Dataset Information

Living Neurons with Tau Filaments Aberrantly Expose Phosphatidylserine and Are Phagocytosed by Microglia.

ABSTRACT: Tau protein forms insoluble filamentous inclusions that are closely associated with nerve cell death in many neurodegenerative diseases. How neurons die in these tauopathies is unclear. We report that living neurons with tau inclusions from P301S-tau mice expose abnormally high amounts of phosphatidylserine because of the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Consequently, co-cultured phagocytes (BV2 cells or primary microglia) identify and phagocytose the living neurons, thereby engulfing insoluble tau inclusions. To facilitate engulfment, neurons induce contacting microglia to secrete the opsonin milk-fat-globule EGF-factor-8 (MFGE8) and nitric oxide (NO), whereas neurons with tau inclusions are rescued when MFGE8 or NO production is prevented. MFGE8 expression is elevated in transgenic P301S-tau mouse brains with tau inclusions and in tau inclusion-rich brain regions of several human tauopathies, indicating shared mechanisms of disease. Preventing phagocytosis of living neurons will preserve them for treatments that inhibit tau aggregation and toxicity.

SUBMITTER: Brelstaff J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6161320 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Living Neurons with Tau Filaments Aberrantly Expose Phosphatidylserine and Are Phagocytosed by Microglia.

Brelstaff Jack J Tolkovsky Aviva M AM Ghetti Bernardino B Goedert Michel M Spillantini Maria Grazia MG

Cell reports 20180801 8

Tau protein forms insoluble filamentous inclusions that are closely associated with nerve cell death in many neurodegenerative diseases. How neurons die in these tauopathies is unclear. We report that living neurons with tau inclusions from P301S-tau mice expose abnormally high amounts of phosphatidylserine because of the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Consequently, co-cultured phagocytes (BV2 cells or primary microglia) identify and phagocytose the living neurons, thereby engulfin ...[more]

PMID: 30134156

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Project description:In human neurodegenerative diseases associated with the intracellular aggregation of Tau protein, the ordered cores of Tau filaments adopt distinct folds. Here, we analyze Tau filaments isolated from the brain of individuals affected by Prion-Protein cerebral amyloid angiopathy (PrP-CAA) and Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker (GSS) disease, two genetically determined Prion protein (PrP) amyloidoses characterized by the deposition of PrP amyloid (APrP) in the vessel walls and in the cerebral parenchyma, respectively. A nonsense and a missense mutation in the PRNP gene lead to a premature termination of translation at codon position 160 (Q160Ter) of PrP in PrP-CAA, or to the substitution of an amino acid at residue 198 (F198S) of PrP in GSS. These two diseases have different clinical and pathologic phenotypes; however, in both diseases, neuropathologic analyses have consistently shown the presence of numerous neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) made of filamentous Tau aggregates in neurons. We report that Tau filaments in PrP-CAA and GSS are composed of 3-repeat and 4-repeat Tau isoforms, having a striking similarity to NFTs in Alzheimer disease (AD). In PrP-CAA, Tau filaments are made of both paired helical filaments (PHFs) and straight filaments (SFs), while in GSS only PHFs were found. Mass spectrometry analyses of Tau filaments extracted from PrP-CAA and GSS brains show the presence of post-translational modifications that are comparable to those seen in Tau aggregates from AD. Cryo-EM analysis reveals that the atomic models of the Tau filaments obtained from PrP-CAA and GSS are identical to those of the Tau filaments from AD, and are therefore distinct from those of Pick disease, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, and corticobasal degeneration. Our data support the hypothesis that in the presence of amyloid deposits and regardless of the primary amino acid sequence of the amyloid protein, similar molecular mechanisms are at play in the formation of identical Tau filaments.

Dataset Information

Living Neurons with Tau Filaments Aberrantly Expose Phosphatidylserine and Are Phagocytosed by Microglia.

Publications

Living Neurons with Tau Filaments Aberrantly Expose Phosphatidylserine and Are Phagocytosed by Microglia.

Similar Datasets

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