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Piccardo P, Cervenak J, Bu M, Miller L, Asher DM. Complex proteinopathy with accumulations of prion protein, hyperphosphorylated tau, α-synuclein and ubiquitin in experimental bovine spongiform encephalopathy of monkeys. J Gen Virol 2014; 95:1612-1618. [PMID: 24769839 DOI: 10.1099/vir.0.062083-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Proteins aggregate in several slowly progressive neurodegenerative diseases called 'proteinopathies'. Studies with cell cultures and transgenic mice overexpressing mutated proteins suggested that aggregates of one protein induced misfolding and aggregation of other proteins as well - a possible common mechanism for some neurodegenerative diseases. However, most proteinopathies are 'sporadic', without gene mutation or overexpression. Thus, proteinopathies in WT animals genetically close to humans might be informative. Squirrel monkeys infected with the classical bovine spongiform encephalopathy agent developed an encephalopathy resembling variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease with accumulations not only of abnormal prion protein (PrP(TSE)), but also three other proteins: hyperphosphorylated tau (p-tau), α-synuclein and ubiquitin; β-amyloid protein (Aβ) did not accumulate. Severity of brain lesions correlated with spongiform degeneration. No amyloid was detected. These results suggested that PrP(TSE) enhanced formation of p-tau and aggregation of α-synuclein and ubiquitin, but not Aβ, providing a new experimental model for neurodegenerative diseases associated with complex proteinopathies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pedro Piccardo
- Laboratory of Bacterial and TSE Agents, Division of Emerging Transfusion Transmitted Diseases, Office of Blood Research and Review, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, 1401 Rockville Pike, HFM-313, Rockville, MD 20852, USA
| | - Juraj Cervenak
- Laboratory of Bacterial and TSE Agents, Division of Emerging Transfusion Transmitted Diseases, Office of Blood Research and Review, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, 1401 Rockville Pike, HFM-313, Rockville, MD 20852, USA
| | - Ming Bu
- Laboratory of Bacterial and TSE Agents, Division of Emerging Transfusion Transmitted Diseases, Office of Blood Research and Review, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, 1401 Rockville Pike, HFM-313, Rockville, MD 20852, USA
| | - Lindsay Miller
- Laboratory of Bacterial and TSE Agents, Division of Emerging Transfusion Transmitted Diseases, Office of Blood Research and Review, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, 1401 Rockville Pike, HFM-313, Rockville, MD 20852, USA
| | - David M Asher
- Laboratory of Bacterial and TSE Agents, Division of Emerging Transfusion Transmitted Diseases, Office of Blood Research and Review, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, 1401 Rockville Pike, HFM-313, Rockville, MD 20852, USA
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Piccardo P, Cervenak J, Yakovleva O, Gregori L, Pomeroy K, Cook A, Muhammad FS, Seuberlich T, Cervenakova L, Asher DM. Squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) infected with the agent of bovine spongiform encephalopathy develop tau pathology. J Comp Pathol 2012; 147:84-93. [PMID: 22018806 PMCID: PMC3288625 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcpa.2011.09.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2011] [Revised: 09/02/2011] [Accepted: 09/08/2011] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) were infected experimentally with the agent of classical bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Two to four years later, six of the monkeys developed alterations in interactive behaviour and cognition and other neurological signs typical of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE). At necropsy examination, the brains from all of the monkeys showed pathological changes similar to those described in variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) of man, except that the squirrel monkey brains contained no PrP-amyloid plaques typical of that disease. Constant neuropathological features included spongiform degeneration, gliosis, deposition of abnormal prion protein (PrP(TSE)) and many deposits of abnormally phosphorylated tau protein (p-Tau) in several areas of the cerebrum and cerebellum. Western blots showed large amounts of proteinase K-resistant prion protein in the central nervous system. The striking absence of PrP plaques (prominent in brains of cynomolgus macaques [Macaca fascicularis] with experimentally-induced BSE and vCJD and in human patients with vCJD) reinforces the conclusion that the host plays a major role in determining the neuropathology of TSEs. Results of this study suggest that p-Tau, found in the brains of all BSE-infected monkeys, might play a role in the pathogenesis of TSEs. Whether p-Tau contributes to development of disease or appears as a secondary change late in the course of illness remains to be determined.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Piccardo
- Laboratory of Bacterial and TSE Agents, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, United States Food and Drug Administration, Rockville, MD, USA.
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Gene knockout of tau expression does not contribute to the pathogenesis of prion disease. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 2011; 70:1036-45. [PMID: 22002429 DOI: 10.1097/nen.0b013e318235b471] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Prion diseases or transmissible spongiform encephalopathies are a group of fatal and transmissible disorders affecting the central nervous system of humans and animals. The principal agent of prion disease transmission and pathogenesis is proposed to be an abnormal protease-resistant isoform of the normal cellular prion protein. The microtubule-associated protein tau is elevated in patients with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. To determine whether tau expression contributes to prion disease pathogenesis, tau knockout and control wild-type mice were infected with the M1000 strain of mouse-adapted human prions. Immunohistochemical analysis for total tau expression in prion-infected wild-type mice indicated tau aggregation in the cytoplasm of a subpopulation of neurons in regions associated with spongiform change. Western immunoblot analysis of brain homogenates revealed a decrease in total tau immunoreactivity and epitope-specific changes in tau phosphorylation. No significant difference in incubation period or other disease features were observed between tau knockout and wild-type mice with clinical prion disease. These results demonstrate that, in this model of prion disease, tau does not contribute to the pathogenesis of prion disease and that changes in the tau protein profile observed in mice with clinical prion disease occurs as a consequence of the prion-induced pathogenesis.
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