/2018] [Accepted: 04/24/2018] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Late-onset sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent form of dementia, but its origin remains poorly understood. The Bmi1/Ring1 protein complex maintains transcriptional repression of developmental genes through histone H2A mono-ubiquitination, and Bmi1 deficiency in mice results in growth retardation, progeria, and neurodegeneration. Here, we demonstrate that BMI1 is silenced in AD brains, but not in those with early-onset familial AD, frontotemporal dementia, or Lewy body dementia. BMI1 expression was also reduced in cortical neurons from AD patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells but not in neurons overexpressing mutant APP and PSEN1. BMI1 knockout in human post-mitotic neurons resulted in amyloid beta peptide secretion and deposition, p-Tau accumulation, and neurodegeneration. Mechanistically, BMI1 was required to repress microtubule associated protein tau (MAPT) transcription and prevent GSK3beta and p53 stabilization, which otherwise resulted in neurodegeneration. Restoration of BMI1 activity through genetic or pharmaceutical approaches could represent a therapeutic strategy against AD.
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