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Arar S, Haque MA, Bhatt N, Zhao Y, Kayed R. Effect of Natural Osmolytes on Recombinant Tau Monomer: Propensity of Oligomerization and Aggregation. ACS Chem Neurosci 2024; 15:1366-1377. [PMID: 38503425 PMCID: PMC10995947 DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.3c00614] [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: 09/22/2023] [Revised: 02/19/2024] [Accepted: 02/20/2024] [Indexed: 03/21/2024] Open
Abstract
The pathological misfolding and aggregation of the microtubule associated protein tau (MAPT), a full length Tau2N4R with 441aa, is considered the principal disease relevant constituent in tauopathies including Alzheimer's disease (AD) with an imbalanced ratio in 3R/4R isoforms. The exact cellular fluid composition, properties, and changes that coincide with tau misfolding, seed formation, and propagation events remain obscure. The proteostasis network, along with the associated osmolytes, is responsible for maintaining the presence of tau in its native structure or dealing with misfolding. In this study, for the first time, the roles of natural brain osmolytes are being investigated for their potential effects on regulating the conformational stability of the tau monomer (tauM) and its propensity to aggregate or disaggregate. Herein, the effects of physiological osmolytes myo-inositol, taurine, trimethyl amine oxide (TMAO), betaine, sorbitol, glycerophosphocholine (GPC), and citrulline on tau's aggregation state were investigated. The overall results indicate the ability of sorbitol and GPC to maintain the monomeric form and prevent aggregation of tau, whereas myo-inositol, taurine, TMAO, betaine, and citrulline promote tau aggregation to different degrees, as revealed by protein morphology in atomic force microscopy images. Biochemical and biophysical methods also revealed that tau proteins adopt different conformations under the influence of these osmolytes. TauM in the presence of all osmolytes expressed no toxicity when tested by a lactate dehydrogenase assay. Investigating the conformational stability of tau in the presence of osmolytes may provide a better understanding of the complex nature of tau aggregation in AD and the protective and/or chaotropic nature of osmolytes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sharif Arar
- Mitchell
Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, University
of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas 77555, United States
- Departments
of Neurology, Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas 77555, United States
- Department
of Chemistry, School of Science, The University
of Jordan, Amman 11942, Jordan
| | - Md Anzarul Haque
- Mitchell
Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, University
of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas 77555, United States
- Departments
of Neurology, Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas 77555, United States
| | - Nemil Bhatt
- Mitchell
Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, University
of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas 77555, United States
- Departments
of Neurology, Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas 77555, United States
| | - Yingxin Zhao
- Department
of Internal Medicine, University of Texas
Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas 77555, United States
- Institute
for Translational Sciences, University of
Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas 77555, United States
| | - Rakez Kayed
- Mitchell
Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, University
of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas 77555, United States
- Departments
of Neurology, Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas 77555, United States
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Zeng Z, Vijayan V, Tsay K, Frost MP, Quddus A, Albert A, Vigers M, Woerman AL, Han S. CBD and PSP cell-passaged Tau Seeds Generate Heterogeneous Fibrils with A sub-population Adopting Disease Folds. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.07.19.549721. [PMID: 37502998 PMCID: PMC10370138 DOI: 10.1101/2023.07.19.549721] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/29/2023]
Abstract
The recent discovery by cryo-electron microscopy that the neuropatho-logical hallmarks of different tauopathies, including Alzheimer's disease, corticobasal degeneration (CBD), and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), are caused by unique misfolded conformations of the protein tau is among the most profound developments in neurodegenerative disease research. To capitalize on these discoveries for therapeutic development, one must achieve in vitro replication of tau fibrils that adopt the rep-resentative tauopathy disease folds - a grand challenge. To understand whether the commonly used, but imperfect, fragment of the tau pro-tein, K18, is capable of inducing specific protein folds, fibril seeds derived from CBD- and PSP-infected biosensor cells expressing K18, were used to achieve cell-free assembly of naïve, recombinant 4R tau into fibrils without the addition of any cofactors. Using Double Electron Electron Resonance (DEER) spectroscopy, we discovered that cell-passaged patho-logical seeds generate heterogeneous fibrils that are distinct between the CBD and PSP lysate-seeded fibrils, and are also unique from heparin-induced tau fibril populations. Moreover, the lysate-seeded fibrils contain a characteristic sub-population that resembles either the CBD or PSP disease fold, corresponding with the respective starting patient sam-ple. These findings indicate that CBD and PSP patient-derived fibrils retain strain properties after passaging through K18 reporter cells.
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Zeng Z, Fichou Y, Vigers M, Tsay K, Han S. Illuminating the Structural Basis of Tau Aggregation by Intramolecular Distance Tracking: A Perspective on Methods. J Phys Chem B 2022; 126:6384-6395. [PMID: 35994024 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.2c02022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The aggregation of the tau protein is central to several neurodegenerative diseases, collectively known as tauopathies. High-resolution views of tau tangles accumulated under pathological conditions in post-mortem brains have been revealed recently by cryogenic electron microscopy. One of the striking discoveries was that fibril folds are unique to and homogeneous within one disease family, but typically different between different tauopathies. It is widely believed that seeded aggregation can achieve structural propagation of tau fibrils and generate pathological fibril structures. However, direct molecular level measurement of structural evolution during aggregation is missing. Here, we discuss our perspective on the biophysical approaches that can contribute to the ongoing debate regarding the prion-like propagation of tau and the role of cofactors. We discuss the unique potential of double electron-electron resonance (DEER)-based intramolecular distance measurement, sensitive to two to several nanometers distances. DEER can track the structural evolution of tau along the course of aggregation from the completely disordered state, to partially ordered and highly ordered fibril states, and has the potential to be a key tool to elucidate the disease-specific tau aggregation pathways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhikai Zeng
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
| | - Yann Fichou
- CNRS, Chemistry and Biology of Membranes and Nanoobjects (CBMN) UMR 5348, Institut Europeen de Chimie et Biologie (IECB), University of Bordeaux, 33600 Pessac, France
| | - Michael Vigers
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
| | - Karen Tsay
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
| | - Songi Han
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States.,Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California 93106, United States
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Lo CH, Sachs JN. The role of wild-type tau in Alzheimer's disease and related tauopathies. JOURNAL OF LIFE SCIENCES (WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CALIF.) 2020; 2:1-17. [PMID: 33665646 PMCID: PMC7929479 DOI: 10.36069/jols/20201201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Tau oligomers have recently emerged as the principal toxic species in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and tauopathies. Tau oligomers are spontaneously self-assembled soluble tau proteins that are formed prior to fibrils, and they have been shown to play a central role in neuronal cell death and in the induction of neurodegeneration in animal models. As the therapeutic paradigm shifts to targeting toxic tau oligomers, this suggests the focus to study tau oligomerization in species that are less susceptible to fibrillization. While truncated and mutation containing tau as well as the isolated repeat domains are particularly prone to fibrillization, the wild-type (WT) tau proteins have been shown to be resistant to fibril formation in the absence of aggregation inducers. In this review, we will summarize and discuss the toxicity of WT tau both in vitro and in vivo, as well as its involvement in tau oligomerization and cell-to-cell propagation of pathology. Understanding the role of WT tau will enable more effective biomarker development and therapeutic discovery for treatment of AD and tauopathies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chih Hung Lo
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455
- Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115
| | - Jonathan N. Sachs
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455
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Alyenbaawi H, Allison WT, Mok SA. Prion-Like Propagation Mechanisms in Tauopathies and Traumatic Brain Injury: Challenges and Prospects. Biomolecules 2020; 10:E1487. [PMID: 33121065 PMCID: PMC7692808 DOI: 10.3390/biom10111487] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [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: 09/22/2020] [Revised: 10/22/2020] [Accepted: 10/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The accumulation of tau protein in the form of filamentous aggregates is a hallmark of many neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). These dementias share traumatic brain injury (TBI) as a prominent risk factor. Tau aggregates can transfer between cells and tissues in a "prion-like" manner, where they initiate the templated misfolding of normal tau molecules. This enables the spread of tau pathology to distinct parts of the brain. The evidence that tauopathies spread via prion-like mechanisms is considerable, but work detailing the mechanisms of spread has mostly used in vitro platforms that cannot fully reveal the tissue-level vectors or etiology of progression. We review these issues and then briefly use TBI and CTE as a case study to illustrate aspects of tauopathy that warrant further attention in vivo. These include seizures and sleep/wake disturbances, emphasizing the urgent need for improved animal models. Dissecting these mechanisms of tauopathy progression continues to provide fresh inspiration for the design of diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hadeel Alyenbaawi
- Centre for Prions & Protein Folding Disease, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2M8, Canada; (H.A.); (W.T.A.)
- Department of Medical Genetics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2H7, Canada
- Department of Medical Laboratories, Majmaah University, Majmaah 11952, Saudi Arabia
| | - W. Ted Allison
- Centre for Prions & Protein Folding Disease, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2M8, Canada; (H.A.); (W.T.A.)
- Department of Medical Genetics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2H7, Canada
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9, Canada
| | - Sue-Ann Mok
- Centre for Prions & Protein Folding Disease, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2M8, Canada; (H.A.); (W.T.A.)
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2H7, Canada
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Chernoff YO, Grizel AV, Rubel AA, Zelinsky AA, Chandramowlishwaran P, Chernova TA. Application of yeast to studying amyloid and prion diseases. ADVANCES IN GENETICS 2020; 105:293-380. [PMID: 32560789 PMCID: PMC7527210 DOI: 10.1016/bs.adgen.2020.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Amyloids are fibrous cross-β protein aggregates that are capable of proliferation via nucleated polymerization. Amyloid conformation likely represents an ancient protein fold and is linked to various biological or pathological manifestations. Self-perpetuating amyloid-based protein conformers provide a molecular basis for transmissible (infectious or heritable) protein isoforms, termed prions. Amyloids and prions, as well as other types of misfolded aggregated proteins are associated with a variety of devastating mammalian and human diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases, transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and transthyretinopathies. In yeast and fungi, amyloid-based prions control phenotypically detectable heritable traits. Simplicity of cultivation requirements and availability of powerful genetic approaches makes yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae an excellent model system for studying molecular and cellular mechanisms governing amyloid formation and propagation. Genetic techniques allowing for the expression of mammalian or human amyloidogenic and prionogenic proteins in yeast enable researchers to capitalize on yeast advantages for characterization of the properties of disease-related proteins. Chimeric constructs employing mammalian and human aggregation-prone proteins or domains, fused to fluorophores or to endogenous yeast proteins allow for cytological or phenotypic detection of disease-related protein aggregation in yeast cells. Yeast systems are amenable to high-throughput screening for antagonists of amyloid formation, propagation and/or toxicity. This review summarizes up to date achievements of yeast assays in application to studying mammalian and human disease-related aggregating proteins, and discusses both limitations and further perspectives of yeast-based strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yury O Chernoff
- School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, United States; Laboratory of Amyloid Biology, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia.
| | - Anastasia V Grizel
- Laboratory of Amyloid Biology, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Aleksandr A Rubel
- Laboratory of Amyloid Biology, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia; Department of Genetics and Biotechnology, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia; Sirius University of Science and Technology, Sochi, Russia
| | - Andrew A Zelinsky
- Laboratory of Amyloid Biology, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | | | - Tatiana A Chernova
- Department of Biochemistry, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, United States
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Targeting Aggrephagy for the Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease. Cells 2020; 9:cells9020311. [PMID: 32012902 PMCID: PMC7072705 DOI: 10.3390/cells9020311] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2019] [Revised: 01/25/2020] [Accepted: 01/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases in older individuals with specific neuropsychiatric symptoms. It is a proteinopathy, pathologically characterized by the presence of misfolded protein (Aβ and Tau) aggregates in the brain, causing progressive dementia. Increasing studies have provided evidence that the defect in protein-degrading systems, especially the autophagy-lysosome pathway (ALP), plays an important role in the pathogenesis of AD. Recent studies have demonstrated that AD-associated protein aggregates can be selectively recognized by some receptors and then be degraded by ALP, a process termed aggrephagy. In this study, we reviewed the role of aggrephagy in AD development and discussed the strategy of promoting aggrephagy using small molecules for the treatment of AD.
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Early-life Pb exposure as a potential risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease: are there hazards for the Mexican population? J Biol Inorg Chem 2019; 24:1285-1303. [DOI: 10.1007/s00775-019-01739-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2019] [Accepted: 10/25/2019] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
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