Targeted Degradation of Aberrant Tau in Frontotemporal Dementia Patient-Derived Neuronal Cell Models

ABSTRACT: Tauopathies are a family of neurodegenerative diseases characterized by a shared pathology of aberrant forms of tau protein accumulation leading to neuronal death in focal areas of the brain. Positron emission tomography (PET) tracers that bind to tau aggregates are used to aid diagnosis, but there are no current therapies to eliminate these tau species. We employed targeted protein degradation technology to convert a tau PET probe into a functional degrader of pathogenic tau. The hetero-bifunctional molecule QC-01- 175 was designed to engage both tau and Cereblon (CRBN), a substrate receptor for the Cullin-4 RING E3 ubiquitin ligase family member (CRL4CRBN), to trigger tau ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation. QC-01-175 effected clearance of tau in frontotemporal dementia (FTD) patient-derived neuronal cell models, which recapitulate disease phenotypes of tau accumulation, insolubility and toxicity. Furthermore, QC-01-175 had minimal effect on tau levels in neurons from healthy controls, indicating specificity for degradation of disease-relevant forms of tau. QC-01-175 also rescued vulnerability to stress in FTD neurons, phenocopying CRISPR-mediated MAPT-knockout. This work demonstrates that aberrant tau species formed in ex vivo FTD patient-derived neurons are amenable to targeted protein degradation, representing an important advance towards the development of a tau targeted therapeutic.

INSTRUMENT(S): Orbitrap Fusion Lumos

ORGANISM(S): Homo Sapiens (human)

TISSUE(S): Neuron, Cell Culture

DISEASE(S): Frontotemporal Dementia

SUBMITTER: Eric Fischer  

LAB HEAD: Eric Fischer

PROVIDER: PXD012515 | Pride | 2019-03-26

REPOSITORIES: Pride