Phenotypic analysis of a transgenic Drosophila model of Alzheimer's amyloid-β toxicity.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Sekiya M
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8105684 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Transgenic animals were engineered to express human amyloid peptide controlled by a muscle-specific, heat-inducible promoter. At low temperatures (16°C) Abeta expression is minimal, while at higher temperatures (20-25°C) Abeta accummulates in large quantities and causes paralysis. GFP- and GFP::degron (a toxic aggregating GFP mutant)-expressing animals were used as controls. Animals were grown at 16°C till early 3rd larval stage and then upshifted to 25°C. Animals were harvested at the time of upshift (T0), and every 4 hours later until 20 hours postupshift (T4-T20).
2015-02-12 | E-GEOD-65851 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Transgenic animals were engineered to express human amyloid peptide controlled by a muscle-specific, heat-inducible promoter. At low temperatures (16°C) Abeta expression is minimal, while at higher temperatures (20-25°C) Abeta accummulates in large quantities and causes paralysis. GFP- and GFP::degron (a toxic aggregating GFP mutant)-expressing animals were used as controls.
2015-02-12 | GSE65851 | GEO
Project description:BackgroundAlzheimer's disease (AD), an age-related neurodegenerative disorder and a serious public health concern, is mainly caused by β-amyloid (Aβ)-induced toxicity. Currently, a limited number of drugs are effective against AD, and only a few are used for its treatment. According to traditional Chinese medicine, white wax is mainly composed of policosanol, hexacosanol, and octacosanol. Policosanol has been shown to reduce lipid levels in blood and alleviate the symptoms associated with diabetic complications and neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson's disease and AD. However, the efficacy of policosanol depends on the purity and composition of the preparation, and the therapeutic efficacy of policosanol derived from insect wax (PIW) in AD is unknown.MethodsHere, we identified the main components of PIW and investigated the effects of PIW on Aβ-induced toxicity and life-span in a transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans model of AD, CL4176. Furthermore, we estimated the expression of amyloid precursor-like protein (apl-1) and the genes involved in various pathways associated with longevity and alleviation of AD-related symptoms in PIW-fed CL4176.ResultsPIW mainly consists of tetracosanol, hexacosanol, octacosanol, and triacontanol; it could decrease the Aβ-induced paralysis rate from 86.87 to 66.97% (P < 0.01) and extend the life-span from 6.2 d to 7.8 d (P < 0.001) in CL4176 worms. Furthermore, PIW downregulated apl-1, a gene known to be associated with the levels of Aβ deposits in C. elegans. Additionally, our results showed that PIW modulated the expression of genes associated with longevity-related pathways such as heat shock response, anti-oxidative stress, and glutamine cysteine synthetase.ConclusionOur findings suggest that PIW may be a potential therapeutic agent for the prevention and treatment of AD. However, its effects on murine models and patients with AD need to be explored further.
| S-EPMC8011155 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The mechanism by which aggregates of the beta-amyloid peptide (Abeta) mediate their toxicity is uncertain. We show here that the expression of the 42-amino-acid isoform of Abeta (Abeta(1-42)) changes the expression of genes involved in oxidative stress in a Drosophila model of Alzheimer's disease. A subsequent genetic screen confirmed the importance of oxidative stress and a molecular dissection of the steps in the cellular metabolism of reactive oxygen species revealed that the iron-binding protein ferritin and the H(2)O(2) scavenger catalase are the most potent suppressors of the toxicity of wild-type and Arctic (E22G) Abeta(1-42). Likewise, treatment with the iron-binding compound clioquinol increased the lifespan of flies expressing Arctic Abeta(1-42). The effect of iron appears to be mediated by oxidative stress as ferritin heavy chain co-expression reduced carbonyl levels in Abeta(1-42) flies by 65% and restored the survival and locomotion function to normal. This was achieved despite the presence of elevated levels of the Abeta(1-42). Taken together, our data show that oxidative stress, probably mediated by the hydroxyl radical and generated by the Fenton reaction, is essential for Abeta(1-42) toxicity in vivo and provide strong support for Alzheimer's disease therapies based on metal chelation.
| S-EPMC2777252 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia, characterized by chronic neuron loss and cognitive problems. Aggregated amyloid beta (A?) peptides, a product of cleaved amyloid precursor protein (APP) by beta-secretase 1 (BACE-1), have been indicated for the progressive pathogenesis of AD. Currently, screening for anti-AD compounds in foodstuffs is increasing, with promising results. Hence, the purpose of this study was to investigate the extraction conditions, phytochemical contents, and anti-AD properties, targeting A? peptides of Morus cf. nigra 'Chiang Mai' (MNCM) both in vitro and in vivo. Data showed that the aqueous extract of MNCM contained high amounts of cyanidin, keracyanin, and kuromanin as anthocyanidin and anthocyanins. The extract also strongly inhibited cholinesterases and BACE-1 in vitro. Moreover, MNCM extract prevented A?-induced neurotoxicity and promoted neurite outgrowth in neuronal cells. Interestingly, MNCM extract reduced A?1-42 peptides and improved locomotory coordination of Drosophila co-expressing human APP and BACE-1, specifically in the brain. These findings suggest that MNCM may be useful as an AD preventive agent by targeting A? formation.
| S-EPMC7221829 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Multiple neurodegenerative diseases are causally linked to aggregation-prone proteins. Cellular mechanisms involving protein turnover may be key defense mechanisms against aggregating protein disorders. We have used a transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans Alzheimer's disease model to identify cellular responses to proteotoxicity resulting from expression of the human beta amyloid peptide (Abeta). We show up-regulation of aip-1 in Abeta-expressing animals. Mammalian homologues of AIP-1 have been shown to associate with, and regulate the function of, the 26S proteasome, leading us to hypothesize that induction of AIP-1 may be a protective cellular response directed toward modulating proteasomal function in response to toxic protein aggregation. Using our transgenic model, we show that overexpression of AIP-1 protected against, while RNAi knockdown of AIP-1 exacerbated, Abeta toxicity. AIP-1 overexpression also reduced accumulation of Abeta in this model, which is consistent with AIP-1 enhancing protein degradation. Transgenic expression of one of the two human aip-1 homologues (AIRAPL), but not the other (AIRAP), suppressed Abeta toxicity in C. elegans, which advocates the biological relevance of the data to human biology. Interestingly, AIRAPL and AIP-1 contain a predicted farnesylation site, which is absent from AIRAP. This farnesylation site was shown by others to be essential for an AIP-1 prolongevity function. Consistent with this, we show that an AIP-1 mutant lacking the predicted farnesylation site failed to protect against Abeta toxicity. Our results implicate AIP-1 in the regulation of protein turnover and protection against Abeta toxicity and point at AIRAPL as the functional mammalian homologue of AIP-1.
| S-EPMC2706681 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Amyloid beta (A?) peptide aggregation is linked to the initiation of Alzheimer's disease; accordingly, aggregation-prone isoforms of A?, expressed in the brain, shorten the lifespan of Drosophila melanogaster. However, the lethal effects of A? are not apparent until after day 15. We used shibire(TS) flies that exhibit a temperature-sensitive paralysis phenotype as a reporter of proteostatic robustness. In this model, we found that increasing age but not A? expression lowered the flies' permissive temperature, suggesting that A? did not exert its lethal effects by proteostatic disruption. Instead, we observed that chemical challenges, in particular oxidative stressors, discriminated clearly between young (robust) and old (sensitive) flies. Using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy in combination with multivariate analysis, we compared water-soluble metabolite profiles at various ages in flies expressing A? in their brains. We observed 2 genotype-linked metabolomic signals, the first reported the presence of any A? isoform and the second the effects of the lethal Arctic A?. Lethality was specifically associated with signs of oxidative respiration dysfunction and oxidative stress.
| S-EPMC4869574 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Different strategies for treatment and prevention of Alzheimer's disease (AD) are currently under investigation, including passive immunization with anti-amyloid β (anti-Aβ) monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). Here, we investigate the therapeutic potential of a novel type of Aβ-targeting agent based on an affibody molecule with fundamentally different properties to mAbs. We generated a therapeutic candidate, denoted ZSYM73-albumin-binding domain (ABD; 16.8 kDa), by genetic linkage of the dimeric ZSYM73 affibody for sequestering of monomeric Aβ-peptides and an ABD for extension of its in vivo half-life. Amyloid precursor protein (APP)/PS1 transgenic AD mice were administered with ZSYM73-ABD, followed by behavioral examination and immunohistochemistry. Results demonstrated rescued cognitive functions and significantly lower amyloid burden in the treated animals compared to controls. No toxicological symptoms or immunology-related side-effects were observed. To our knowledge, this is the first reported in vivo investigation of a systemically delivered scaffold protein against monomeric Aβ, demonstrating a therapeutic potential for prevention of AD.
| S-EPMC6440316 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized pathologically by the abundance of senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain. We synthesized over 1200 novel gamma-secretase modulator (GSM) compounds that reduced Abeta(42) levels without inhibiting epsilon-site cleavage of APP and Notch, the generation of the APP and Notch intracellular domains, respectively. These compounds also reduced Abeta(40) levels while concomitantly elevating levels of Abeta(38) and Abeta(37). Immobilization of a potent GSM onto an agarose matrix quantitatively recovered Pen-2 and to a lesser degree PS-1 NTFs from cellular extracts. Moreover, oral administration (once daily) of another potent GSM to Tg 2576 transgenic AD mice displayed dose-responsive lowering of plasma and brain Abeta(42); chronic daily administration led to significant reductions in both diffuse and neuritic plaques. These effects were observed in the absence of Notch-related changes (e.g., intestinal proliferation of goblet cells), which are commonly associated with repeated exposure to functional gamma-secretase inhibitors (GSIs).
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Project description:FK506 binding proteins (FKBPs), also called immunophilins, are prolyl-isomerases (PPIases) that participate in a wide variety of cellular functions including hormone signaling and protein folding. Recent studies indicate that proteins that contain PPIase activity can also alter the processing of Alzheimer's Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP). Originally identified in hematopoietic cells, FKBP52 is much more abundantly expressed in neurons, including the hippocampus, frontal cortex, and basal ganglia. Given the fact that the high molecular weight immunophilin FKBP52 is highly expressed in CNS regions susceptible to Alzheimer's, we investigated its role in Abeta toxicity. Towards this goal, we generated Abeta transgenic Drosophila that harbor gain of function or loss of function mutations of FKBP52. FKBP52 overexpression reduced the toxicity of Abeta and increased lifespan in Abeta flies, whereas loss of function of FKBP52 exacerbated these Abeta phenotypes. Interestingly, the Abeta pathology was enhanced by mutations in the copper transporters Atox1, which interacts with FKBP52, and Ctr1A and was suppressed in FKBP52 mutant flies raised on a copper chelator diet. Using mammalian cultures, we show that FKBP52 (-/-) cells have increased intracellular copper and higher levels of Abeta. This effect is reversed by reconstitution of FKBP52. Finally, we also found that FKBP52 formed stable complexes with APP through its FK506 interacting domain. Taken together, these studies identify a novel role for FKBP52 in modulating toxicity of Abeta peptides.
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