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Suzuyama K, Eriguchi M, Minagawa H, Honda H, Kai K, Kitamoto T, Hara H. Accumulation Area of a Japanese PRNP P102L Variant Associated With Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker Disease: The Ariake PRNP P102L Variant. J Clin Neurol 2024; 20:321-329. [PMID: 38171504 PMCID: PMC11076189 DOI: 10.3988/jcn.2023.0102] [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: 03/16/2023] [Revised: 06/25/2023] [Accepted: 07/31/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The coast of Kyushu Island on Ariake Sea in Japan is known to be an accumulation area for patients with a proline-to-leucine substitution mutation at residue 102 (P102L) of the human prion protein gene (PRNP), which is associated with Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker disease. We designated this geographical distribution as the "Ariake PRNP P102L variant." The purpose of this study was to characterize the clinical features of this variant. METHODS We enrolled patients with the PRNP P102L variant who were followed up at the Saga University Hospital from April 2002 to November 2019. The clinical information of patients were obtained from medical records, including clinical histories, brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and electroencephalography (EEG). A brain autopsy was performed on one of the participants. RESULTS We enrolled 24 patients from 19 family lines, including 12 males. The mean age at symptom onset was 60.6 years (range, 41-77 years). The incidence rate of the Ariake PRNP P102L variant was 3.32/1,000,000 people per year in Saga city. The initial symptoms were ataxia (ataxic gait or dysarthria) in 19 patients (79.2%), cognitive impairment in 3 (12.5%), and leg paresthesia in 2 (8.3%). The median survival time from symptom onset among the 18 fatal cases was 63 months (range, 23-105 months). Brain MRI revealed no localized cerebellar atrophy, but sparse diffusion-weighted imaging abnormalities were detected in 16.7% of the patients. No periodic sharp-wave complexes were identified in EEG. Neuropathological investigations revealed uni- and multicentric prion protein (PrP) plaques in the cerebral cortex, putamen, thalamus, and cerebellum of one patient. Western blot analysis revealed 8-kDa proteinase-K-resistant PrP. CONCLUSIONS This is the first report of the accumulation area of a PRNP P102L variant on the coast of Ariake Sea. The Ariake PRNP P102L variant can be characterized by a relatively long disease duration with sparse abnormalities in brain MRI and EEG relative to previous reports. Detailed interviews to obtain information on the birthplace and the family history of related symptoms are important to diagnosing a PRNP P102L variant.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kohei Suzuyama
- Division of Neurology, Department of Internal Medicine, Saga University Faculty of Medicine, Saga, Japan.
| | - Makoto Eriguchi
- Division of Neurology, Department of Internal Medicine, Saga University Faculty of Medicine, Saga, Japan
| | - Hiromu Minagawa
- Division of Neurology, Department of Internal Medicine, Saga University Faculty of Medicine, Saga, Japan
| | - Hiroyuki Honda
- Department of Neuropathology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
- Department of Neurology, Neuro Muscular Center, National Hospital Organization Omuta National Hospital, Omuta, Japan
| | - Keita Kai
- Department of Pathology, Saga University Hospital, Saga, Japan
| | - Tetsuyuki Kitamoto
- Department of Neurological Science, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan
| | - Hideo Hara
- Division of Neurology, Department of Internal Medicine, Saga University Faculty of Medicine, Saga, Japan
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Chen L, Xu Y, Fang MJ, Shi YG, Zhang J, Zhang LL, Wang Y, Han YZ, Hu JY, Yang RM, Yu XE. Case report: A Chinese patient with spinocerebellar ataxia finally confirmed as Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker syndrome with P102L mutation. Front Neurol 2023; 14:1187813. [PMID: 37602242 PMCID: PMC10435367 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2023.1187813] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2023] [Accepted: 07/13/2023] [Indexed: 08/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker syndrome (GSS) is a rare genetic prion disease caused by a mutation in the prion protein (PRNP) gene. It is typically characterized by progressive cerebellar ataxia and slowly progressive dementia. We present a case study of the GSS from China in which a 45-year-old male with a progressive gait and balance disorder developed cerebellar ataxia onset but was misdiagnosed as spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) for 2 years. The patient's clinical, electrophysiological, and radiological data were retrospectively analyzed. Examination revealed ataxia, dysarthria, muscle weakness, areflexia in lower limbs, including a pyramidal sign, whereas cognitive decline was insignificant. His late mother had a similar unsteady gait. An electroencephalogram (EEG) showed normal findings, and 14-3-3 protein was negative. A brain MRI was performed for global brain atrophy and ventricular enlargement. Positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) (18F-fluoro-2-deoxy-d-glucose, FDG) images showed mild to moderate decreased glucose metabolism in the left superior parietal lobe and left middle temporal lobe. According to genetic testing, his younger brother also had the P102L variant in the PRNP gene. This single case adds to the clinical and genetic phenotypes of GSS.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Xu-en Yu
- Department of Neurology, The Affiliated Hospital of Institute of Neurology, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, China
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Bruno R, Riccardi G, Iacobone F, Chiarotti F, Pirisinu L, Vanni I, Marcon S, D'Agostino C, Giovannelli M, Parchi P, Agrimi U, Nonno R, Di Bari MA. Strain-Dependent Morphology of Reactive Astrocytes in Human- and Animal-Vole-Adapted Prions. Biomolecules 2023; 13:biom13050757. [PMID: 37238627 DOI: 10.3390/biom13050757] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2023] [Revised: 04/21/2023] [Accepted: 04/25/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Reactive astrogliosis is one of the pathological hallmarks of prion diseases. Recent studies highlighted the influence of several factors on the astrocyte phenotype in prion diseases, including the brain region involved, the genotype backgrounds of the host, and the prion strain. Elucidating the influence of prion strains on the astrocyte phenotype may provide crucial insights for developing therapeutic strategies. Here, we investigated the relationship between prion strains and astrocyte phenotype in six human- and animal-vole-adapted strains characterized by distinctive neuropathological features. In particular, we compared astrocyte morphology and astrocyte-associated PrPSc deposition among strains in the same brain region, the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus (MDTN). Astrogliosis was detected to some extent in the MDTN of all analyzed voles. However, we observed variability in the morphological appearance of astrocytes depending on the strain. Astrocytes displayed variability in thickness and length of cellular processes and cellular body size, suggesting strain-specific phenotypes of reactive astrocytes. Remarkably, four out of six strains displayed astrocyte-associated PrPSc deposition, which correlated with the size of astrocytes. Overall, these data show that the heterogeneous reactivity of astrocytes in prion diseases depends at least in part on the infecting prion strains and their specific interaction with astrocytes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosalia Bruno
- Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Geraldina Riccardi
- Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Floriana Iacobone
- Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Flavia Chiarotti
- Reference Center for the Behavioral Sciences and Mental Health, Italian National Institute of Health, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Laura Pirisinu
- Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Ilaria Vanni
- Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Stefano Marcon
- Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Claudia D'Agostino
- Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Matteo Giovannelli
- Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Piero Parchi
- IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, 40139 Bologna, Italy
- Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences (DIBINEM), University of Bologna, 40138 Bologna, Italy
| | - Umberto Agrimi
- Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Romolo Nonno
- Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Michele Angelo Di Bari
- Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy
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The Prion Basis of Progressive Neurodegenerative Disorders. Interdiscip Perspect Infect Dis 2023; 2023:6687264. [PMID: 36825209 PMCID: PMC9943612 DOI: 10.1155/2023/6687264] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2022] [Revised: 01/30/2023] [Accepted: 02/01/2023] [Indexed: 02/16/2023] Open
Abstract
The discovery of proteinaceous infectious agents by Prusiner in 1982 was sensational. All previously known pathogens contained nucleic acids, the code of life, that enabled them to reproduce. In contrast, the proteinaceous agents of disease, called prion proteins (PrP), lacked nucleic acids and propagated by binding to the functional, endogenous form of cellular prion protein (referred to as PrPC) and altering its conformation to produce the infectious disease-causing misfolded protein (referred to as PrPSc). The accumulation and aggregation of these infectious prion proteins within the brain cause destruction of neural tissue and lead to fatal spongiform encephalopathies. In this review, we present the molecular pathology of prion-based diseases. These insights are of particular importance since the principles of prion pathogenesis apply to other neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Collectively, the global prevalence of these diseases is rapidly increasing while effective therapies against them are still lacking. Thus, the need to understand their etiology and pathogenesis is urgent, and it holds profound implications for societal health.
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Pirisinu L, Di Bari MA, D’Agostino C, Vanni I, Riccardi G, Marcon S, Vaccari G, Chiappini B, Benestad SL, Agrimi U, Nonno R. A single amino acid residue in bank vole prion protein drives permissiveness to Nor98/atypical scrapie and the emergence of multiple strain variants. PLoS Pathog 2022; 18:e1010646. [PMID: 35731839 PMCID: PMC9255773 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1010646] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2022] [Revised: 07/05/2022] [Accepted: 06/03/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Prions are infectious agents that replicate through the autocatalytic misfolding of the cellular prion protein (PrPC) into infectious aggregates (PrPSc) causing fatal neurodegenerative diseases in humans and animals. Prions exist as strains, which are encoded by conformational variants of PrPSc. The transmissibility of prions depends on the PrPC sequence of the recipient host and on the incoming prion strain, so that some animal prion strains are more contagious than others or are transmissible to new species, including humans. Nor98/atypical scrapie (AS) is a prion disease of sheep and goats reported in several countries worldwide. At variance with classical scrapie (CS), AS is considered poorly contagious and is supposed to be spontaneous in origin. The zoonotic potential of AS, its strain variability and the relationships with the more contagious CS strains remain largely unknown. We characterized AS isolates from sheep and goats by transmission in ovinised transgenic mice (tg338) and in two genetic lines of bank voles, carrying either methionine (BvM) or isoleucine (BvI) at PrP residue 109. All AS isolates induced the same pathological phenotype in tg338 mice, thus proving that they encoded the same strain, irrespective of their geographical origin or source species. In bank voles, we found that the M109I polymorphism dictates the susceptibility to AS. BvI were susceptible and faithfully reproduced the AS strain, while the transmission in BvM was highly inefficient and was characterized by a conformational change towards a CS-like prion strain. Sub-passaging experiments revealed that the main strain component of AS is accompanied by minor CS-like strain components, which can be positively selected during replication in both AS-resistant or AS-susceptible animals. These findings add new clues for a better comprehension of strain selection dynamics in prion infections and have wider implications for understanding the origin of contagious prion strains, such as CS. Prions are transmissible agents responsible for fatal neurodegenerative diseases in humans and animals. Prions exist as strains, exhibiting distinct disease phenotypes and transmission properties. Some prion diseases occur sporadically with a supposedly spontaneous origin, while others are contagious and give rise to epidemics, mainly in animals. We investigated the strain properties of Nor98/atypical scrapie (AS), a sporadic prion disease of small ruminants. We found that AS was faithfully reproduced not only in a homologous context, i.e. ovinised transgenic mice, but also in an unrelated animal species, the bank vole. A natural polymorphism of the bank vole prion protein, coding for methionine (BvM) or for isoleucine (BvI) at codon 109, dictated the susceptibility of voles to AS, with BvI being highly susceptible to AS and BvM rather resistant. Most importantly, the M109I polymorphism mediated the emergence of AS-derived mutant prion strains resembling classical scrapie (CS), a contagious prion disease. Finally, by sub-passages in bank voles, we found that the main strain component of AS is accompanied by minor CS-like strain components, which can be positively selected during replication in both AS-resistant or AS-susceptible vole lines. These findings allow a better understanding of strain selection dynamics and suggest a link between sporadic and contagious prion diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Pirisinu
- Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Michele Angelo Di Bari
- Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Claudia D’Agostino
- Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Ilaria Vanni
- Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Geraldina Riccardi
- Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Stefano Marcon
- Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Gabriele Vaccari
- Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Barbara Chiappini
- Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | | | - Umberto Agrimi
- Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Romolo Nonno
- Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
- * E-mail:
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From molecular dynamics to quantum mechanics of misfolded proteins and amyloid-like macroaggregates applied to neurodegenerative diseases. J Mol Graph Model 2021; 110:108046. [PMID: 34736057 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmgm.2021.108046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2021] [Revised: 09/14/2021] [Accepted: 10/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
A misfolded protein compared with its native state lacks its biological function resulting in cell dysregulations and often death. Outdated hypotheses on protein folding must be revised: More realistic molecular models, focusing not only on classical molecular dynamics (MD) but also on ab initio quantum mechanics (QM) at the molecular orbitals (MOs) scale, which is not experimentally achievable, are presented to improve our understanding of the thermodynamics of the protein-protein interactions leading to misfolding and neurodegenerative diseases for future drug design. Protein misfolding is characterized by the formation of highly reactive beta-sheets oligomers leading to fibrillar macroscopic aggregates, which are studied with the models given herein that can be useful for the development of new immunotherapies against the Alzheimer's disease and prion, e.g. The example of the prion - an intrinsically disordered protein - is studied, but the models can be generalized to other misfolding diseases. The binding free energy and interactions in a complex of a misfolded prion with a native prion are first analyzed by MD and compared to a complex of two native conformers. A conversion of residues to toxic beta-sheets is observed in the optimized misfolded complex. Then, QM is used to compute, with a much better accuracy than that of MD, the binding free energy of the hydrophobic binding site, responsible of the aggregation, between the bound misfolded and native conformers in the misfolded complex. The latter quantity is significantly negative, so that aggregation is strong and fast. The frontier MOs from QM are used for docking to determine how the first repetitive beta-sheets building blocks of the nanofibrils can be assembled from initial cleaved complexes of the native and misfolded proteins. Successive aggregation of multiple monomers leads to an amyloid-like nanofibril that grows along a principal elongation direction, as also observed experimentally.
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7
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Huntington's disease: lessons from prion disorders. J Neurol 2021; 268:3493-3504. [PMID: 33625583 DOI: 10.1007/s00415-021-10418-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2020] [Revised: 01/18/2021] [Accepted: 01/19/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Decades of research on the prion protein and its associated diseases have caused a paradigm shift in our understanding of infectious agents. More recent years have been marked by a surge of studies supporting the application of these findings to a broad array of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. Here, we present evidence to suggest that Huntington's disease, a monogenic disorder of the central nervous system, shares features with prion disorders and that, it too, may be governed by similar mechanisms. We further posit that these similarities could suggest that, like other common neurodegenerative disorders, sporadic forms of Huntington's disease may exist.
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Supattapone S. Cofactor molecules: Essential partners for infectious prions. PROGRESS IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE 2020; 175:53-75. [PMID: 32958241 DOI: 10.1016/bs.pmbts.2020.07.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
The protein-only hypothesis predicts that infectious mammalian prions are composed solely of PrPSc, a misfolded conformer of the normal prion protein, PrPC. However, to date, all wild type protein-only PrPSc preparations lack significant levels of prion infectivity. Using a systemic biochemical approach, our laboratory isolated and identified two different endogenous cofactor molecules, RNA (Deleault et al., 2003 [50]; Deleault et al., 2007 [59]) and phosphatidylethanolamine (Deleault et al., 2012 [61]; Deleault et al., 2012 [18]), which facilitate the formation of prions with high levels of specific infectivity, leading us to propose to the alternative hypothesis that cofactor molecules are required to form wild type infectious prions (Deleault et al., 2007 [59]; Deleault et al., 2012 [18]; Geoghegan et al., 2007 [57]). In addition, we found that purified cofactor molecules restrict the strain properties of chemically defined infectious prions (Deleault et al., 2012 [18]), suggesting a "cofactor selection" model in which natural variation in the distribution of strain-specific cofactor molecules in different parts of the brain may be responsible for strain-dependent patterns of neurotropism (Deleault et al., 2012 [18]; Geoghegan et al., 2007 [57]).
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Affiliation(s)
- Surachai Supattapone
- Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology and Department of Medicine, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, United States.
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Abstract
Amyloids and their infectious subset, prions, represent fibrillary aggregates with regular structure. They are formed by proteins that are soluble in their normal state. In amyloid form, all or part of the polypeptide sequence of the protein is resistant to treatment with proteinase K (PK). Amyloids can have structural variants, which can be distinguished by the patterns of their digestion by PK. In this review, we describe and compare studies of the resistant cores of various amyloids from different organisms. These data provide insight into the fine structure of amyloids and their variants as well as raise interesting questions, such as those concerning the differences between amyloids obtained ex vivo and in vitro, as well as the manner in which folding of one region of the amyloid can affect other regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vitaly V Kushnirov
- Research Center of Biotechnology of Russian Academy of Sciences, A.N. Bach Institute of Biochemistry, Moscow, Russia
| | - Alexander A Dergalev
- Research Center of Biotechnology of Russian Academy of Sciences, A.N. Bach Institute of Biochemistry, Moscow, Russia
| | - Alexander I Alexandrov
- Research Center of Biotechnology of Russian Academy of Sciences, A.N. Bach Institute of Biochemistry, Moscow, Russia
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Areškeviciute A, Melchior LC, Broholm H, Krarup LH, Lindquist SG, Johansen P, McKenzie N, Green A, Nielsen JE, Laursen H, Lund EL. Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in a Woman Married Into a Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker Family: An Investigation of Prions Transmission via Microchimerism. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 2019; 77:673-684. [PMID: 29889261 DOI: 10.1093/jnen/nly043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
This is the first report of presumed sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD) and Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker disease (GSS) with the prion protein gene c.305C>T mutation (p.P102L) occurring in one family. The father and son were affected with GSS and the mother had a rapidly progressive form of CJD. Diagnosis of genetic, variant, and iatrogenic CJD was ruled out based on the mother's clinical history, genetic tests, and biochemical investigations, all of which supported the diagnosis of sCJD. However, given the low incidence of sCJD and GSS, their co-occurrence in one family is extraordinary and challenging. Thus, a hypothesis for the transmission of infectious prion proteins (PrPSc) via microchimerism was proposed and investigated. DNA from 15 different brain regions and plasma samples of the CJD patient was subjected to PCR and shallow sequencing for detection of a male sex-determining chromosome Y (chr. Y). However, no trace of chr. Y was found. A long CJD incubation period or presumed small concentrations of chr. Y may explain the obtained results. Further studies of CJD and GSS animal models with controlled genetic and proteomic features are needed to determine whether maternal CJD triggered via microchimerism by a GSS fetus might present a new PrPSc transmission route.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aušrine Areškeviciute
- Danish Reference Center for Prion Diseases, Department of Pathology, Copenhagen University Hospital - Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Linea Cecilie Melchior
- Danish Reference Center for Prion Diseases, Department of Pathology, Copenhagen University Hospital - Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Helle Broholm
- Danish Reference Center for Prion Diseases, Department of Pathology, Copenhagen University Hospital - Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Lars-Henrik Krarup
- Department of Neurology, Copenhagen University Hospital - Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Suzanne Granhøj Lindquist
- Danish Dementia Research Centre, Copenhagen University Hospital - Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark.,Department of Clinical Genetics, Copenhagen University Hospital - Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Peter Johansen
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Copenhagen University Hospital - Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Neil McKenzie
- National Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Research and Surveillance Unit, the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Alison Green
- National Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Research and Surveillance Unit, the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Jørgen Erik Nielsen
- Danish Dementia Research Centre, Copenhagen University Hospital - Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Henning Laursen
- Danish Reference Center for Prion Diseases, Department of Pathology, Copenhagen University Hospital - Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Eva Løbner Lund
- Danish Reference Center for Prion Diseases, Department of Pathology, Copenhagen University Hospital - Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark
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Nonno R, Notari S, Di Bari MA, Cali I, Pirisinu L, d'Agostino C, Cracco L, Kofskey D, Vanni I, Lavrich J, Parchi P, Agrimi U, Gambetti P. Variable Protease-Sensitive Prionopathy Transmission to Bank Voles. Emerg Infect Dis 2019; 25:73-81. [PMID: 30561322 PMCID: PMC6302590 DOI: 10.3201/eid2501.180807] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Variably protease-sensitive prionopathy (VPSPr), a recently described human sporadic prion disease, features a protease-resistant, disease-related prion protein (resPrPD) displaying 5 fragments reminiscent of Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker disease. Experimental VPSPr transmission to human PrP-expressing transgenic mice, although replication of the VPSPr resPrPD profile succeeded, has been incomplete because of second passage failure. We bioassayed VPSPr in bank voles, which are susceptible to human prion strains. Transmission was complete; first-passage attack rates were 5%-35%, and second-passage rates reached 100% and survival times were 50% shorter. We observed 3 distinct phenotypes and resPrPD profiles; 2 imitated sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease resPrPD, and 1 resembled Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker disease resPrPD. The first 2 phenotypes may be related to the presence of minor PrPD components in VPSPr. Full VPSPr transmission confirms permissiveness of bank voles to human prions and suggests that bank vole PrP may efficiently reveal an underrepresented native strain but does not replicate the complex VPSPr PrPD profile.
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Burke CM, Walsh DJ, Steele AD, Agrimi U, Di Bari MA, Watts JC, Supattapone S. Full restoration of specific infectivity and strain properties from pure mammalian prion protein. PLoS Pathog 2019; 15:e1007662. [PMID: 30908557 PMCID: PMC6448948 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1007662] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2018] [Revised: 04/04/2019] [Accepted: 02/27/2019] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
The protein-only hypothesis predicts that infectious mammalian prions are composed solely of PrPSc, a misfolded conformer of the normal prion protein, PrPC. However, protein-only PrPSc preparations lack significant levels of prion infectivity, leading to the alternative hypothesis that cofactor molecules are required to form infectious prions. Here, we show that prions with parental strain properties and full specific infectivity can be restored from protein-only PrPSc in vitro. The restoration reaction is rapid, potent, and requires bank vole PrPC substrate, post-translational modifications, and cofactor molecules. To our knowledge, this represents the first report in which the essential properties of an infectious mammalian prion have been restored from pure PrP without adaptation. These findings provide evidence for a unified hypothesis of prion infectivity in which the global structure of protein-only PrPSc accurately stores latent infectious and strain information, but cofactor molecules control a reversible switch that unmasks biological infectivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cassandra M. Burke
- Departments of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at Darthmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, United States of America
| | - Daniel J. Walsh
- Departments of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at Darthmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, United States of America
| | - Alexander D. Steele
- Departments of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at Darthmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, United States of America
| | - Umberto Agrimi
- Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Michele Angelo Di Bari
- Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Joel C. Watts
- Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases and Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Surachai Supattapone
- Departments of Biochemistry and Cell Biology at Darthmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, United States of America
- Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, United States of America
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Wang J, Xiao K, Zhou W, Gao C, Chen C, Shi Q, Dong XP. A Chinese patient of P102L Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker disease contains three other disease-associated mutations in SYNE1. Prion 2018; 12:150-155. [PMID: 29509064 DOI: 10.1080/19336896.2018.1447733] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker disease (GSS) with the P102L mutation in PRNP gene is characterized with progressive cerebellar dysfunction clinically and PrPSc plaques neurologically. Due to the cerebellar ataxia in the early stage, GSS P102L is often misdiagnosed as other neurodegenerative disorders. We presented here a 49-year-old female patient with proven P102L PRNP mutation, and three heterologous mutations in hereditary ataxias associated gene SYNE1, including p.V3643L, p.M3376V and p.T2860A. The patient appeared progressive unsteady gait in early stage and developed the Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (CJD) - associated clinical manifestations, including progressive dementia, myoclonus, pyramidal and extrapyramidal signs. She is still alive but with akinetic mutism 21 months after onset. Observation of intense signal changes in cortical regions (cortical ribboning) in diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) MRI scanning and positive protein 14-3-3 in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) proposed the diagnosis of sporadic CJD. The final diagnosis of P102L GSS was made after PRNP sequencing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Wang
- a State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases (Zhejiang University) , National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention , Chang-Bai Rd 155, Beijing , China
| | - Kang Xiao
- a State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases (Zhejiang University) , National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention , Chang-Bai Rd 155, Beijing , China
| | - Wei Zhou
- a State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases (Zhejiang University) , National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention , Chang-Bai Rd 155, Beijing , China
| | - Chen Gao
- a State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases (Zhejiang University) , National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention , Chang-Bai Rd 155, Beijing , China
| | - Cao Chen
- a State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases (Zhejiang University) , National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention , Chang-Bai Rd 155, Beijing , China
| | - Qi Shi
- a State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases (Zhejiang University) , National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention , Chang-Bai Rd 155, Beijing , China
| | - Xiao-Ping Dong
- a State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases (Zhejiang University) , National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention , Chang-Bai Rd 155, Beijing , China.,b Center of Global Public Health , Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention , Chang-Bai Rd 155, Beijing , China
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Bagyinszky E, Giau VV, Youn YC, An SSA, Kim S. Characterization of mutations in PRNP (prion) gene and their possible roles in neurodegenerative diseases. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat 2018; 14:2067-2085. [PMID: 30147320 PMCID: PMC6097508 DOI: 10.2147/ndt.s165445] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Abnormal prion proteins are responsible for several fatal neurodegenerative diseases in humans and in animals, including Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker disease, and fatal familial insomnia. Genetics is important in prion diseases, but in the most cases, cause of diseases remained unknown. Several mutations were found to be causative for prion disorders, and the effect of mutations may be heterogeneous. In addition, different prion mutations were suggested to play a possible role in additional phenotypes, such as Alzheimer's type pathology, spongiform encephalopathy, or frontotemporal dementia. Pathogenic nature of several prion mutations remained unclear, such as M129V and E219K. These two polymorphic sites were suggested as either risk factors for different disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), variant CJD, or protease-sensitive prionopathy, and they can also be disease-modifying factors. Pathological overlap may also be possible with AD or progressive dementia, and several patients with prion mutations were initially diagnosed with AD. This review also introduces briefly the diagnosis of prion diseases and the issues with their diagnosis. Since prion diseases have quite heterogeneous phenotypes, a complex analysis, a combination of genetic screening, cerebrospinal fluid biomarker analysis and imaging technologies could improve the early disease diagnosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eva Bagyinszky
- Department of Bionano Technology, Gachon Bionano Research Institute, Gachon University, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea,
| | - Vo Van Giau
- Department of Bionano Technology, Gachon Bionano Research Institute, Gachon University, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea,
| | - Young Chul Youn
- Department of Neurology, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Seong Soo A An
- Department of Bionano Technology, Gachon Bionano Research Institute, Gachon University, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea,
| | - SangYun Kim
- Department of Neurology, Seoul National University College of Medicine & Neurocognitive Behavior Center, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, South Korea
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