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Acetylation discriminates disease-specific tau deposition.

ABSTRACT: Pathogenic aggregation of the protein tau is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease and several other tauopathies. Tauopathies are characterized by the deposition of specific tau isoforms as disease-related tau filament structures. The molecular processes that determine isoform-specific deposition of tau are however enigmatic. Here we show that acetylation of tau discriminates its isoform-specific aggregation. We reveal that acetylation strongly attenuates aggregation of four-repeat tau protein, but promotes amyloid formation of three-repeat tau. We further identify acetylation of lysine 298 as a hot spot for isoform-specific tau aggregation. Solid-state NMR spectroscopy demonstrates that amyloid fibrils formed by unmodified and acetylated three-repeat tau differ in structure indicating that site-specific acetylation modulates tau structure. The results implicate acetylation as a critical regulator that guides the selective aggregation of three-repeat tau and the development of tau isoform-specific neurodegenerative diseases.

SUBMITTER: Chakraborty P

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10517010 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Acetylation discriminates disease-specific tau deposition.

Chakraborty Pijush P Rivière Gwladys G Hebestreit Alina A de Opakua Alain Ibáñez AI Vorberg Ina M IM Andreas Loren B LB Zweckstetter Markus M

Nature communications 20230922 1

Pathogenic aggregation of the protein tau is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease and several other tauopathies. Tauopathies are characterized by the deposition of specific tau isoforms as disease-related tau filament structures. The molecular processes that determine isoform-specific deposition of tau are however enigmatic. Here we show that acetylation of tau discriminates its isoform-specific aggregation. We reveal that acetylation strongly attenuates aggregation of four-repeat tau protein, but ...[more]

PMID: 37739953

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Project description:BackgroundNovel phosphorylated-tau (p-tau) blood biomarkers (e.g., p-tau181, p-tau217 or p-tau231), are highly specific for Alzheimer's disease (AD), and can track amyloid-β (Aβ) and tau pathology. However, because these biomarkers are strongly associated with the emergence of Aβ pathology, it is difficult to determine the contribution of insoluble tau aggregates to the plasma p-tau signal in blood. Therefore, there remains a need for a biomarker capable of specifically tracking insoluble tau accumulation in brain.MethodsNTA is a novel ultrasensitive assay targeting N-terminal containing tau fragments (NTA-tau) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma, which is elevated in AD. Using two well-characterized research cohorts (BioFINDER-2, n = 1,294, and BioFINDER-1, n = 932), we investigated the association between plasma NTA-tau levels and disease progression in AD, including tau accumulation, brain atrophy and cognitive decline.ResultsWe demonstrate that plasma NTA-tau increases across the AD continuum¸ especially during late stages, and displays a moderate-to-strong association with tau-PET (β = 0.54, p < 0.001) in Aβ-positive participants, while weak with Aβ-PET (β = 0.28, p < 0.001). Unlike plasma p-tau181, GFAP, NfL and t-tau, tau pathology determined with tau-PET is the most prominent contributor to NTA-tau variance (52.5% of total R2), while having very low contribution from Aβ pathology measured with CSF Aβ42/40 (4.3%). High baseline NTA-tau levels are predictive of tau-PET accumulation (R2 = 0.27), steeper atrophy (R2 ≥ 0.18) and steeper cognitive decline (R2 ≥ 0.27) in participants within the AD continuum. Plasma NTA-tau levels significantly increase over time in Aβ positive cognitively unimpaired (βstd = 0.16) and impaired (βstd = 0.18) at baseline compared to their Aβ negative counterparts. Finally, longitudinal increases in plasma NTA-tau levels were associated with steeper longitudinal decreases in cortical thickness (R2 = 0.21) and cognition (R2 = 0.20).ConclusionOur results indicate that plasma NTA-tau levels increase across the AD continuum, especially during mid-to-late AD stages, and it is closely associated with in vivo tau tangle deposition in AD and its downstream effects. Moreover, this novel biomarker has potential as a cost-effective and easily accessible tool for monitoring disease progression and cognitive decline in clinical settings, and as an outcome measure in clinical trials which also need to assess the downstream effects of successful Aβ removal.

Project description:BackgroundTo better assist with the design of future clinical trials for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and aid in our understanding of the disease's symptomatology, it is essential to clarify what roles β-amyloid (Aβ) plaques and tau tangles play in longitudinal tau accumulation inside and outside the medial temporal lobe (MTL) as well as how age, sex, apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 (APOE-ε4), and Klotho-VS heterozygosity (KL-VShet) modulate these relationships.MethodsWe divided the 325 Aβ PET-positive (A+) participants into two groups, A+/T- (N = 143) and A+/T+ (N = 182), based on the threshold (1.25) of the temporal meta-ROI 18F-flortaucipir (FTP) standardized uptake value ratio (SUVR). We then compared the baseline and slopes of A+/T- and A+/T+ individuals' Aβ plaques and temporal meta-ROI tau tangles with those of A-/T- cognitively unimpaired individuals (N = 162) without neurodegeneration. In addition, we looked into how baseline Aβ and tau may predict longitudinal tau increases and how age, sex, APOE-ε4, and KL-VShet affect these associations.ResultsIn entorhinal, amygdala, and parahippocampal (early tau-deposited regions of temporal meta-ROI), we found that baseline Aβ and tau deposition were positively linked to more rapid tau increases in A+/T- participants. However, in A+/T+ individuals, the longitudinal tau accumulation in fusiform, inferior temporal, and middle temporal cortices (late tau-deposited regions of temporal meta-ROI) was primarily predicted by the level of tau tangles. Furthermore, compared to older participants (age ≥ 65), younger individuals (age < 65) exhibited faster Aβ-dependent but slower tau-related tau accumulations. Additionally, compared to the KL-VShet- group, KL-VShet+ individuals showed a significantly lower rate of tau accumulation associated with baseline entorhinal tau in fusiform and inferior temporal regions.ConclusionThese findings offer novel perspectives to the design of AD clinical trials and aid in understanding the tau accumulation inside and outside MTL in AD. In particular, decreasing Aβ plaques might be adequate for A+/T- persons but may not be sufficient for A+/T+ individuals in preventing tau propagation and subsequent downstream pathological changes associated with tau.

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Acetylation discriminates disease-specific tau deposition.

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Acetylation discriminates disease-specific tau deposition.

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