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Amyloid-? nanotubes are associated with prion protein-dependent synaptotoxicity.

ABSTRACT: Growing evidence suggests water-soluble, non-fibrillar forms of amyloid-? protein (A?) have important roles in Alzheimer's disease with toxicities mimicked by synthetic A?(1-42). However, no defined toxic structures acting via specific receptors have been identified and roles of proposed receptors, such as prion protein (PrP), remain controversial. Here we quantify binding to PrP of A?(1-42) after different durations of aggregation. We show PrP-binding and PrP-dependent inhibition of long-term potentiation (LTP) correlate with the presence of protofibrils. Globular oligomers bind less avidly to PrP and do not inhibit LTP, whereas fibrils inhibit LTP in a PrP-independent manner. That only certain transient A? assemblies cause PrP-dependent toxicity explains conflicting reports regarding the involvement of PrP in A?-induced impairments. We show that these protofibrils contain a defined nanotubular structure with a previously unidentified triple helical conformation. Blocking the formation of A? nanotubes or their interaction with PrP might have a role in treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

SUBMITTER: Nicoll AJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3908552 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Amyloid-β nanotubes are associated with prion protein-dependent synaptotoxicity.

Nicoll Andrew J AJ Panico Silvia S Freir Darragh B DB Wright Daniel D Terry Cassandra C Risse Emmanuel E Herron Caroline E CE O'Malley Tiernan T Wadsworth Jonathan D F JD Farrow Mark A MA Walsh Dominic M DM Saibil Helen R HR Collinge John J

Nature communications 20130101

Growing evidence suggests water-soluble, non-fibrillar forms of amyloid-β protein (Aβ) have important roles in Alzheimer's disease with toxicities mimicked by synthetic Aβ(1-42). However, no defined toxic structures acting via specific receptors have been identified and roles of proposed receptors, such as prion protein (PrP), remain controversial. Here we quantify binding to PrP of Aβ(1-42) after different durations of aggregation. We show PrP-binding and PrP-dependent inhibition of long-term p ...[more]

PMID: 24022506

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Project description:Although misfolding of normal prion protein (PrPC) into abnormal conformers (PrPSc) is critical for prion disease pathogenesis our current understanding of the underlying molecular pathophysiology is rudimentary. Exploiting an electrophysiology paradigm, herein we report that at least modestly proteinase K (PK)-resistant PrPSc (PrPres) species are acutely synaptotoxic. Brief exposure to ex vivo PrPSc from two mouse-adapted prion strains (M1000 and MU02) prepared as crude brain homogenates (cM1000 and cMU02) and cell lysates from chronically M1000-infected RK13 cells (MoRK13-Inf) caused significant impairment of hippocampal CA1 region long-term potentiation (LTP), with the LTP disruption approximating that reported during the evolution of murine prion disease. Proof of PrPSc (especially PrPres) species as the synaptotoxic agent was demonstrated by: significant rescue of LTP following selective immuno-depletion of total PrP from cM1000 (dM1000); modestly PK-treated cM1000 (PK+M1000) retaining full synaptotoxicity; and restoration of the LTP impairment when employing reconstituted, PK-eluted, immuno-precipitated M1000 preparations (PK+IP-M1000). Additional detailed electrophysiological analyses exemplified by impairment of post-tetanic potentiation (PTP) suggest possible heightened pre-synaptic vulnerability to the acute synaptotoxicity. This dysfunction correlated with cumulative insufficiency of replenishment of the readily releasable pool (RRP) of vesicles during repeated high-frequency stimulation utilised for induction of LTP. Broadly comparable results with LTP and PTP impairment were obtained utilizing hippocampal slices from PrPC knockout (PrPo/o) mice, with cM1000 serial dilution assessments revealing similar sensitivity of PrPo/o and wild type (WT) slices. Size fractionation chromatography demonstrated that synaptotoxic PrP correlated with PK-resistant species >100kDa, consistent with multimeric PrPSc, with levels of these species >6 ng/ml appearing sufficient to induce synaptic dysfunction. Biochemical analyses of hippocampal slices manifesting acute synaptotoxicity demonstrated reduced levels of multiple key synaptic proteins, albeit with noteworthy differences in PrPo/o slices, while such changes were absent in hippocampi demonstrating rescued LTP through treatment with dM1000. Our findings offer important new mechanistic insights into the synaptic impairment underlying prion disease, enhancing prospects for development of targeted effective therapies.

Project description:Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disorder characterized by initial memory impairments that progress to dementia. In this sense, synaptic dysfunction and loss have been established as the pathological features that best correlate with the typical early cognitive decline in this disease. At the histopathological level, post mortem AD brains typically exhibit intraneuronal neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) along with the accumulation of amyloid-beta (Abeta) peptides in the form of extracellular deposits. Specifically, the oligomeric soluble forms of Abeta are considered the most synaptotoxic species. In addition, neuritic plaques are Abeta deposits surrounded by activated microglia and astroglia cells together with abnormal swellings of neuronal processes named dystrophic neurites. These periplaque aberrant neurites are mostly presynaptic elements and represent the first pathological indicator of synaptic dysfunction. In terms of losing synaptic proteins, the hippocampus is one of the brain regions most affected in AD patients. In this work, we report an early decline in spatial memory, along with hippocampal synaptic changes, in an amyloidogenic APP/PS1 transgenic model. Quantitative electron microscopy revealed a spatial synaptotoxic pattern around neuritic plaques with significant loss of periplaque synaptic terminals, showing rising synapse loss close to the border, especially in larger plaques. Moreover, dystrophic presynapses were filled with autophagic vesicles in detriment of the presynaptic vesicular density, probably interfering with synaptic function at very early synaptopathological disease stages. Electron immunogold labeling showed that the periphery of amyloid plaques, and the associated dystrophic neurites, was enriched in Abeta oligomers supporting an extracellular location of the synaptotoxins. Finally, the incubation of primary neurons with soluble fractions derived from 6-month-old APP/PS1 hippocampus induced significant loss of synaptic proteins, but not neuronal death. Indeed, this preclinical transgenic model could serve to investigate therapies targeted at initial stages of synaptic dysfunction relevant to the prodromal and early AD.

Dataset Information

Amyloid-? nanotubes are associated with prion protein-dependent synaptotoxicity.

Publications

Amyloid-β nanotubes are associated with prion protein-dependent synaptotoxicity.

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