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Dues DJ, Nguyen APT, Becker K, Ma J, Moore DJ. Hippocampal subfield vulnerability to α-synuclein pathology precedes neurodegeneration and cognitive dysfunction. bioRxiv 2023:2023.04.12.536572. [PMID: 37090590 PMCID: PMC10120695 DOI: 10.1101/2023.04.12.536572] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/25/2023]
Abstract
Cognitive dysfunction is a salient feature of Parkinson's disease (PD) and Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). The onset of dementia reflects the spread of Lewy pathology throughout forebrain structures. The mere presence of Lewy pathology, however, provides limited indication of cognitive status. Thus, it remains unclear whether Lewy pathology is the de facto substrate driving cognitive dysfunction in PD and DLB. Through application of α-synuclein fibrils in vivo , we sought to examine the influence of pathologic inclusions on cognition. Following stereotactic injection of α-synuclein fibrils within the mouse forebrain, we measured the burden of α-synuclein pathology at 1-, 3-, and 6-months post-injection within subregions of the hippocampus and cortex. Under this paradigm, the hippocampal CA2/3 subfield was especially susceptible to α- synuclein pathology. Strikingly, we observed a drastic reduction of pathology in the CA2/3 subfield across time-points, consistent with the consolidation of α-synuclein pathology into dense somatic inclusions followed by neurodegeneration. Silver-positive degenerating neurites were observed prior to neuronal loss, suggesting that this might be an early feature of fibril-induced neurotoxicity and a precursor to neurodegeneration. Critically, mice injected with α-synuclein fibrils developed progressive deficits in spatial learning and memory. These findings support that the formation of α-synuclein inclusions in the mouse forebrain precipitate neurodegenerative changes that recapitulate features of Lewy-related cognitive dysfunction. Highlights Mice injected with α-synuclein fibrils develop hippocampal and cortical α- synuclein pathology with a dynamic regional burden at 1-, 3-, and 6-months post-injection.Silver-positive neuronal processes are an early and enduring degenerative feature of the fibril model, while extensive neurodegeneration of the hippocampal CA2/3 subfield is detected at 6-months post-injection.Mice exhibit progressive hippocampal-dependent spatial learning and memory deficits.Forebrain injection of α-synuclein fibrils may be used to model aspects of Lewy-related cognitive dysfunction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dylan J. Dues
- Department of Neurodegenerative Science, Van Andel Institute, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
| | - An Phu Tran Nguyen
- Department of Neurodegenerative Science, Van Andel Institute, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
| | - Katelyn Becker
- Department of Neurodegenerative Science, Van Andel Institute, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
| | - Jiyan Ma
- Department of Neurodegenerative Science, Van Andel Institute, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
| | - Darren J. Moore
- Department of Neurodegenerative Science, Van Andel Institute, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
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Abstract
The protein alpha-Synuclein (α-Syn) is a key contributor to the etiology of Parkinson’s disease (PD) with aggregation, trans-neuronal spread, and/or depletion of α-Syn being viewed as crucial events in the molecular processes that result in neurodegeneration. The exact succession of pathological occurrences that lead to neuronal death are still largely unknown and are likely to be multifactorial in nature. Despite this unknown, α-Syn dose and stability, autophagy-lysosomal dysfunction, and inflammation, amongst other cellular impairments, have all been described as participatory events in the neurodegenerative process. To that end, in this review we discuss the logical points for gene therapy to intervene in α-Syn-mediated disease and review the preclinical body of work where gene therapy has been used, or could conceptually be used, to ameliorate α-Syn induced neurotoxicity. We discuss gene therapy in the traditional sense of modulating gene expression, as well as the use of viral vectors and nanoparticles as methods to deliver other therapeutic modalities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivette M Sandoval
- Department of Neurobiology, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ, USA
| | - David J Marmion
- Department of Neurobiology, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ, USA
| | - Kimberly T Meyers
- Department of Neurobiology, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ, USA
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Ferreira N, Richner M, van der Laan A, Bergholdt Jul Christiansen I, Vægter CB, Nyengaard JR, Halliday GM, Weiss J, Giasson BI, Mackenzie IR, Jensen PH, Jan A. Prodromal neuroinvasion of pathological α-synuclein in brainstem reticular nuclei and white matter lesions in a model of α-synucleinopathy. Brain Commun 2021; 3:fcab104. [PMID: 34136810 PMCID: PMC8202146 DOI: 10.1093/braincomms/fcab104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2021] [Revised: 04/01/2021] [Accepted: 04/06/2021] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Neuropathological observations in neurodegenerative synucleinopathies, including Parkinson disease, implicate a pathological role of α-synuclein accumulation in extranigral sites during the prodromal phase of the disease. In a transgenic mouse model of peripheral-to-central neuroinvasion and propagation of α-synuclein pathology (via hindlimb intramuscular inoculation with exogenous fibrillar α-synuclein: the M83 line, expressing the mutant human Ala53Thr α-synuclein), we studied the development and early-stage progression of α-synuclein pathology in the CNS of non-symptomatic (i.e. freely mobile) mice. By immunohistochemical analyses of phosphroylated α-synuclein on serine residue 129 (p-S129), our data indicate that the incipient stage of pathological α-synuclein propagation could be categorized in distinct phases: (i) initiation phase, whereby α-synuclein fibrillar inoculum induced pathological lesions in pools of premotor and motor neurons of the lumbar spinal cord, as early as 14 days post-inoculation; (ii) early central phase, whereby incipient α-synuclein pathology was predominantly detected in the reticular nuclei of the brainstem; and (iii) late central phase, characterized by additional sites of lesions in the brain including vestibular nuclei, deep cerebellar nuclei and primary motor cortex, with coincidental emergence of a sensorimotor deficit (mild degree of hindlimb clasping). Intriguingly, we also detected progressive α-synuclein pathology in premotor and motor neurons in the thoracic spinal cord, which does not directly innervate the hindlimb, as well as in the oligodendroglia within the white matter tracts of the CNS during this prodromal phase. Collectively, our data provide crucial insights into the spatiotemporal propagation of α-synuclein pathology in the nervous system of this rodent model of α-synucleinopathy following origin in periphery, and present a neuropathological context for the progression from pre-symptomatic stage to an early deficit in sensorimotor coordination. These findings also hint towards a therapeutic window for targeting the early stages of α-synuclein pathology progression in this model, and potentially facilitate the discovery of mechanisms relevant to α-synuclein proteinopathies. In a rodent model of synucleinopathy, Ferreira et al., delineate the spatiotemporal progression of incipient α-synuclein pathology (of peripheral origin) in the CNS. The authors show early affection of brainstem reticular nuclei in non-paralyzed mice, and pathological white matter lesions in relation to the neuronal pathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nelson Ferreira
- Department of Biomedicine, Danish Research Institute of Translational Neuroscience (DANDRITE), Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Mette Richner
- DANDRITE, Nordic-EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Amelia van der Laan
- Department of Biomedicine, Danish Research Institute of Translational Neuroscience (DANDRITE), Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Ida Bergholdt Jul Christiansen
- Department of Biomedicine, Danish Research Institute of Translational Neuroscience (DANDRITE), Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Christian B Vægter
- DANDRITE, Nordic-EMBL Partnership for Molecular Medicine, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Jens R Nyengaard
- Core Center for Molecular Morphology, Section for Stereology and Microscopy, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, DK-8200 Aarhus N, Denmark
| | - Glenda M Halliday
- Brain and Mind Centre and Faculty of Medicine and Health, School of Medical Sciences, University of Sydney and Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney 2006, Australia
| | - Joachim Weiss
- Institute of Neuropathology, RWTH Aachen University Hospital, Aachen 52074, Germany
| | - Benoit I Giasson
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 3261, USA
| | - Ian R Mackenzie
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T2B5, Canada
| | - Poul H Jensen
- Department of Biomedicine, Danish Research Institute of Translational Neuroscience (DANDRITE), Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Asad Jan
- Department of Biomedicine, Danish Research Institute of Translational Neuroscience (DANDRITE), Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
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Surmeier DJ. Determinants of dopaminergic neuron loss in Parkinson's disease. FEBS J 2018; 285:3657-3668. [PMID: 30028088 DOI: 10.1111/febs.14607] [Citation(s) in RCA: 218] [Impact Index Per Article: 36.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2018] [Revised: 06/20/2018] [Accepted: 07/18/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The cardinal motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD) are caused by the death of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc). Alpha-synuclein (aSYN) pathology and mitochondrial dysfunction have been implicated in PD pathogenesis, but until recently it was unclear why SNc dopaminergic neurons should be particularly vulnerable to these two types of insult. In this brief review, the evidence that SNc dopaminergic neurons have an anatomical, physiological, and biochemical phenotype that predisposes them to mitochondrial dysfunction and synuclein pathology is summarized. The recognition that certain traits may predispose neurons to PD-linked pathology creates translational opportunities for slowing or stopping disease progression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dalton James Surmeier
- Department of Physiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
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Abstract
Immune-mediated mechanisms are involved in the pathogenesis of both cerebral vasculitis and Parkinson's disease (PD, brainstem-predominant Lewy pathology), but the presentation of cerebral vasculitis with comorbid Lewy pathology has not yet been reported. Here we present a case of pathologically confirmed vasculitis in a 73-year-old male patient whose postmortem examination revealed Lewy pathology diagnostic of PD. This case study suggests a comorbidity of cerebral vasculitis and Lewy pathology, as well as potential pathogenic interactions between these two disorders with immune-mediated mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalia Liapounova
- . Division of Pediatric Neurology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Kamran H. Azar
- . Department of Pathology, The North East Health Services Delivery Area, Fort St. John, British Columbia, Canada
| | - J. Max Findlay
- . Division of Neurosurgery, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Jian-Qiang Lu
- . Neuropathology Section, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Alberta, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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van der Putten H, Wiederhold KH, Probst A, Barbieri S, Mistl C, Danner S, Kauffmann S, Hofele K, Spooren WP, Ruegg MA, Lin S, Caroni P, Sommer B, Tolnay M, Bilbe G. Neuropathology in mice expressing human alpha-synuclein. J Neurosci 2000; 20:6021-9. [PMID: 10934251 PMCID: PMC6772584] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2000] [Revised: 05/22/2000] [Accepted: 05/25/2000] [Indexed: 02/17/2023] Open
Abstract
The presynaptic protein alpha-synuclein is a prime suspect for contributing to Lewy pathology and clinical aspects of diseases, including Parkinson's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, and a Lewy body variant of Alzheimer's disease. alpha-Synuclein accumulates in Lewy bodies and Lewy neurites, and two missense mutations (A53T and A30P) in the alpha-synuclein gene are genetically linked to rare familial forms of Parkinson's disease. Under control of mouse Thy1 regulatory sequences, expression of A53T mutant human alpha-synuclein in the nervous system of transgenic mice generated animals with neuronal alpha-synucleinopathy, features strikingly similar to those observed in human brains with Lewy pathology, neuronal degeneration, and motor defects, despite a lack of transgene expression in dopaminergic neurons of the substantia nigra pars compacta. Neurons in brainstem and motor neurons appeared particularly vulnerable. Motor neuron pathology included axonal damage and denervation of neuromuscular junctions in several muscles examined, suggesting that alpha-synuclein interfered with a universal mechanism of synapse maintenance. Thy1 transgene expression of wild-type human alpha-synuclein resulted in similar pathological changes, thus supporting a central role for mutant and wild-type alpha-synuclein in familial and idiotypic forms of diseases with neuronal alpha-synucleinopathy and Lewy pathology. These mouse models provide a means to address fundamental aspects of alpha-synucleinopathy and test therapeutic strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- H van der Putten
- Nervous System Research, Novartis Pharma Inc., CH 4002 Basel, Switzerland.
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