Pre-fibrillar alpha-synuclein variants with impaired beta-structure increase neurotoxicity in Parkinson's disease models.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Karpinar DP
PROVIDER: S-EPMC2771093 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:The post-mortem brains of individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) and other synucleinopathy disorders are characterized by the presence of aggregated forms of the presynaptic protein α-synuclein (aSyn). Understanding the molecular mechanism of aSyn aggregation is essential for the development of neuroprotective strategies to treat these diseases. In this study, we examined how interactions between aSyn and phospholipid vesicles influence the protein's aggregation and toxicity to dopaminergic neurons. Two-dimensional NMR data revealed that two familial aSyn mutants, A30P and G51D, populated an exposed, membrane-bound conformer in which the central hydrophobic region was dissociated from the bilayer to a greater extent than in the case of wild-type aSyn. A30P and G51D had a greater propensity to undergo membrane-induced aggregation and elicited greater toxicity to primary dopaminergic neurons compared to the wild-type protein. In contrast, the non-familial aSyn mutant A29E exhibited a weak propensity to aggregate in the presence of phospholipid vesicles or to elicit neurotoxicity, despite adopting a relatively exposed membrane-bound conformation. Our findings suggest that the aggregation of exposed, membrane-bound aSyn conformers plays a key role in the protein's neurotoxicity in PD and other synucleinopathy disorders.
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Project description:To determine whether ?-synuclein dinucleotide repeat (REP1) genotypes are associated with survival in Parkinson's disease (PD).Investigators from the Genetic Epidemiology of Parkinson's Disease Consortium provided REP1 genotypes and baseline and follow-up clinical data for cases. The primary outcome was time to death. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to assess the association of REP1 genotypes with survival.Twenty-one sites contributed data for 6,154 cases. There was no significant association between ?-synuclein REP1 genotypes and survival in PD. However, there was a significant association between REP1 genotypes and age at onset of PD (hazard ratio: 1.06; 95% confidence interval: 1.01-1.10; P value?=?0.01).In our large consortium study, ?-synuclein REP1 genotypes were not associated with survival in PD. Further studies of ?-synuclein's role in disease progression and long-term outcomes are needed.
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Project description:Neurodegeneration in Parkinson's disease (PD) can be recapitulated in animals by administration of α-synuclein preformed fibrils (PFFs) into the brain. However, the mechanism by which these PFFs induce toxicity is unknown. Iron is implicated in PD pathophysiology, so we investigated whether α-synuclein PFFs induce ferroptosis, an iron-dependent cell death pathway. A range of ferroptosis inhibitors were added to a striatal neuron-derived cell line (STHdhQ7/7 cells), a dopaminergic neuron-derived cell line (SN4741 cells), and WT primary cortical neurons, all of which had been intoxicated with α-synuclein PFFs. Viability was not recovered by these inhibitors except for liproxstatin-1, a best-in-class ferroptosis inhibitor, when used at high doses. High-dose liproxstatin-1 visibly enlarged the area of a cell that contained acidic vesicles and elevated the expression of several proteins associated with the autophagy-lysosomal pathway similarly to the known lysosomal inhibitors, chloroquine and bafilomycin A1. Consistent with high-dose liproxstatin-1 protecting via a lysosomal mechanism, we further de-monstrated that loss of viability induced by α-synuclein PFFs was attenuated by chloroquine and bafilomycin A1 as well as the lysosomal cysteine protease inhibitors, leupeptin, E-64D, and Ca-074-Me, but not other autophagy or lysosomal enzyme inhibitors. We confirmed using immunofluorescence microscopy that heparin prevented uptake of α-synuclein PFFs into cells but that chloroquine did not stop α-synuclein uptake into lysosomes despite impairing lysosomal function and inhibiting α-synuclein toxicity. Together, these data suggested that α-synuclein PFFs are toxic in functional lysosomes in vitro. Therapeutic strategies that prevent α-synuclein fibril uptake into lysosomes may be of benefit in PD.
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Project description:Amyloid fibrils of ?-synuclein are the main constituent of Lewy bodies deposited in substantial nigra of Parkinson's disease brains. ?-Synuclein is an intrinsically disordered protein lacking compact secondary and tertiary structures. To enhance the understanding of its structure and function relationship, we utilized temperature treatment to study ?-synuclein conformational changes and the subsequent effects. We found that after 1 hr of high temperature pretreatment, >80°C, ?-synuclein fibrillization was significantly inhibited. However, the temperature melting coupled with circular dichroism spectra showed that ?-synuclein was fully reversible and the NMR studies showed no observable structural changes of ?-synuclein after 95°C treatment. By using cross-linking and analytical ultracentrifugation, rare amount of pre-existing ?-synuclein oligomers were found to decrease after the high temperature treatment. In addition, a small portion of C-terminal truncation of ?-synuclein also occurred. The reduction of pre-existing oligomers of ?-synuclein may contribute to less seeding effect that retards the kinetics of amyloid fibrillization. Overall, our results showed that the pre-existing oligomeric species is a key factor contributing to ?-synuclein fibrillization. Our results facilitate the understanding of ?-synuclein fibrillization.
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Project description:Emerging evidence indicates that cellular senescence could be a critical inducing factor for aging-associated neurodegenerative disorders. However, the involvement of cellular senescence remains unclear in Parkinson's disease (PD). To determine this, we assessed the effects of α-synuclein preformed fibrils (α-syn PFF) or 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+) on changes in cellular senescence markers, employing α-syn PFF treated-dopaminergic N27 cells, primary cortical neurons, astrocytes and microglia and α-syn PFF-injected mouse brain tissues, as well as human PD patient brains. Our results demonstrate that α-syn PFF-induced toxicity reduces the levels of Lamin B1 and HMGB1, both established markers of cellular senescence, in correlation with an increase in the levels of p21, a cell cycle-arrester and senescence marker, in both reactive astrocytes and microglia in mouse brains. Using Western blot and immunohistochemistry, we found these cellular senescence markers in reactive astrocytes as indicated by enlarged cell bodies within GFAP-positive cells and Iba1-positive activated microglia in α-syn PFF injected mouse brains. These results indicate that PFF-induced pathology could lead to astrocyte and/or microglia senescence in PD brains, which may contribute to neuropathology in this model. Targeting senescent cells using senolytics could therefore constitute a viable therapeutic option for the treatment of PD.
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Project description:The aggregation of ?-synuclein (?-Syn), the primary component of Lewy bodies, into high molecular weight assemblies is strongly associated with Parkinson disease. This event is believed to result from a conformational change within native ?-Syn. Molecular chaperones exert critical housekeeping functions in vivo including refolding, maintaining in a soluble state, and/or pacifying protein aggregates. The influence of the stress-induced heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) on ?-Syn aggregation has been notably investigated. The constitutively expressed chaperone Hsc70 acts as an antiaggregation barrier before cells are overwhelmed with ?-Syn aggregates and Hsp70 expression induced. Here, we investigate the interaction between Hsc70 and ?-Syn, the consequences of this interaction, and the role of nucleotides and co-chaperones Hdj1 and Hdj2 as modulators. We show that Hsc70 sequesters soluble ?-Syn in an assembly incompetent complex in the absence of ATP. The affinity of Hsc70 for soluble ?-Syn diminishes upon addition of ATP alone or together with its co-chaperones Hdj1 or Hdj2 allowing faster binding and release of client proteins thus abolishing ?-Syn assembly inhibition by Hsc70. We show that Hsc70 binds ?-Syn fibrils with a 5-fold tighter affinity compared with soluble ?-Syn. This suggests that Hsc70 preferentially interacts with high molecular weight ?-Syn assemblies in vivo. Hsc70 binding certainly has an impact on the physicochemical properties of ?-Syn assemblies. We show a reduced cellular toxicity of ?-Syn fibrils coated with Hsc70 compared with "naked" fibrils. Hsc70 may therefore significantly affect the cellular propagation of ?-Syn aggregates and their spread throughout the central nervous system in Parkinson disease.
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