Dataset Information

Genetic Silencing of Fatty Acid Desaturases Modulates ?-Synuclein Toxicity and Neuronal Loss in Parkinson-Like Models of C. elegans.

ABSTRACT: The molecular basis of Parkinson's disease (PD) is currently unknown. There is increasing evidence that fat metabolism is at the crossroad of key molecular pathways associated with the pathophysiology of PD. Fatty acid desaturases catalyze synthesis of saturated fatty acids from monounsaturated fatty acids thereby mediating several cellular mechanisms that are associated with diseases including cancer and metabolic disorders. The role of desaturases in modulating age-related neurodegenerative manifestations such as PD is poorly understood. Here, we investigated the effect of silencing ?9 desaturase enzyme encoding fat-5 and fat-7 genes which are known to reduce fat content, on ?-synuclein expression, neuronal morphology and dopamine-related behaviors in transgenic PD-like models of Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). The silencing of the fat-5 and fat-7 genes rescued both degeneration of dopamine neurons and deficits in dopamine-dependent behaviors, including basal slowing and ethanol avoidance in worm models of PD. Similarly, silencing of these genes also decreased the formation of protein aggregates in a nematode model of PD expressing ?-synuclein in the body wall muscles and rescued deficits in resistance to heat and osmotic stress. On the contrary, silencing of nhr-49 and tub-1 genes that are known to increase total fat content did not alter behavioral and pathological endpoints in the PD worm strains. Interestingly, the genetic manipulation of all four selected genes resulted in differential fat levels in the PD models without having significant effect on the lifespan, further indicating a complex fat homeostasis unique to neurodegenerative pathophysiology. Overall, we provide a comprehensive understanding of how ?9 desaturase can alter PD-like pathology due to environmental exposures and proteotoxic stress, suggesting new avenues in deciphering the disease etiology and possible therapeutic targets.

SUBMITTER: Maulik M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6691153 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Genetic Silencing of Fatty Acid Desaturases Modulates α-Synuclein Toxicity and Neuronal Loss in Parkinson-Like Models of <i>C. elegans</i>.

Maulik Malabika M Mitra Swarup S Basmayor Ajiel Mae AM Lu Brianna B Taylor Barbara E BE Bult-Ito Abel A

Frontiers in aging neuroscience 20190806

The molecular basis of Parkinson's disease (PD) is currently unknown. There is increasing evidence that fat metabolism is at the crossroad of key molecular pathways associated with the pathophysiology of PD. Fatty acid desaturases catalyze synthesis of saturated fatty acids from monounsaturated fatty acids thereby mediating several cellular mechanisms that are associated with diseases including cancer and metabolic disorders. The role of desaturases in modulating age-related neurodegenerative ma ...[more]

PMID: 31447665

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Project description:Human studies and preclinical models of Parkinson's disease implicate the involvement of both the innate and adaptive immune systems in disease progression. Further, pro-inflammatory markers are highly enriched near neurons containing pathological forms of alpha synuclein (?-syn), and ?-syn overexpression recapitulates neuroinflammatory changes in models of Parkinson's disease. These data suggest that ?-syn may initiate a pathological inflammatory response, however the mechanism by which ?-syn initiates neuroinflammation is poorly understood. Silencing endogenous ?-syn results in a similar pattern of nigral degeneration observed following ?-syn overexpression. Here we aimed to test the hypothesis that loss of ?-syn function within nigrostriatal neurons results in neuronal dysfunction, which subsequently stimulates neuroinflammation. Adeno-associated virus (AAV) expressing an short hairpin RNA (shRNA) targeting endogenous ?-syn was unilaterally injected into the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) of adult rats, after which nigrostriatal pathology and indices of neuroinflammation were examined at 7, 10, 14 and 21 days post-surgery. Removing endogenous ?-syn from nigrostriatal neurons resulted in a rapid up-regulation of the major histocompatibility complex class 1 (MHC-1) within transduced nigral neurons. Nigral MHC-1 expression occurred prior to any overt cell death and coincided with the recruitment of reactive microglia and T-cells to affected neurons. Following the induction of neuroinflammation, ?-syn knockdown resulted in a 50% loss of nigrostriatal neurons in the SNc and a corresponding loss of nigrostriatal terminals and dopamine (DA) concentrations within the striatum. Expression of a control shRNA did not elicit any pathological changes. Silencing ?-syn within glutamatergic neurons of the cerebellum did not elicit inflammation or cell death, suggesting that toxicity initiated by ?-syn silencing is specific to DA neurons. These data provide evidence that loss of ?-syn function within nigrostriatal neurons initiates a neuronal-mediated neuroinflammatory cascade, involving both the innate and adaptive immune systems, which ultimately results in the death of affected neurons.

Project description:Idiopathic Parkinson's disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disease and is estimated to be approximately 30% heritable. Genome wide association studies have revealed numerous loci associated with risk of development of Parkinson's disease. The majority of genes identified in these studies are expressed in glia at either similar or greater levels than their expression in neurons, suggesting that glia may play a role in Parkinson's disease pathogenesis. The role of individual glial risk genes in Parkinson's disease development or progression is unknown, however. We hypothesized that some Parkinson's disease risk genes exert their effects through glia. We developed a Drosophila model of α-synucleinopathy in which we can independently manipulate gene expression in neurons and glia. Human wild type α-synuclein is expressed in all neurons, and these flies develop the hallmarks of Parkinson's disease, including motor impairment, death of dopaminergic and other neurons, and α-synuclein aggregation. In these flies, we performed a candidate genetic screen, using RNAi to knockdown 14 well-validated Parkinson's disease risk genes in glia and measuring the effect on locomotion in order to identify glial modifiers of the α-synuclein phenotype. We identified 4 modifiers: aux, Lrrk, Ric, and Vps13, orthologs of the human genes GAK, LRRK2, RIT2, and VPS13C, respectively. Knockdown of each gene exacerbated neurodegeneration as measured by total and dopaminergic neuron loss. Knockdown of each modifier also increased α-synuclein oligomerization. These results suggest that some Parkinson's disease risk genes exert their effects in glia and that glia can influence neuronal α-synuclein proteostasis in a non-cell-autonomous fashion. Further, this study provides proof of concept that our novel Drosophila α-synucleinopathy model can be used to study glial modifier genes, paving the way for future large unbiased screens to identify novel glial risk factors that contribute to PD risk and progression.

Dataset Information

Genetic Silencing of Fatty Acid Desaturases Modulates ?-Synuclein Toxicity and Neuronal Loss in Parkinson-Like Models of C. elegans.

Publications

Genetic Silencing of Fatty Acid Desaturases Modulates α-Synuclein Toxicity and Neuronal Loss in Parkinson-Like Models of <i>C. elegans</i>.

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