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Legname G, Virgilio T, Bistaffa E, De Luca CMG, Catania M, Zago P, Isopi E, Campagnani I, Tagliavini F, Giaccone G, Moda F. Effects of peptidyl-prolyl isomerase 1 depletion in animal models of prion diseases. Prion 2018; 12:127-137. [PMID: 29676205 DOI: 10.1080/19336896.2018.1464367] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Pin1 is a peptidyl-prolyl isomerase that induces the cis-trans conversion of specific Ser/Thr-Pro peptide bonds in phosphorylated proteins, leading to conformational changes through which Pin1 regulates protein stability and activity. Since down-regulation of Pin1 has been described in several neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's Disease (AD), Parkinson's Disease (PD) and Huntington's Disease (HD), we investigated its potential role in prion diseases. Animals generated on wild-type (Pin1+/+), hemizygous (Pin1+/-) or knock-out (Pin1-/-) background for Pin1 were experimentally infected with RML prions. The study indicates that, neither the total depletion nor reduced levels of Pin1 significantly altered the clinical and neuropathological features of the disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giuseppe Legname
- a Laboratory of Prion Biology, Department of Neuroscience , Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA) , Trieste , Italy.,c ELETTRA Laboratory , Sincrotrone Trieste S.C.p.A , Basovizza, Trieste , Italy
| | - Tommaso Virgilio
- b Unit of Neuropathology and Neurology 5 , IRCCS Foundation Carlo Besta Neurological Institute , Milano , Italy.,d Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Università della Svizzera Italiana , Bellinzona , Switzerland
| | - Edoardo Bistaffa
- a Laboratory of Prion Biology, Department of Neuroscience , Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA) , Trieste , Italy.,b Unit of Neuropathology and Neurology 5 , IRCCS Foundation Carlo Besta Neurological Institute , Milano , Italy
| | - Chiara Maria Giulia De Luca
- b Unit of Neuropathology and Neurology 5 , IRCCS Foundation Carlo Besta Neurological Institute , Milano , Italy
| | - Marcella Catania
- b Unit of Neuropathology and Neurology 5 , IRCCS Foundation Carlo Besta Neurological Institute , Milano , Italy
| | - Paola Zago
- a Laboratory of Prion Biology, Department of Neuroscience , Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA) , Trieste , Italy
| | - Elisa Isopi
- a Laboratory of Prion Biology, Department of Neuroscience , Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA) , Trieste , Italy
| | - Ilaria Campagnani
- b Unit of Neuropathology and Neurology 5 , IRCCS Foundation Carlo Besta Neurological Institute , Milano , Italy
| | - Fabrizio Tagliavini
- b Unit of Neuropathology and Neurology 5 , IRCCS Foundation Carlo Besta Neurological Institute , Milano , Italy
| | - Giorgio Giaccone
- b Unit of Neuropathology and Neurology 5 , IRCCS Foundation Carlo Besta Neurological Institute , Milano , Italy
| | - Fabio Moda
- b Unit of Neuropathology and Neurology 5 , IRCCS Foundation Carlo Besta Neurological Institute , Milano , Italy
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Abstract
Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) are fatal neurological disorders caused by prions, which are composed of a misfolded protein (PrPSc) that self-propagates in the brain of infected individuals by converting the normal prion protein (PrPC) into the pathological isoform. Here, we report a novel experimental strategy for preventing prion disease based on producing a self-replicating, but innocuous PrPSc-like form, termed anti-prion, which can compete with the replication of pathogenic prions. Our results show that a prophylactic inoculation of prion-infected animals with an anti-prion delays the onset of the disease and in some animals completely prevents the development of clinical symptoms and brain damage. The data indicate that a single injection of the anti-prion eliminated ~99% of the infectivity associated to pathogenic prions. Furthermore, this treatment caused significant changes in the profile of regional PrPSc deposition in the brains of animals that were treated, but still succumbed to the disease. Our findings provide new insights for a mechanistic understanding of prion replication and support the concept that prion replication can be separated from toxicity, providing a novel target for therapeutic intervention.
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Pritzkow S, Morales R, Lyon A, Concha-Marambio L, Urayama A, Soto C. Efficient prion disease transmission through common environmental materials. J Biol Chem 2018; 293:3363-3373. [PMID: 29330304 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m117.810747] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2017] [Revised: 01/05/2018] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Prion diseases are a group of fatal neurodegenerative diseases associated with a protein-based infectious agent, termed prion. Compelling evidence suggests that natural transmission of prion diseases is mediated by environmental contamination with infectious prions. We hypothesized that several natural and man-made materials, commonly found in the environments of wild and captive animals, can bind prions and may act as vectors for disease transmission. To test our hypothesis, we exposed surfaces composed of various common environmental materials (i.e. wood, rocks, plastic, glass, cement, stainless steel, aluminum, and brass) to hamster-adapted 263K scrapie prions and studied their attachment and retention of infectivity in vitro and in vivo Our results indicated that these surfaces, with the sole exception of brass, efficiently bind, retain, and release prions. Prion replication was studied in vitro using the protein misfolding cyclic amplification technology, and infectivity of surface-bound prions was analyzed by intracerebrally challenging hamsters with contaminated implants. Our results revealed that virtually all prion-contaminated materials transmitted the disease at high rates. To investigate a more natural form of exposure to environmental contamination, we simply housed animals with large contaminated spheres made of the different materials under study. Strikingly, most of the hamsters developed classical clinical signs of prion disease and typical disease-associated brain changes. Our findings suggest that prion contamination of surfaces commonly present in the environment can be a source of disease transmission, thus expanding our understanding of the mechanisms for prion spreading in nature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandra Pritzkow
- From the Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Brain Disorders, Department of Neurology, University of Texas Houston Medical School, Houston, Texas 77030 and
| | - Rodrigo Morales
- From the Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Brain Disorders, Department of Neurology, University of Texas Houston Medical School, Houston, Texas 77030 and
| | - Adam Lyon
- From the Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Brain Disorders, Department of Neurology, University of Texas Houston Medical School, Houston, Texas 77030 and
| | - Luis Concha-Marambio
- From the Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Brain Disorders, Department of Neurology, University of Texas Houston Medical School, Houston, Texas 77030 and.,Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Medicina, Avenida San Carlos de Apoquindo 2200, Las Condes, Santiago 2, Chile
| | - Akihiko Urayama
- From the Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Brain Disorders, Department of Neurology, University of Texas Houston Medical School, Houston, Texas 77030 and
| | - Claudio Soto
- From the Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Brain Disorders, Department of Neurology, University of Texas Houston Medical School, Houston, Texas 77030 and .,Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Medicina, Avenida San Carlos de Apoquindo 2200, Las Condes, Santiago 2, Chile
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54
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Pocchiari M, Manson J. Concluding remarks. HANDBOOK OF CLINICAL NEUROLOGY 2018; 153:485-488. [PMID: 29887155 DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-444-63945-5.00028-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
This is the first volume of the Handbook of Clinical Neurology totally devoted to prion diseases. The reason for this choice is to inform neurologists and neuroscientists about the remarkable advances that this field has made in the diagnosis of human and animal prion diseases, understanding the pathogenesis of disease, and in the development of novel in vivo and in vitro models. In recent years, the knowledge of prion replication and mechanisms of prion spreading within the brain and peripheral organs of infected people has also become important for understanding other protein misfolded diseases of the brain, such as Alzheimer disease, Parkinson disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Researchers in these diseases have recognized that the process within an individual leading to the deposition of misfolded proteins within the central nervous system shares remarkable common mechanisms with prion diseases, leading to the terminology of "prion-like diseases."
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jean Manson
- Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
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55
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Abstract
Protein amplification techniques exploit the ability of PrPTSE to induce a conformational change in prion protein (PrP) in a continuous fashion, so that the small amount of PrPTSE found in tissues and biologic fluids in prion diseases can be amplified to a point where they are detectable by conventional laboratory techniques. The most widely used protein aggregation assays are protein misfolding cyclic amplification assay (PMCA) and real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC). These assays have been used extensively in both animal and human prion disease in studies ranging from the development of diagnostics, understanding disease transmission potential, to investigating mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration. In human prion disease, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) RT-QuIC analysis has been shown to be a highly sensitive and specific test for sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD) and has now been included in the diagnostic criteria. It is also a useful investigation for some genetic forms of prion disease where other cerebrospinal fluid tests may be negative. PMCA shows great potential for the diagnosis of variant CJD (vCJD) and has the ability to distinguish vCJD from sCJD, which may become increasingly important with emergence of a patient with neuropathologically confirmed vCJD associated with PRNP codon129MV, which indicates that a new wave of vCJD cases is likely and that these may be difficult to distinguish from sCJD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alison J E Green
- National CJD Research and Surveillance Unit, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
| | - Gianluigi Zanusso
- Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
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56
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Concha-Marambio L, Pritzkow S, Moda F, Tagliavini F, Ironside JW, Schulz PE, Soto C. Detection of prions in blood from patients with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Sci Transl Med 2017; 8:370ra183. [PMID: 28003548 DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aaf6188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 106] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2015] [Revised: 03/03/2016] [Accepted: 12/02/2016] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Human prion diseases are infectious and invariably fatal neurodegenerative diseases. They include sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD), the most common form, and variant CJD (vCJD), which is caused by interspecies transmission of prions from cattle infected by bovine spongiform encephalopathy. Development of a biochemical assay for the sensitive, specific, early, and noninvasive detection of prions (PrPSc) in the blood of patients affected by prion disease is a top medical priority to increase the safety of the blood supply. vCJD has already been transmitted from human to human by blood transfusion, and the number of asymptomatic carriers of vCJD in the U.K. alone is estimated to be 1 in 2000 people. We used the protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) technique to analyze blood samples from 14 cases of vCJD and 153 controls, including patients affected by sCJD and other neurodegenerative or neurological disorders as well as healthy subjects. Our results showed that PrPSc could be detected with 100% sensitivity and specificity in blood samples from vCJD patients. Detection was possible in any of the blood fractions analyzed and could be done with as little as a few microliters of sample volume. The PrPSc concentration in blood was estimated to be ~0.5 pg/ml. Our findings suggest that PMCA may be useful for premortem noninvasive diagnosis of vCJD and to identify prion contamination of the blood supply. Further studies are needed to fully validate the technology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis Concha-Marambio
- Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Brain Disorders, University of Texas Houston Medical School, Houston, TX 77030, USA.,Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Medicina, Avenida San Carlos de Apoquindo 2200, Las Condes, Santiago, Chile
| | - Sandra Pritzkow
- Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Brain Disorders, University of Texas Houston Medical School, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Fabio Moda
- Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Brain Disorders, University of Texas Houston Medical School, Houston, TX 77030, USA.,IRCCS Foundation Carlo Besta Neurological Institute, Milan, Italy
| | | | - James W Ironside
- National CJD Research and Surveillance Unit, Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, U.K
| | - Paul E Schulz
- Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Brain Disorders, University of Texas Houston Medical School, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Claudio Soto
- Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Brain Disorders, University of Texas Houston Medical School, Houston, TX 77030, USA. .,Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Medicina, Avenida San Carlos de Apoquindo 2200, Las Condes, Santiago, Chile
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57
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Krotee P, Griner SL, Sawaya MR, Cascio D, Rodriguez JA, Shi D, Philipp S, Murray K, Saelices L, Lee J, Seidler P, Glabe CG, Jiang L, Gonen T, Eisenberg DS. Common fibrillar spines of amyloid-β and human islet amyloid polypeptide revealed by microelectron diffraction and structure-based inhibitors. J Biol Chem 2017; 293:2888-2902. [PMID: 29282295 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m117.806109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2017] [Revised: 12/18/2017] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Amyloid-β (Aβ) and human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP) aggregate to form amyloid fibrils that deposit in tissues and are associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and type II diabetes (T2D), respectively. Individuals with T2D have an increased risk of developing AD, and conversely, AD patients have an increased risk of developing T2D. Evidence suggests that this link between AD and T2D might originate from a structural similarity between aggregates of Aβ and hIAPP. Using the cryoEM method microelectron diffraction, we determined the atomic structures of 11-residue segments from both Aβ and hIAPP, termed Aβ(24-34) WT and hIAPP(19-29) S20G, with 64% sequence similarity. We observed a high degree of structural similarity between their backbone atoms (0.96-Å root mean square deviation). Moreover, fibrils of these segments induced amyloid formation through self- and cross-seeding. Furthermore, inhibitors designed for one segment showed cross-efficacy for full-length Aβ and hIAPP and reduced cytotoxicity of both proteins, although by apparently blocking different cytotoxic mechanisms. The similarity of the atomic structures of Aβ(24-34) WT and hIAPP(19-29) S20G offers a molecular model for cross-seeding between Aβ and hIAPP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pascal Krotee
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, UCLA-United States Department of Energy (DOE) Institute, Departments of Biological Chemistry and Chemistry and Biochemistry, Molecular Biology Institute, UCLA, Los Angeles, California 90095
| | - Sarah L Griner
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, UCLA-United States Department of Energy (DOE) Institute, Departments of Biological Chemistry and Chemistry and Biochemistry, Molecular Biology Institute, UCLA, Los Angeles, California 90095
| | - Michael R Sawaya
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, UCLA-United States Department of Energy (DOE) Institute, Departments of Biological Chemistry and Chemistry and Biochemistry, Molecular Biology Institute, UCLA, Los Angeles, California 90095
| | - Duilio Cascio
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, UCLA-United States Department of Energy (DOE) Institute, Departments of Biological Chemistry and Chemistry and Biochemistry, Molecular Biology Institute, UCLA, Los Angeles, California 90095
| | - Jose A Rodriguez
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, UCLA-United States Department of Energy (DOE) Institute, Departments of Biological Chemistry and Chemistry and Biochemistry, Molecular Biology Institute, UCLA, Los Angeles, California 90095
| | - Dan Shi
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Janelia Research Campus, Ashburn, Virginia 20147
| | - Stephan Philipp
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, University of California, Irvine, California 92697
| | - Kevin Murray
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, UCLA-United States Department of Energy (DOE) Institute, Departments of Biological Chemistry and Chemistry and Biochemistry, Molecular Biology Institute, UCLA, Los Angeles, California 90095
| | - Lorena Saelices
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, UCLA-United States Department of Energy (DOE) Institute, Departments of Biological Chemistry and Chemistry and Biochemistry, Molecular Biology Institute, UCLA, Los Angeles, California 90095
| | - Ji Lee
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, UCLA-United States Department of Energy (DOE) Institute, Departments of Biological Chemistry and Chemistry and Biochemistry, Molecular Biology Institute, UCLA, Los Angeles, California 90095
| | - Paul Seidler
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, UCLA-United States Department of Energy (DOE) Institute, Departments of Biological Chemistry and Chemistry and Biochemistry, Molecular Biology Institute, UCLA, Los Angeles, California 90095
| | - Charles G Glabe
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, University of California, Irvine, California 92697; Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Science and Experimental Biochemistry Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 22252, Saudi Arabia
| | - Lin Jiang
- Department of Neurology, Molecular Biology Institute, and Brain Research Institute (BRI), David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, Los Angeles, California, 90095
| | - Tamir Gonen
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Janelia Research Campus, Ashburn, Virginia 20147
| | - David S Eisenberg
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, UCLA-United States Department of Energy (DOE) Institute, Departments of Biological Chemistry and Chemistry and Biochemistry, Molecular Biology Institute, UCLA, Los Angeles, California 90095.
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58
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Kramm C, Pritzkow S, Lyon A, Nichols T, Morales R, Soto C. Detection of Prions in Blood of Cervids at the Asymptomatic Stage of Chronic Wasting Disease. Sci Rep 2017; 7:17241. [PMID: 29222449 PMCID: PMC5722867 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-17090-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2017] [Accepted: 11/21/2017] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a rapidly spreading prion disorder affecting captive and free-ranging cervids. The zoonotic potential of CWD is unknown, as well as the mechanism for its highly efficient transmission. A top priority to minimize further spreading of this disease and its potential impact on environmental prion contamination is the development of a non-invasive, sensitive, and specific test for ante-mortem detection of infected animals. Here, we optimized the protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) assay for highly efficient detection of CWD prions in blood samples. Studies were done using a blind panel of 98 field-collected samples of whole blood from codon 96 glycine/glycine, captive white-tailed deer that were analyzed for prion infection post-mortem by immunohistochemistry (IHC). The results showed a sensitivity of 100% in animals with very poor body condition that were IHC-positive in both brain and lymph nodes, 96% in asymptomatic deer IHC-positive in brain and lymph nodes and 53% in animals at early stages of infection that were IHC-positive only in lymph nodes. The overall mean diagnostic sensitivity was 79.3% with 100% specificity. These findings show that PMCA might be useful as a blood test for routine, live animal diagnosis of CWD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos Kramm
- Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's disease and Related Brain Disorders, Dept. of Neurology, McGovern School of Medicine University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.,Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Medicina, Av. San Carlos de Apoquindo, 2200, Las Condes, Santiago, Chile
| | - Sandra Pritzkow
- Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's disease and Related Brain Disorders, Dept. of Neurology, McGovern School of Medicine University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Adam Lyon
- Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's disease and Related Brain Disorders, Dept. of Neurology, McGovern School of Medicine University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Tracy Nichols
- Veterinary Services Cervid Health Program, APHIS, United States Department of Agriculture, Fort Collins, CO, 80526, USA
| | - Rodrigo Morales
- Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's disease and Related Brain Disorders, Dept. of Neurology, McGovern School of Medicine University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
| | - Claudio Soto
- Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's disease and Related Brain Disorders, Dept. of Neurology, McGovern School of Medicine University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, 77030, USA. .,Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Medicina, Av. San Carlos de Apoquindo, 2200, Las Condes, Santiago, Chile.
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59
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Aulić S, Masperone L, Narkiewicz J, Isopi E, Bistaffa E, Ambrosetti E, Pastore B, De Cecco E, Scaini D, Zago P, Moda F, Tagliavini F, Legname G. α-Synuclein Amyloids Hijack Prion Protein to Gain Cell Entry, Facilitate Cell-to-Cell Spreading and Block Prion Replication. Sci Rep 2017; 7:10050. [PMID: 28855681 PMCID: PMC5577263 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-10236-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 92] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2017] [Accepted: 08/07/2017] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
The precise molecular mechanism of how misfolded α-synuclein (α-Syn) accumulates and spreads in synucleinopathies is still unknown. Here, we show the role of the cellular prion protein (PrPC) in mediating the uptake and the spread of recombinant α-Syn amyloids. The in vitro data revealed that the presence of PrPC fosters the higher uptake of α-Syn amyloid fibrils, which was also confirmed in vivo in wild type (Prnp+/+) compared to PrP knock-out (Prnp−/−) mice. Additionally, the presence of α-Syn amyloids blocked the replication of scrapie prions (PrPSc) in vitro and ex vivo, indicating a link between the two proteins. Indeed, whilst PrPC is mediating the internalization of α-Syn amyloids, PrPSc is not able to replicate in their presence. This observation has pathological relevance, since several reported case studies show that the accumulation of α-Syn amyloid deposits in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease patients is accompanied by a longer disease course.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suzana Aulić
- Laboratory of Prion Biology, Department of Neuroscience, Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA), Trieste, Italy
| | - Lara Masperone
- Laboratory of Prion Biology, Department of Neuroscience, Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA), Trieste, Italy
| | - Joanna Narkiewicz
- Laboratory of Prion Biology, Department of Neuroscience, Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA), Trieste, Italy
| | - Elisa Isopi
- Department of Medical, Oral, and Biotechnology Science and Center on Aging Sciences and Translational Medicine (CeSI-MeT) "G. D'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy
| | - Edoardo Bistaffa
- Laboratory of Prion Biology, Department of Neuroscience, Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA), Trieste, Italy.,Unit of Neuropathology and Neurology 5, IRCCS Foundation Carlo Besta Neurological Institute Italy Laboratory, Milano, Italy
| | - Elena Ambrosetti
- ELETTRA Sincrotrone Trieste S.C.p.A, Basovizza, Trieste, Italy.,Department of Physics, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy
| | - Beatrice Pastore
- Laboratory of Prion Biology, Department of Neuroscience, Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA), Trieste, Italy
| | - Elena De Cecco
- Laboratory of Prion Biology, Department of Neuroscience, Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA), Trieste, Italy
| | - Denis Scaini
- ELETTRA Sincrotrone Trieste S.C.p.A, Basovizza, Trieste, Italy.,Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, Italy
| | - Paola Zago
- Laboratory of Prion Biology, Department of Neuroscience, Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA), Trieste, Italy
| | - Fabio Moda
- Unit of Neuropathology and Neurology 5, IRCCS Foundation Carlo Besta Neurological Institute Italy Laboratory, Milano, Italy
| | - Fabrizio Tagliavini
- Unit of Neuropathology and Neurology 5, IRCCS Foundation Carlo Besta Neurological Institute Italy Laboratory, Milano, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Legname
- Laboratory of Prion Biology, Department of Neuroscience, Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA), Trieste, Italy. .,ELETTRA Sincrotrone Trieste S.C.p.A, Basovizza, Trieste, Italy.
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60
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Self-propagating, protease-resistant, recombinant prion protein conformers with or without in vivo pathogenicity. PLoS Pathog 2017; 13:e1006491. [PMID: 28704563 PMCID: PMC5524416 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1006491] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2017] [Revised: 07/24/2017] [Accepted: 06/27/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Prions, characterized by self-propagating protease-resistant prion protein (PrP) conformations, are agents causing prion disease. Recent studies generated several such self-propagating protease-resistant recombinant PrP (rPrP-res) conformers. While some cause prion disease, others fail to induce any pathology. Here we showed that although distinctly different, the pathogenic and non-pathogenic rPrP-res conformers were similarly recognized by a group of conformational antibodies against prions and shared a similar guanidine hydrochloride denaturation profile, suggesting a similar overall architecture. Interestingly, two independently generated non-pathogenic rPrP-res were almost identical, indicating that the particular rPrP-res resulted from cofactor-guided PrP misfolding, rather than stochastic PrP aggregation. Consistent with the notion that cofactors influence rPrP-res conformation, the propagation of all rPrP-res formed with phosphatidylglycerol/RNA was cofactor-dependent, which is different from rPrP-res generated with a single cofactor, phosphatidylethanolamine. Unexpectedly, despite the dramatic difference in disease-causing capability, RT-QuIC assays detected large increases in seeding activity in both pathogenic and non-pathogenic rPrP-res inoculated mice, indicating that the non-pathogenic rPrP-res is not completely inert in vivo. Together, our study supported a role of cofactors in guiding PrP misfolding, indicated that relatively small structural features determine rPrP-res’ pathogenicity, and revealed that the in vivo seeding ability of rPrP-res does not necessarily result in pathogenicity. Many neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and Prion disease, are caused by misfolded proteins that can self-propagate in vivo and in vitro. Misfolded self-replicating recombinant prion protein (PrP) conformers have been generated in vitro with defined cofactors, some of which are highly infectious and cause bona fide prion diseases, while others completely fail to induce any pathology. Here we compare these misfolded recombinant PrP conformers and show that the non-pathogenic misfolded recombinant PrP is not completely inert in vivo. We also found that the pathogenic and non-pathogenic recombinant PrP conformers share a similar overall architecture. Importantly, our study clearly shows that in vivo seeded spread of misfolded conformation does not necessarily lead to pathogenic change or cause disease. These findings not only are important for understanding the molecular basis for prion infectivity, but also may have important implications for the “prion-like” spread of misfolded proteins in other neurodegenerative diseases.
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61
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Redaelli V, Bistaffa E, Zanusso G, Salzano G, Sacchetto L, Rossi M, De Luca CMG, Di Bari M, Portaleone SM, Agrimi U, Legname G, Roiter I, Forloni G, Tagliavini F, Moda F. Detection of prion seeding activity in the olfactory mucosa of patients with Fatal Familial Insomnia. Sci Rep 2017; 7:46269. [PMID: 28387370 PMCID: PMC5384244 DOI: 10.1038/srep46269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2017] [Accepted: 03/14/2017] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Fatal Familial Insomnia (FFI) is a genetic prion disease caused by a point mutation in the prion protein gene (PRNP) characterized by prominent thalamic atrophy, diffuse astrogliosis and moderate deposition of PrPSc in the brain. Here, for the first time, we demonstrate that the olfactory mucosa (OM) of patients with FFI contains trace amount of PrPSc detectable by PMCA and RT-QuIC. Quantitative PMCA analysis estimated a PrPSc concentration of about 1 × 10-14 g/ml. In contrast, PrPSc was not detected in OM samples from healthy controls and patients affected by other neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and frontotemporal dementia. These results indicate that the detection limit of these assays is in the order of a single PrPSc oligomer/molecule with a specificity of 100%.
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Affiliation(s)
- Veronica Redaelli
- IRCCS Foundation Carlo Besta Neurological Institute, Department of Neurology 5 and Neuropathology, Milan, Italy
| | - Edoardo Bistaffa
- IRCCS Foundation Carlo Besta Neurological Institute, Department of Neurology 5 and Neuropathology, Milan, Italy.,Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA), Department of Neuroscience, Trieste, Italy
| | - Gianluigi Zanusso
- University of Verona, Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, Verona, Italy
| | - Giulia Salzano
- Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA), Department of Neuroscience, Trieste, Italy
| | - Luca Sacchetto
- University of Verona, Otolaryngology department, Verona, Italy
| | - Martina Rossi
- IRCCS Foundation Carlo Besta Neurological Institute, Department of Neurology 5 and Neuropathology, Milan, Italy.,Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA), Department of Neuroscience, Trieste, Italy
| | - Chiara Maria Giulia De Luca
- IRCCS Foundation Carlo Besta Neurological Institute, Department of Neurology 5 and Neuropathology, Milan, Italy
| | - Michele Di Bari
- Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Rome, Italy
| | - Sara Maria Portaleone
- Otolaryngology Unit, San Paolo Hospital, Department of Health Sciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
| | - Umberto Agrimi
- Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Rome, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Legname
- Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA), Department of Neuroscience, Trieste, Italy.,ELETTRA Laboratory, Sincrotrone Trieste S.C.p.A., Trieste, Italy
| | | | - Gianluigi Forloni
- IRCCS Foundation Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri, Department of Neuroscience, Milan, Italy
| | - Fabrizio Tagliavini
- IRCCS Foundation Carlo Besta Neurological Institute, Department of Neurology 5 and Neuropathology, Milan, Italy
| | - Fabio Moda
- IRCCS Foundation Carlo Besta Neurological Institute, Department of Neurology 5 and Neuropathology, Milan, Italy
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Gregori L, Serer AR, McDowell KL, Cervenak J, Asher DM. Rapid Testing for Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in Donors of Cornea. Transplantation 2017; 101:e120-e124. [PMID: 28072756 PMCID: PMC7228570 DOI: 10.1097/tp.0000000000001636] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2016] [Revised: 12/09/2016] [Accepted: 12/11/2016] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) has been accidentally transmitted by contaminated corneal transplants. Eye donors are not ordinarily tested for CJD, in part because an easy test is not available. We propose a relatively simple postmortem procedure to collect brain samples without performing full autopsy and show that a test currently marketed for veterinary diagnosis would offer an effective screening test. METHODS We selected 6 brains from confirmed cases of human sporadic CJD and sampled each in triplicate (18 specimens), 28 control brains of individuals with non-CJD neurodegenerative diseases and 10 normal brains. We also applied a procedure involving retro-orbital puncture after enucleation and biopsied the frontal lobes and optic nerves of a macaque experimentally infected with variant CJD. All samples were tested with the IDEXX HerdChek BSE-Scrapie Ag Kit to detect the abnormal prion protein, PrP. RESULTS The test discriminated between control and CJD-infected brains. All 18 infected brain samples diluted to 0.1%, except one, showed signals above cutoff, and a number of samples were reactive at even higher dilutions. These results suggest the test could detect the low concentrations of PrP probably present in brains of donors at early stages of CJD. Our collection procedure obtained sufficient macaque brain and optic nerve tissues to detect PrP. CONCLUSIONS We showed that a commercial test combined with rapid sample collection might offer a practical solution to screen brains of cornea donors for evidence of CJD. Such a test might enhance safety of corneal transplants and some other tissue-derived products.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luisa Gregori
- 1 Division of Emerging and Transfusion-Transmitted Diseases, Laboratory of Bacterial and Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy Agents, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Office of Blood Research and Review, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, New Hampshire Avenue, Silver Spring, MD
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63
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Strain-specific Fibril Propagation by an Aβ Dodecamer. Sci Rep 2017; 7:40787. [PMID: 28098204 PMCID: PMC5241678 DOI: 10.1038/srep40787] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2016] [Accepted: 12/09/2016] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Low molecular weight oligomers of amyloid-β (Aβ) have emerged as the primary toxic agents in the etiology of Alzheimer disease (AD). Polymorphism observed within the aggregation end products of fibrils are known to arise due to microstructural differences among the oligomers. Diversity in aggregate morphology correlates with the differences in AD, cementing the idea that conformational strains of oligomers could be significant in phenotypic outcomes. Therefore, it is imperative to determine the ability of strains to faithfully propagate their structure. Here we report fibril propagation of an Aβ42 dodecamer called large fatty acid-derived oligomers (LFAOs). The LFAO oligomeric strain selectively induces acute cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) in neonatally-injected transgenic CRND8 mice. Propagation in-vitro occurs as a three-step process involving the association of LFAO units. LFAO-seeded fibrils possess distinct morphology made of repeating LFAO units that could be regenerated upon sonication. Overall, these data bring forth an important mechanistic perspective into strain-specific propagation of oligomers that has remained elusive thus far.
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64
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The role of the unusual threonine string in the conversion of prion protein. Sci Rep 2016; 6:38877. [PMID: 27982059 PMCID: PMC5159806 DOI: 10.1038/srep38877] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2016] [Accepted: 11/15/2016] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
The conversion of normal prion protein (PrP) into pathogenic PrP conformers is central to prion disease, but the mechanism remains unclear. The α-helix 2 of PrP contains a string of four threonines, which is unusual due to the high propensity of threonine to form β-sheets. This structural feature was proposed as the basis for initiating PrP conversion, but experimental results have been conflicting. We studied the role of the threonine string on PrP conversion by analyzing mouse Prnpa and Prnpb polymorphism that contains a polymorphic residue at the beginning of the threonine string, and PrP mutants in which threonine 191 was replaced by valine, alanine, or proline. The PMCA (protein misfolding cyclic amplification) assay was able to recapitulate the in vivo transmission barrier between PrPa and PrPb. Relative to PMCA, the amyloid fibril growth assay is less restrictive, but it did reflect certain properties of in vivo prion transmission. Our results suggest a plausible theory explaining the apparently contradictory results in the role of the threonine string in PrP conversion and provide novel insights into the complicated relationship among PrP stability, seeded conformational change, and prion structure, which is critical for understanding the molecular basis of prion infectivity.
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65
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Abstract
Since the term protein was first coined in 1838 and protein was discovered to be the essential component of fibrin and albumin, all cellular proteins were presumed to play beneficial roles in plants and mammals. However, in 1967, Griffith proposed that proteins could be infectious pathogens and postulated their involvement in scrapie, a universally fatal transmissible spongiform encephalopathy in goats and sheep. Nevertheless, this novel hypothesis had not been evidenced until 1982, when Prusiner and coworkers purified infectious particles from scrapie-infected hamster brains and demonstrated that they consisted of a specific protein that he called a "prion." Unprecedentedly, the infectious prion pathogen is actually derived from its endogenous cellular form in the central nervous system. Unlike other infectious agents, such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi, prions do not contain genetic materials such as DNA or RNA. The unique traits and genetic information of prions are believed to be encoded within the conformational structure and posttranslational modifications of the proteins. Remarkably, prion-like behavior has been recently observed in other cellular proteins-not only in pathogenic roles but also serving physiological functions. The significance of these fascinating developments in prion biology is far beyond the scope of a single cellular protein and its related disease.
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66
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Schmitz M, Cramm M, Llorens F, Müller-Cramm D, Collins S, Atarashi R, Satoh K, Orrù CD, Groveman BR, Zafar S, Schulz-Schaeffer WJ, Caughey B, Zerr I. The real-time quaking-induced conversion assay for detection of human prion disease and study of other protein misfolding diseases. Nat Protoc 2016; 11:2233-2242. [PMID: 27735933 DOI: 10.1038/nprot.2016.120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 97] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2016] [Accepted: 05/19/2016] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
The development and adaption of in vitro misfolded protein amplification systems has been a major innovation in the detection of abnormally folded prion protein scrapie (PrPSc) in human brain and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples. Herein, we describe a fast and efficient protein amplification technique, real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC), for the detection of a PrPSc seed in human brain and CSF. In contrast to other in vitro misfolded protein amplification assays-such as protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA)-which are based on sonication, the RT-QuIC technique is based on prion seed-induced misfolding and aggregation of recombinant prion protein substrate, accelerated by alternating cycles of shaking and rest in fluorescence plate readers. A single RT-QuIC assay typically analyzes up to 32 samples in triplicate, using a 96-well-plate format. From sample preparation to analysis of results, the protocol takes ∼87 h to complete. In addition to diagnostics, this technique has substantial generic analytical applications, including drug screening, prion strain discrimination, biohazard screening (e.g., to reduce transmission risk related to prion diseases) and the study of protein misfolding; in addition, it can potentially be used for the investigation of other protein misfolding diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthias Schmitz
- Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Göttingen and German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Göttingen, Germany
| | - Maria Cramm
- Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Göttingen and German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Göttingen, Germany
| | - Franc Llorens
- Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Göttingen and German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Göttingen, Germany
| | - Dominik Müller-Cramm
- Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Göttingen and German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Göttingen, Germany
| | - Steven Collins
- Department of Medicine, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Ryuichiro Atarashi
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan
| | - Katsuya Satoh
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan
| | - Christina D Orrù
- Laboratory of Persistent Viral Diseases, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Hamilton, Montana, USA
| | - Bradley R Groveman
- Laboratory of Persistent Viral Diseases, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Hamilton, Montana, USA
| | - Saima Zafar
- Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Göttingen and German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Göttingen, Germany
| | - Walter J Schulz-Schaeffer
- Department of Neuropathology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Georg-August University, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Byron Caughey
- Laboratory of Persistent Viral Diseases, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Hamilton, Montana, USA
| | - Inga Zerr
- Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Göttingen and German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Göttingen, Germany
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67
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Prions efficiently cross the intestinal barrier after oral administration: Study of the bioavailability, and cellular and tissue distribution in vivo. Sci Rep 2016; 6:32338. [PMID: 27573341 PMCID: PMC5004172 DOI: 10.1038/srep32338] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2016] [Accepted: 08/04/2016] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Natural forms of prion diseases frequently originate by oral (p.o.) infection. However, quantitative information on the gastro-intestinal (GI) absorption of prions (i.e. the bioavailability and subsequent biodistribution) is mostly unknown. The main goal of this study was to evaluate the fate of prions after oral administration, using highly purified radiolabeled PrP(Sc). The results showed a bi-phasic reduction of PrP(Sc) with time in the GI, except for the ileum and colon which showed sustained increases peaking at 3-6 hr, respectively. Plasma and whole blood (125)I-PrP(Sc) reached maximal levels by 30 min and 3 hr, respectively, and blood levels were constantly higher than plasma. Upon crossing the GI-tract (125)I-PrP(Sc) became associated to blood cells, suggesting that binding to cells decreased the biological clearance of the agent. Size-exclusion chromatography revealed that oligomeric (125)I-PrP(Sc) were transported from the intestinal tract, and protein misfolding cyclic amplification showed that PrP(Sc) in organs and blood retained the typical prion self-replicating ability. Pharmacokinetic analysis found the oral bioavailability of (125)I-PrP(Sc) to be 33.6%. Interestingly, (125)I-PrP(Sc) reached the brain in a quantity equivalent to the minimum amount needed to initiate prion disease. Our findings provide a comprehensive and quantitative study of the fate of prions upon oral infection.
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68
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Cervenakova L, Saá P, Yakovleva O, Vasilyeva I, de Castro J, Brown P, Dodd R. Are prions transported by plasma exosomes? Transfus Apher Sci 2016; 55:70-83. [PMID: 27499183 DOI: 10.1016/j.transci.2016.07.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Blood has been shown to contain disease-associated misfolded prion protein (PrP(TSE)) in animals naturally and experimentally infected with various transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) agents, and in humans infected with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). Recently, we have demonstrated PrP(TSE) in extracellular vesicle preparations (EVs) containing exosomes from plasma of mice infected with mouse-adapted vCJD by Protein Misfolding Cyclic Amplification (PMCA). Here we report the detection of PrP(TSE) by PMCA in EVs from plasma of mice infected with Fukuoka-1 (FU), an isolate from a Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker disease patient. We used Tga20 transgenic mice that over-express mouse cellular prion protein, to assay by intracranial injections the level of infectivity in a FU-infected brain homogenate from wild-type mice (FU-BH), and in blood cellular components (BCC), consisting of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets, plasma EVs, and plasma EVs subjected to multiple rounds of PMCA. Only FU-BH and plasma EVs from FU-infected mice subjected to PMCA that contained PrP(TSE) transmitted disease to Tga20 mice. Plasma EVs not subjected to PMCA and BCC from FU-infected mice failed to transmit disease. These findings confirm the high sensitivity of PMCA for PrP(TSE) detection in plasma EVs and the efficiency of this in vitro method to produce highly infectious prions. The results of our study encourage further research to define the role of EVs and, more specifically exosomes, as blood-borne carriers of PrP(TSE).
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Affiliation(s)
- Larisa Cervenakova
- Scientific Affairs, American National Red Cross, Rockville, Maryland, USA.
| | - Paula Saá
- Scientific Affairs, American National Red Cross, Rockville, Maryland, USA
| | - Oksana Yakovleva
- Scientific Affairs, American National Red Cross, Rockville, Maryland, USA; The Laboratory of Bacterial and Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy Agents, DETTD, OBRR, CBER, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
| | - Irina Vasilyeva
- Scientific Affairs, American National Red Cross, Rockville, Maryland, USA
| | - Jorge de Castro
- Scientific Affairs, American National Red Cross, Rockville, Maryland, USA; Meso Scale Diagnostics, LLC, Rockville, Maryland, USA
| | - Paul Brown
- National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Roger Dodd
- Scientific Affairs, American National Red Cross, Rockville, Maryland, USA
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69
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Gao C, Han J, Zhang J, Wei J, Zhang BY, Tian C, Zhang J, Shi Q, Dong XP. Protein Misfolding Cyclic Amplification Cross-Species Products of Mouse-Adapted Scrapie Strain 139A and Hamster-Adapted Scrapie Strain 263K with Brain and Muscle Tissues of Opposite Animals Generate Infectious Prions. Mol Neurobiol 2016; 54:3771-3782. [PMID: 27259989 DOI: 10.1007/s12035-016-9945-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2015] [Accepted: 05/26/2016] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Transmission of prions between mammalian species is limited by a "species barrier," a biological effect involving an increase in incubation period to decrease the percentage of animals succumbing to disease. In this study, we used protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) technique, which accelerates the conversion of prion proteins in vitro. Direct interspecies PMCA involving 144 cycles confirmed that both mouse-adapted scrapie strain 139A and hamster-adapted 263K could use brain homogenates of opposite species to form proteinase K (PK)-resistant PrP proteins (PrPres). Newly formed interspecies prions could stably propagate themselves in subsequent serial PMCA passages. The two types of PMCA-generated cross-species PrPres changed their glycosylation profiles, which was similar to that observed during interspecies infection by the mouse agent 139A in vivo. These profiles were distinct from individual seeded PrPSc and possessed properties of new hosts. Comparative analysis with respect to PK resistance showed no significant diversity between PMCA-PrPres and native PrPSc or between brain and muscle PrPres. However, PrPres from the relatively early cycles of serial PMCA showed lower PK resistance than those from later cycles. Inoculation of these PMCA products amplified with homogeneous or heterogeneous brain tissues (cross-species products) induced experimental transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. These results suggested that PMCA can help prion strains to overcome species barrier and to propagate efficiently both in vitro and in vivo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chen Gao
- State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases (Zhejiang University), National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Chang-Bai Rd 155, Beijing, 102206, China
| | - Jun Han
- State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases (Zhejiang University), National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Chang-Bai Rd 155, Beijing, 102206, China
| | - Jin Zhang
- State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases (Zhejiang University), National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Chang-Bai Rd 155, Beijing, 102206, China.,Shandong International Travel Healthcare Center, Shandong Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau, Qingdao, 266001, China
| | - Jing Wei
- State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases (Zhejiang University), National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Chang-Bai Rd 155, Beijing, 102206, China
| | - Bao-Yun Zhang
- State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases (Zhejiang University), National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Chang-Bai Rd 155, Beijing, 102206, China
| | - Chan Tian
- State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases (Zhejiang University), National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Chang-Bai Rd 155, Beijing, 102206, China
| | - Jie Zhang
- State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases (Zhejiang University), National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Chang-Bai Rd 155, Beijing, 102206, China
| | - Qi Shi
- State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases (Zhejiang University), National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Chang-Bai Rd 155, Beijing, 102206, China
| | - Xiao-Ping Dong
- State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases (Zhejiang University), National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Chang-Bai Rd 155, Beijing, 102206, China. .,Chinese Academy of Sciences Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
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70
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Abstract
Early and accurate diagnosis of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a necessary to distinguish this untreatable disease from treatable rapidly progressive dementias, and to prevent iatrogenic transmission. Currently, definitive diagnosis of CJD requires detection of the abnormally folded, CJD-specific form of protease-resistant prion protein (PrP(CJD)) in brain tissue obtained postmortem or via biopsy; therefore, diagnosis of sporadic CJD in clinical practice is often challenging. Supporting investigations, including MRI, EEG and conventional analyses of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers, are helpful in the diagnostic work-up, but do not allow definitive diagnosis. Recently, novel ultrasensitive seeding assays, based on the amplified detection of PrP(CJD), have improved the diagnostic process; for example, real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) is a sensitive method to detect prion-seeding activity in brain homogenate from humans with any subtype of sporadic CJD. RT-QuIC can also be used for in vivo diagnosis of CJD: its diagnostic sensitivity in detecting PrP(CJD) in CSF samples is 96%, and its specificity is 100%. Recently, we provided evidence that RT-QuIC of olfactory mucosa brushings is a 97% sensitive and 100% specific for sporadic CJD. These assays provide a basis for definitive antemortem diagnosis of prion diseases and, in doing so, improve prospects for reducing the risk of prion transmission. Moreover, they can be used to evaluate outcome measures in therapeutic trials for these as yet untreatable infections.
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71
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Detection and Quantification of CWD Prions in Fixed Paraffin Embedded Tissues by Real-Time Quaking-Induced Conversion. Sci Rep 2016; 6:25098. [PMID: 27157060 PMCID: PMC4860571 DOI: 10.1038/srep25098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2015] [Accepted: 03/29/2016] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Traditional diagnostic detection of chronic wasting disease (CWD) relies on immunodetection of misfolded CWD prion protein (PrPCWD) by western blotting, ELISA, or immunohistochemistry (IHC). These techniques require separate sample collections (frozen and fixed) which may result in discrepancies due to variation in prion tissue distribution and assay sensitivities that limit detection especially in early and subclinical infections. Here, we harness the power of real-time quaking induced conversion (RT-QuIC) to amplify, detect, and quantify prion amyloid seeding activity in fixed paraffin-embedded (FPE) tissue sections. We show that FPE RT-QuIC has greater detection sensitivity than IHC in tissues with low PrPCWD burdens, including those that are IHC-negative. We also employ amyloid formation kinetics to yield a semi-quantitative estimate of prion concentration in a given FPE tissue. We report that FPE RT-QuIC has the ability to enhance diagnostic and investigative detection of disease-associated PrPRES in prion, and potentially other, protein misfolding disease states.
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72
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Hu PP, Morales R, Duran-Aniotz C, Moreno-Gonzalez I, Khan U, Soto C. Role of Prion Replication in the Strain-dependent Brain Regional Distribution of Prions. J Biol Chem 2016; 291:12880-12887. [PMID: 27056328 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m115.681791] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2015] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
One intriguing feature of prion diseases is their strain variation. Prion strains are differentiated by the clinical consequences they generate in the host, their biochemical properties, and their potential to infect other animal species. The selective targeting of these agents to specific brain structures have been extensively used to characterize prion strains. However, the molecular basis dictating strain-specific neurotropism are still elusive. In this study, isolated brain structures from animals infected with four hamster prion strains (HY, DY, 139H, and SSLOW) were analyzed for their content of protease-resistant PrP(Sc) Our data show that these strains have different profiles of PrP deposition along the brain. These patterns of accumulation, which were independent of regional PrP(C) production, were not reproduced by in vitro replication when different brain regions were used as substrate for the misfolding-amplification reaction. On the contrary, our results show that in vitro replication efficiency depended exclusively on the amount of PrP(C) present in each part of the brain. Our results suggest that the variable regional distribution of PrP(Sc) in distinct strains is not determined by differences on prion formation, but on other factors or cellular pathways. Our findings may contribute to understand the molecular mechanisms of prion pathogenesis and strain diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ping Ping Hu
- From the Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Brain Disorders, Department of Neurology, University of Texas Houston Medical School, Houston, Texas 77030,; Innovative Drug Research Centre, Chongqing University, Chongqing 401331, China, and
| | - Rodrigo Morales
- From the Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Brain Disorders, Department of Neurology, University of Texas Houston Medical School, Houston, Texas 77030
| | - Claudia Duran-Aniotz
- From the Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Brain Disorders, Department of Neurology, University of Texas Houston Medical School, Houston, Texas 77030,; Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Medicina, Av. San Carlos de Apoquindo 2200, Las Condes, Santiago, Chile
| | - Ines Moreno-Gonzalez
- From the Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Brain Disorders, Department of Neurology, University of Texas Houston Medical School, Houston, Texas 77030
| | - Uffaf Khan
- From the Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Brain Disorders, Department of Neurology, University of Texas Houston Medical School, Houston, Texas 77030
| | - Claudio Soto
- From the Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Brain Disorders, Department of Neurology, University of Texas Houston Medical School, Houston, Texas 77030,; Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Medicina, Av. San Carlos de Apoquindo 2200, Las Condes, Santiago, Chile.
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73
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CSF biomarkers in neurodegenerative and vascular dementias. Prog Neurobiol 2016; 138-140:36-53. [DOI: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2016.03.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2016] [Revised: 03/12/2016] [Accepted: 03/14/2016] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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74
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Strain-dependent profile of misfolded prion protein aggregates. Sci Rep 2016; 6:20526. [PMID: 26877167 PMCID: PMC4753423 DOI: 10.1038/srep20526] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2015] [Accepted: 01/05/2016] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Prions are composed of the misfolded prion protein (PrPSc) organized in a variety of aggregates. An important question in the prion field has been to determine the identity of functional PrPSc aggregates. In this study, we used equilibrium sedimentation in sucrose density gradients to separate PrPSc aggregates from three hamster prion strains (Hyper, Drowsy, SSLOW) subjected to minimal manipulations. We show that PrPSc aggregates distribute in a wide range of arrangements and the relative proportion of each species depends on the prion strain. We observed a direct correlation between the density of the predominant PrPSc aggregates and the incubation periods for the strains studied. The relative presence of PrPSc in fractions of different sucrose densities was indicative of the protein deposits present in the brain as analyzed by histology. Interestingly, no association was found between sensitivity to proteolytic degradation and aggregation profiles. Therefore, the organization of PrP molecules in terms of the density of aggregates generated may determine some of the particular strain properties, whereas others are independent from it. Our findings may contribute to understand the mechanisms of strain variation and the role of PrPSc aggregates in prion-induced neurodegeneration.
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75
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So M, Hall D, Goto Y. Revisiting supersaturation as a factor determining amyloid fibrillation. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2016; 36:32-9. [PMID: 26774801 DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2015.11.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2015] [Accepted: 11/20/2015] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Amyloid fibrils involved in various diseases are formed by a nucleation-growth mechanism, similar to the crystallization of solutes from solution. Solubility and supersaturation are two of the most important factors determining crystallization of solutes. Moreover, crystallization competes with glass formation in which solutes collapse into amorphous aggregates. Recent studies on the formation of amyloid fibrils and amorphous aggregates indicate that the partition between distinct types of aggregates can be rationally explained by a kinetic and thermodynamic competition between them. Understanding the role of supersaturation in determining aggregation-based phase transitions of denatured proteins provides an important complementary point of view to structural studies of protein aggregates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Masatomo So
- Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University, Yamadaoka 3-2, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Damien Hall
- Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University, Yamadaoka 3-2, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan; Research School of Chemistry, Australian National University, Acton, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Yuji Goto
- Institute for Protein Research, Osaka University, Yamadaoka 3-2, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.
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76
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Di Minno G, Perno CF, Tiede A, Navarro D, Canaro M, Güertler L, Ironside JW. Current concepts in the prevention of pathogen transmission via blood/plasma-derived products for bleeding disorders. Blood Rev 2016; 30:35-48. [PMID: 26381318 PMCID: PMC7115716 DOI: 10.1016/j.blre.2015.07.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2015] [Revised: 07/11/2015] [Accepted: 07/13/2015] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
The pathogen safety of blood/plasma-derived products has historically been a subject of significant concern to the medical community. Measures such as donor selection and blood screening have contributed to increase the safety of these products, but pathogen transmission does still occur. Reasons for this include lack of sensitivity/specificity of current screening methods, lack of reliable screening tests for some pathogens (e.g. prions) and the fact that many potentially harmful infectious agents are not routinely screened for. Methods for the purification/inactivation of blood/plasma-derived products have been developed in order to further reduce the residual risk, but low concentrations of pathogens do not necessarily imply a low level of risk for the patient and so the overall challenge of minimising risk remains. This review aims to discuss the variable level of pathogenic risk and describes the current screening methods used to prevent/detect the presence of pathogens in blood/plasma-derived products.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanni Di Minno
- Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Chirurgia, Regional Reference Centre for Coagulation Disorders, Federico II University, Via S. Pansini 5, 80131 Naples, Italy.
| | - Carlo Federico Perno
- Department of Experimental Medicine and Surgery, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier 1, 00133 Rome, Italy
| | - Andreas Tiede
- Department of Hematology, Hemostasis, Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation, Hannover Medical School, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, D-30625 Hannover, Germany
| | - David Navarro
- Department of Microbiology, Microbiology Service, Hospital Clínico Universitario, School of Medicine, University of Valencia, Av Blasco Ibáñez 17, 46010 Valencia, Spain
| | - Mariana Canaro
- Department of Hemostasis and Thrombosis, Son Espases University Hospital, Carretera de Valdemossa, 79, 07120 Palma de Mallorca, Spain
| | - Lutz Güertler
- Max von Pettenkofer Institute for Hygiene and Medical Microbiology, University of München, Pettenkofer Str 9A, 80336 Munich, Germany
| | - James W Ironside
- National Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Research and Surveillance Unit, School of Clinical Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK
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77
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Konold T, Hawkins SAC, Thurston LC, Maddison BC, Gough KC, Duarte A, Simmons HA. Objects in Contact with Classical Scrapie Sheep Act as a Reservoir for Scrapie Transmission. Front Vet Sci 2015; 2:32. [PMID: 26664961 PMCID: PMC4672192 DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2015.00032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2015] [Accepted: 08/24/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Classical scrapie is an environmentally transmissible prion disease of sheep and goats. Prions can persist and remain potentially infectious in the environment for many years and thus pose a risk of infecting animals after re-stocking. In vitro studies using serial protein misfolding cyclic amplification (sPMCA) have suggested that objects on a scrapie-affected sheep farm could contribute to disease transmission. This in vivo study aimed to determine the role of field furniture (water troughs, feeding troughs, fencing, and other objects that sheep may rub against) used by a scrapie-infected sheep flock as a vector for disease transmission to scrapie-free lambs with the prion protein genotype VRQ/VRQ, which is associated with high susceptibility to classical scrapie. When the field furniture was placed in clean accommodation, sheep became infected when exposed to either a water trough (four out of five) or to objects used for rubbing (four out of seven). This field furniture had been used by the scrapie-infected flock 8 weeks earlier and had previously been shown to harbor scrapie prions by sPMCA. Sheep also became infected (20 out of 23) through exposure to contaminated field furniture placed within pasture not used by scrapie-infected sheep for 40 months, even though swabs from this furniture tested negative by PMCA. This infection rate decreased (1 out of 12) on the same paddock after replacement with clean field furniture. Twelve grazing sheep exposed to field furniture not in contact with scrapie-infected sheep for 18 months remained scrapie free. The findings of this study highlight the role of field furniture used by scrapie-infected sheep to act as a reservoir for disease re-introduction although infectivity declines considerably if the field furniture has not been in contact with scrapie-infected sheep for several months. PMCA may not be as sensitive as VRQ/VRQ sheep to test for environmental contamination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timm Konold
- Animal Sciences Unit, Animal and Plant Health Agency Weybridge , Addlestone , UK
| | - Stephen A C Hawkins
- Pathology Department, Animal and Plant Health Agency Weybridge , Addlestone , UK
| | - Lisa C Thurston
- Surveillance and Laboratory Services, Animal and Plant Health Agency Penrith , Penrith , UK
| | - Ben C Maddison
- ADAS UK, School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham , Sutton Bonington , UK
| | - Kevin C Gough
- School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham , Sutton Bonington , UK
| | - Anthony Duarte
- Animal Sciences Unit, Animal and Plant Health Agency Weybridge , Addlestone , UK
| | - Hugh A Simmons
- Animal Sciences Unit, Animal and Plant Health Agency Weybridge , Addlestone , UK
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78
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Daus ML. Techniques to elucidate the conformation of prions. World J Biol Chem 2015; 6:218-222. [PMID: 26322176 PMCID: PMC4549762 DOI: 10.4331/wjbc.v6.i3.218] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2015] [Revised: 05/04/2015] [Accepted: 06/16/2015] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Proteinaceous infectious particles (prions) are unique pathogens as they are devoid of any coding nucleic acid. Whilst it is assumed that prion disease is transmitted by a misfolded isoform of the cellular prion protein, the structural insight of prions is still vague and research for high resolution structural information of prions is still ongoing. In this review, techniques that may contribute to the clarification of the conformation of prions are presented and discussed.
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79
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Cintron AF, Dalal NV, Dooyema J, Betarbet R, Walker LC. Transport of cargo from periphery to brain by circulating monocytes. Brain Res 2015; 1622:328-38. [PMID: 26168900 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2015.06.047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2015] [Revised: 06/29/2015] [Accepted: 06/30/2015] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
The misfolding and aggregation of the Aβ peptide - a fundamental event in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer׳s disease - can be instigated in the brains of experimental animals by the intracranial infusion of brain extracts that are rich in aggregated Aβ. Recent experiments have found that the peripheral (intraperitoneal) injection of Aβ seeds induces Aβ deposition in the brains of APP-transgenic mice, largely in the form of cerebral amyloid angiopathy. Macrophage-type cells normally are involved in pathogen neutralization and antigen presentation, but under some circumstances, circulating monocytes have been found to act as vectors for the transport of pathogenic agents such as viruses and prions. The present study assessed the ability of peripheral monocytes to transport Aβ aggregates from the peritoneal cavity to the brain. Our initial experiments showed that intravenously delivered macrophages that had previously ingested fluorescent nanobeads as tracers migrate primarily to peripheral organs such as spleen and liver, but that a small number also reach the brain parenchyma. We next injected CD45.1-expressing monocytes from donor mice intravenously into CD45.2-expressing host mice; after 24h, analysis by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) and histology confirmed that some CD45.1 monocytes enter the brain, particularly in the superficial cortex and around blood vessels. When the donor monocytes are first exposed to Aβ-rich brain extracts from human AD cases, a subset of intravenously delivered Aβ-containing cells migrate to the brain. These experiments indicate that, in mouse models, circulating monocytes are potential vectors by which exogenously delivered, aggregated Aβ travels from periphery to brain, and more generally support the hypothesis that macrophage-type cells can participate in the dissemination of proteopathic seeds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amarallys F Cintron
- Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA.
| | - Nirjari V Dalal
- Department of Neurology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Jeromy Dooyema
- Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA
| | - Ranjita Betarbet
- Department of Neurology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Lary C Walker
- Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA; Department of Neurology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
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80
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Wang X, McGovern G, Zhang Y, Wang F, Zha L, Jeffrey M, Ma J. Intraperitoneal Infection of Wild-Type Mice with Synthetically Generated Mammalian Prion. PLoS Pathog 2015; 11:e1004958. [PMID: 26136122 PMCID: PMC4489884 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1004958] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2014] [Accepted: 05/14/2015] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The prion hypothesis postulates that the infectious agent in transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) is an unorthodox protein conformation based agent. Recent successes in generating mammalian prions in vitro with bacterially expressed recombinant prion protein provide strong support for the hypothesis. However, whether the pathogenic properties of synthetically generated prion (rec-Prion) recapitulate those of naturally occurring prions remains unresolved. Using end-point titration assay, we showed that the in vitro prepared rec-Prions have infectious titers of around 104 LD50 / μg. In addition, intraperitoneal (i.p.) inoculation of wild-type mice with rec-Prion caused prion disease with an average survival time of 210 – 220 days post inoculation. Detailed pathological analyses revealed that the nature of rec-Prion induced lesions, including spongiform change, disease specific prion protein accumulation (PrP-d) and the PrP-d dissemination amongst lymphoid and peripheral nervous system tissues, the route and mechanisms of neuroinvasion were all typical of classical rodent prions. Our results revealed that, similar to naturally occurring prions, the rec-Prion has a titratable infectivity and is capable of causing prion disease via routes other than direct intra-cerebral challenge. More importantly, our results established that the rec-Prion caused disease is pathogenically and pathologically identical to naturally occurring contagious TSEs, supporting the concept that a conformationally altered protein agent is responsible for the infectivity in TSEs. The transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) are a group of infectious neurodegenerative diseases affecting both humans and animals. The prion hypothesis postulates that prions are protein conformation based infectious agents responsible for TSE infectivity. Prions have been synthetically generated in vitro, but it remains unclear whether the properties of synthetically generated prion are the same as those of TSE agents and whether the disease caused by synthetically generated prion is identical to naturally occurring TSEs. In this study, we demonstrated that similar to the classical TSE agents, the synthetically generated prion has a titratable infectivity and is able to cause prion disease in wild-type mice via routes other than direct intra-cerebral inoculation. More importantly, we showed that the synthetically generated prion induced pathological changes, including the dissemination of disease-specific prion protein accumulation and the route and mechanism of neuroinvasion, were all typical of classical TSEs. These results demonstrate the similarity of synthetically generated prion to the infectious agent in TSEs, providing strong evidence supporting the prion hypothesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinhe Wang
- Center for Neurodegenerative Science, Van Andel Research Institute, Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States of America
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, United States of America
| | - Gillian McGovern
- Animal and Plant Health Agency, Lasswade Laboratory, Pentlands Science Park, Penicuik, Midlothian, Scotland
| | - Yi Zhang
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, United States of America
- Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics (East China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics (East China Normal University), School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
| | - Fei Wang
- Center for Neurodegenerative Science, Van Andel Research Institute, Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States of America
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, United States of America
| | - Liang Zha
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, United States of America
| | - Martin Jeffrey
- Animal and Plant Health Agency, Lasswade Laboratory, Pentlands Science Park, Penicuik, Midlothian, Scotland
| | - Jiyan Ma
- Center for Neurodegenerative Science, Van Andel Research Institute, Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States of America
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, United States of America
- Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics (East China Normal University), Ministry of Education, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics (East China Normal University), School of Life Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
- * E-mail:
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81
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Haigh CL, Drew SC. Cavitation during the protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) method – The trigger for de novo prion generation? Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2015; 461:494-500. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2015.04.048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2015] [Accepted: 04/07/2015] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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82
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Pritzkow S, Morales R, Moda F, Khan U, Telling GC, Hoover E, Soto C. Grass plants bind, retain, uptake, and transport infectious prions. Cell Rep 2015; 11:1168-75. [PMID: 25981035 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2015.04.036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 93] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2014] [Revised: 02/04/2015] [Accepted: 04/15/2015] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Prions are the protein-based infectious agents responsible for prion diseases. Environmental prion contamination has been implicated in disease transmission. Here, we analyzed the binding and retention of infectious prion protein (PrP(Sc)) to plants. Small quantities of PrP(Sc) contained in diluted brain homogenate or in excretory materials (urine and feces) can bind to wheat grass roots and leaves. Wild-type hamsters were efficiently infected by ingestion of prion-contaminated plants. The prion-plant interaction occurs with prions from diverse origins, including chronic wasting disease. Furthermore, leaves contaminated by spraying with a prion-containing preparation retained PrP(Sc) for several weeks in the living plant. Finally, plants can uptake prions from contaminated soil and transport them to aerial parts of the plant (stem and leaves). These findings demonstrate that plants can efficiently bind infectious prions and act as carriers of infectivity, suggesting a possible role of environmental prion contamination in the horizontal transmission of the disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandra Pritzkow
- Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Brain Disorders, Department of Neurology, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, 6431 Fannin Street, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Rodrigo Morales
- Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Brain Disorders, Department of Neurology, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, 6431 Fannin Street, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Fabio Moda
- Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Brain Disorders, Department of Neurology, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, 6431 Fannin Street, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Uffaf Khan
- Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Brain Disorders, Department of Neurology, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, 6431 Fannin Street, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Glenn C Telling
- Prion Research Center, Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
| | - Edward Hoover
- Prion Research Center, Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
| | - Claudio Soto
- Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Brain Disorders, Department of Neurology, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, 6431 Fannin Street, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
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83
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Yuan Z, Yang L, Chen B, Zhu T, Hassan MF, Yin X, Zhou X, Zhao D. Protein misfolding cyclic amplification induces the conversion of recombinant prion protein to PrP oligomers causing neuronal apoptosis. J Neurochem 2015; 133:722-9. [DOI: 10.1111/jnc.13098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2014] [Revised: 03/12/2015] [Accepted: 03/15/2015] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Zhen Yuan
- State Key Laboratories for Agrobiotechnology; Key Lab of Animal Epidemiology and Zoonosis; Ministry of Agriculture; National Animal Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy Laboratory; College of Veterinary Medicine; China Agricultural University; Beijing China
| | - Lifeng Yang
- State Key Laboratories for Agrobiotechnology; Key Lab of Animal Epidemiology and Zoonosis; Ministry of Agriculture; National Animal Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy Laboratory; College of Veterinary Medicine; China Agricultural University; Beijing China
| | - Baian Chen
- Department of Laboratory Animal Science; School of Basic Medical Science; Capital Medical University; Beijing China
| | - Ting Zhu
- State Key Laboratories for Agrobiotechnology; Key Lab of Animal Epidemiology and Zoonosis; Ministry of Agriculture; National Animal Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy Laboratory; College of Veterinary Medicine; China Agricultural University; Beijing China
| | - Mohammad Farooque Hassan
- State Key Laboratories for Agrobiotechnology; Key Lab of Animal Epidemiology and Zoonosis; Ministry of Agriculture; National Animal Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy Laboratory; College of Veterinary Medicine; China Agricultural University; Beijing China
| | - Xiaomin Yin
- State Key Laboratories for Agrobiotechnology; Key Lab of Animal Epidemiology and Zoonosis; Ministry of Agriculture; National Animal Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy Laboratory; College of Veterinary Medicine; China Agricultural University; Beijing China
| | - Xiangmei Zhou
- State Key Laboratories for Agrobiotechnology; Key Lab of Animal Epidemiology and Zoonosis; Ministry of Agriculture; National Animal Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy Laboratory; College of Veterinary Medicine; China Agricultural University; Beijing China
| | - Deming Zhao
- State Key Laboratories for Agrobiotechnology; Key Lab of Animal Epidemiology and Zoonosis; Ministry of Agriculture; National Animal Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy Laboratory; College of Veterinary Medicine; China Agricultural University; Beijing China
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84
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Detection of the disease-associated form of the prion protein in biological samples. Bioanalysis 2015; 7:253-61. [PMID: 25587841 DOI: 10.4155/bio.14.301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) are neurodegenerative diseases that occur in a variety of mammals. In TSEs, a chromosomally encoded protein (PrPC) undergoes a conformational change to the disease-associated form (PrPd). PrPd is capable of inducing a change in additional molecules of PrPC to the PrPd conformation. TSEs are inevitably fatal and cross-species transmission is known to occur, and there is potential for transmission via blood transfusion and organ transplantation in humans. Thus, there is interest in high-quality diagnostics for both humans and animals. This review summarizes methods of TSE detection currently in use in diagnostic settings and discusses recent advances in PrPd detection that afford substantial enhancements in sensitivity over currently approved methods for use in clinical settings.
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85
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Morales R, Callegari K, Soto C. Prion-like features of misfolded Aβ and tau aggregates. Virus Res 2015; 207:106-12. [PMID: 25575736 DOI: 10.1016/j.virusres.2014.12.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2014] [Revised: 12/11/2014] [Accepted: 12/29/2014] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Recent findings have shown that several misfolded proteins can transmit disease pathogenesis in a prion-like manner by transferring their conformational properties to normally folded units. However, the extent by which these molecule-to-molecule or cell-to-cell spreading processes reflect the entire prion behavior is now subject of controversy, especially due to the lack of epidemiological data supporting inter-individual transmission of non-prion protein misfolding diseases. Nevertheless, extensive research has shown that several of the typical characteristics of prions can be observed for Aβ and tau aggregates when administered in animal models. In this article we review recent studies describing the prion-like features of both proteins, highlighting the similarities with bona fide prions in terms of inter-individual transmission, their strain-like conformational diversity, and the transmission of misfolded aggregates by different routes of administration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rodrigo Morales
- Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Brain Disorders, Department of Neurology, University of Texas Houston Medical School, 6431 Fannin Street, Houston, TX 77030, United States.
| | - Keri Callegari
- Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Brain Disorders, Department of Neurology, University of Texas Houston Medical School, 6431 Fannin Street, Houston, TX 77030, United States.
| | - Claudio Soto
- Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Brain Disorders, Department of Neurology, University of Texas Houston Medical School, 6431 Fannin Street, Houston, TX 77030, United States.
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86
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How does domain replacement affect fibril formation of the rabbit/human prion proteins. PLoS One 2014; 9:e113238. [PMID: 25401497 PMCID: PMC4234653 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0113238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2014] [Accepted: 10/25/2014] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Background It is known that in vivo human prion protein (PrP) have the tendency to form fibril deposits and are associated with infectious fatal prion diseases, while the rabbit PrP does not readily form fibrils and is unlikely to cause prion diseases. Although we have previously demonstrated that amyloid fibrils formed by the rabbit PrP and the human PrP have different secondary structures and macromolecular crowding has different effects on fibril formation of the rabbit/human PrPs, we do not know which domains of PrPs cause such differences. In this study, we have constructed two PrP chimeras, rabbit chimera and human chimera, and investigated how domain replacement affects fibril formation of the rabbit/human PrPs. Methodology/Principal Findings As revealed by thioflavin T binding assays and Sarkosyl-soluble SDS-PAGE, the presence of a strong crowding agent dramatically promotes fibril formation of both chimeras. As evidenced by circular dichroism, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and proteinase K digestion assays, amyloid fibrils formed by human chimera have secondary structures and proteinase K-resistant features similar to those formed by the human PrP. However, amyloid fibrils formed by rabbit chimera have proteinase K-resistant features and secondary structures in crowded physiological environments different from those formed by the rabbit PrP, and secondary structures in dilute solutions similar to the rabbit PrP. The results from transmission electron microscopy show that macromolecular crowding caused human chimera but not rabbit chimera to form short fibrils and non-fibrillar particles. Conclusions/Significance We demonstrate for the first time that the domains beyond PrP-H2H3 (β-strand 1, α-helix 1, and β-strand 2) have a remarkable effect on fibrillization of the rabbit PrP but almost no effect on the human PrP. Our findings can help to explain why amyloid fibrils formed by the rabbit PrP and the human PrP have different secondary structures and why macromolecular crowding has different effects on fibrillization of PrPs from different species.
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87
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Saá P, Cervenakova L. Protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA): Current status and future directions. Virus Res 2014; 207:47-61. [PMID: 25445341 DOI: 10.1016/j.virusres.2014.11.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2014] [Revised: 10/05/2014] [Accepted: 11/06/2014] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) most commonly known as prion diseases are invariably fatal neurological disorders that affect humans and animals. These disorders differ from other neurodegenerative conformational diseases caused by the accumulation in the brain of misfolded proteins, sometimes with amyloid properties, in their ability to infect susceptible species by various routes. While the infectious properties of amyloidogenic proteins, other than misfolded prion protein (PrP(TSE)), are currently under scrutiny, their potential to transmit from cell to cell, one of the intrinsic properties of the prion, has been recently shown in vitro and in vivo. Over the decades, various cell culture and laboratory animal models have been developed to study TSEs. These assays have been widely used in a variety of applications but showed to be time consuming and entailed elevated costs. Novel economic and fast alternatives became available with the development of in vitro assays that are based on the property of conformationally abnormal PrP(TSE) to recruit normal cellular PrP(C) to misfold. These include the cell-free conversion assay, protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) and quaking induced conversion assay (QuIC), of which the PMCA has been the only technology shown to generate infectious prions. Moreover, it allows indefinite amplification of PrP(TSE) with strain-specific biochemical and biological properties of the original molecules and under certain conditions may give rise to new spontaneously generated prions. The method also allows addressing the species barrier phenomena and assessing possible risks of animal-to-animal and animal-to-human transmission. Additionally, its unprecedented sensitivity has made possible the detection of as little as one infectious dose of PrP(TSE) and the biochemical identification of this protein in different tissues and biological fluids, including blood, cerebral spinal fluid (CSF), semen, milk, urine and saliva during the pre-clinical and clinical phases of the disease. The mechanistic similarities between TSEs and other conformational disorders have resulted in the adaptation of the PMCA to the amplification and detection of various amyloidogenic proteins. Here we provide a compelling discussion of the different applications of this technology to the study of TSEs and other neurodegenerative diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paula Saá
- Transmissible Diseases Department, American National Red Cross, Biomedical Services, Holland Laboratory, 15601 Crabbs Branch Way, Rockville, MD 20855, United States.
| | - Larisa Cervenakova
- Transmissible Diseases Department, American National Red Cross, Biomedical Services, Holland Laboratory, 15601 Crabbs Branch Way, Rockville, MD 20855, United States
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Moda F, Gambetti P, Notari S, Concha-Marambio L, Catania M, Park KW, Maderna E, Suardi S, Haïk S, Brandel JP, Ironside J, Knight R, Tagliavini F, Soto C. Prions in the urine of patients with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. N Engl J Med 2014; 371:530-9. [PMID: 25099577 PMCID: PMC4162740 DOI: 10.1056/nejmoa1404401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 135] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Prions, the infectious agents responsible for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, consist mainly of the misfolded prion protein (PrP(Sc)). The unique mechanism of transmission and the appearance of a variant form of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which has been linked to consumption of prion-contaminated cattle meat, have raised concerns about public health. Evidence suggests that variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease prions circulate in body fluids from people in whom the disease is silently incubating. METHODS To investigate whether PrP(Sc) can be detected in the urine of patients with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, we used the protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) technique to amplify minute quantities of PrP(Sc), enabling highly sensitive detection of the protein. We analyzed urine samples from several patients with various transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (variant and sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and genetic forms of prion disease), patients with other degenerative or nondegenerative neurologic disorders, and healthy persons. RESULTS PrP(Sc) was detectable only in the urine of patients with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and had the typical electrophoretic profile associated with this disease. PrP(Sc) was detected in 13 of 14 urine samples obtained from patients with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and in none of the 224 urine samples obtained from patients with other neurologic diseases and from healthy controls, resulting in an estimated sensitivity of 92.9% (95% confidence interval [CI], 66.1 to 99.8) and a specificity of 100.0% (95% CI, 98.4 to 100.0). The PrP(Sc) concentration in urine calculated by means of quantitative PMCA was estimated at 1×10(-16) g per milliliter, or 3×10(-21) mol per milliliter, which extrapolates to approximately 40 to 100 oligomeric particles of PrP(Sc) per milliliter of urine. CONCLUSIONS Urine samples obtained from patients with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease contained minute quantities of PrP(Sc). (Funded by the National Institutes of Health and others.).
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabio Moda
- From the Mitchell Center for Research in Alzheimer's Disease and Related Brain Disorders, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Houston (F.M., L.C.-M., K.-W.P., C.S.); Foundation Carlo Besta Neurologic Institute, Milan (F.M., M.C., E.M., S.S., F.T.); National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland (P.G., S.N.); Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Medicina, Santiago, Chile (L.C.-M.); Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Cellule Nationale de Référence des Maladies de Creutzfeldt-Jakob, Groupe Hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière, INSERM Unité 1127, Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, and Centre Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique, Unité Mixte de Recherche - all in Paris (S.H., J.-P.B.); and the National CJD Research and Surveillance Unit, Western General Hospital, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh (J.I., R.K.)
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89
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Krejciova Z, Barria MA, Jones M, Ironside JW, Jeffrey M, González L, Head MW. Genotype-dependent molecular evolution of sheep bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) prions in vitro affects their zoonotic potential. J Biol Chem 2014; 289:26075-26088. [PMID: 25100723 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m114.582965] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Prion diseases are rare fatal neurological conditions of humans and animals, one of which (variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease) is known to be a zoonotic form of the cattle disease bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). What makes one animal prion disease zoonotic and others not is poorly understood, but it appears to involve compatibility between the prion strain and the host prion protein sequence. Concerns have been raised that the United Kingdom sheep flock may have been exposed to BSE early in the cattle BSE epidemic and that serial BSE transmission in sheep might have resulted in adaptation of the agent, which may have come to phenotypically resemble scrapie while maintaining its pathogenicity for humans. We have modeled this scenario in vitro. Extrapolation from our results suggests that if BSE were to infect sheep in the field it may, with time and in some sheep genotypes, become scrapie-like at the molecular level. However, the results also suggest that if BSE in sheep were to come to resemble scrapie it would lose its ability to affect humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zuzana Krejciova
- National Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Research and Surveillance Unit, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, United Kingdom
| | - Marcelo A Barria
- National Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Research and Surveillance Unit, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, United Kingdom
| | - Michael Jones
- Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service, Edinburgh EH17 7QT, United Kingdom, and
| | - James W Ironside
- National Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Research and Surveillance Unit, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, United Kingdom
| | - Martin Jeffrey
- Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency, Lasswade, Edinburgh EH26 0PZ, United Kingdom
| | - Lorenzo González
- Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency, Lasswade, Edinburgh EH26 0PZ, United Kingdom
| | - Mark W Head
- National Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Research and Surveillance Unit, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, United Kingdom,.
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90
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Abstract
Exosomes are nanovesicles secreted into the extracellular environment upon internal vesicle fusion with the plasma membrane. The molecular content of exosomes is a fingerprint of the releasing cell type and of its status. For this reason, and because they are released in easily accessible body fluids such as blood and urine, they represent a precious biomedical tool. A growing body of evidence suggests that exosomes may be used as biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of malignant tumors. This article focuses on the exploitation of exosomes as diagnostic tools for human tumors and discusses possible applications of the same strategies to other pathologies, such as neurodegenerative diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesca Properzi
- Department of Cell Biology & Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
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91
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Salvadores N, Shahnawaz M, Scarpini E, Tagliavini F, Soto C. Detection of misfolded Aβ oligomers for sensitive biochemical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. Cell Rep 2014; 7:261-8. [PMID: 24656814 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2014.02.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 139] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2013] [Revised: 01/19/2014] [Accepted: 02/20/2014] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnosis is hampered by the lack of early, sensitive, and objective laboratory tests. We describe a sensitive method for biochemical diagnosis of AD based on specific detection of misfolded Aβ oligomers, which play a central role in AD pathogenesis. The protein misfolding cyclic amplification assay (Aβ-PMCA), exploits the functional property of Aβ oligomers to seed the polymerization of monomeric Aβ. Aβ-PMCA allowed detection of as little as 3 fmol of Aβ oligomers. Most importantly, using cerebrospinal fluid, we were able to distinguish AD patients from control individuals affected by a variety of other neurodegenerative disorders or nondegenerative neurological diseases with overall sensitivity of 90% and specificity of 92%. These findings provide the proof-of-principle basis for developing a highly sensitive and specific biochemical test for AD diagnosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalia Salvadores
- Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Brain Disorders, Department of Neurology, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, 6431 Fannin Street, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Mohammad Shahnawaz
- Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Brain Disorders, Department of Neurology, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, 6431 Fannin Street, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Elio Scarpini
- Neurology Unit, Università di Milano, Centro Dino Ferrari, Fondazione Ca' Granda, IRCC Ospedale Policlinico, via F. Sforza 35, 20122 Milan, Italy
| | - Fabrizio Tagliavini
- IRCCS Foundation "Carlo Besta" Neurological Institute, Via Celoria 11, 20133 Milan, Italy
| | - Claudio Soto
- Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Brain Disorders, Department of Neurology, University of Texas Medical School at Houston, 6431 Fannin Street, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
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92
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Highly infectious prions generated by a single round of microplate-based protein misfolding cyclic amplification. mBio 2013; 5:e00829-13. [PMID: 24381300 PMCID: PMC3884057 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.00829-13] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Measurements of the presence of prions in biological tissues or fluids rely more and more on cell-free assays. Although protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) has emerged as a valuable, sensitive tool, it is currently hampered by its lack of robustness and rapidity for high-throughput purposes. Here, we made a number of improvements making it possible to amplify the maximum levels of scrapie prions in a single 48-h round and in a microplate format. The amplification rates and the infectious titer of the PMCA-formed prions appeared similar to those derived from the in vivo laboratory bioassays. This enhanced technique also amplified efficiently prions from different species, including those responsible for human variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. This new format should help in developing ultrasensitive, high-throughput prion assays for cognitive, diagnostic, and therapeutic applications. IMPORTANCE The method developed here allows large-scale, fast, and reliable cell-free amplification of subinfectious levels of prions from different species. The sensitivity and rapidity achieved approach or equal those of other recently developed prion-seeded conversion assays. Our simplified assay may be amenable to high-throughput, automated purposes and serve in a complementary manner with other recently developed assays for urgently needed antemortem diagnostic tests, by using bodily fluids containing small amounts of prion infectivity. Such a combination of assays is of paramount importance to reduce the transfusion risk in the human population and to identify asymptomatic carriers of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
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93
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Enhanced virulence of sheep-passaged bovine spongiform encephalopathy agent is revealed by decreased polymorphism barriers in prion protein conversion studies. J Virol 2013; 88:2903-12. [PMID: 24371051 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.02446-13] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
UNLABELLED Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) can be efficiently transmitted to small ruminants (sheep and goats) with certain prion protein (PrP) genotypes. Polymorphisms in PrP of both the host and donor influence the transmission efficiency of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) in general. These polymorphisms in PrP also modulate the PrP conversion underlying TSE agent replication. Here we demonstrate that single-round protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) can be used to assess species and polymorphism barriers at the molecular level. We assessed those within and between the ovine and bovine species in vitro using a variety of natural scrapie and experimentally generated cross-species BSE agents. These BSE agents include ovBSE-ARQ isolates (BSE derived from sheep having the ARQ/ARQ PrP genotype), and two unique BSE-derived variants: BSE passaged in VRQ/VRQ sheep and a cow BSE agent isolate generated by back-transmission of ovBSE-ARQ into its original host. PMCA allowed us to quantitatively determine PrP conversion profiles that correlated with known in vivo transmissibility and susceptibility in the two ruminant species in which strain-specific molecular signatures, like its molecular weight after protease digestion, were maintained. Furthermore, both BSE agent isolates from ARQ and VRQ sheep demonstrated a surprising transmission profile in which efficient transmissions to both sheep and bovine variants was combined. Finally, all data support the notion that ARQ-derived sheep BSE points to a significant increase in virulence compared to all other tested scrapie- and BSE-derived variants reflected by the increased conversion efficiencies of previously inefficient convertible PrP variants (including the so-called "resistant" sheep ARR variant). IMPORTANCE Prion diseases such as scrapie in sheep and goats, BSE in cattle, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans are fatal neurodegenerative diseases caused by prions. BSE is known to be transmissible to a variety of hosts, including sheep and humans. Based on the typical BSE agent strain signatures and epidemiological data, the occurrence of a novel variant of CJD in humans was linked to BSE occurrence in the United Kingdom. Measures, including genetic selection of sheep toward less susceptible PrP genotypes, have been implemented to lower the risk of BSE transmission into sheep, since the disease could potentially spread into a natural reservoir. In this study, we demonstrated using molecular PrP conversion studies that when BSE is first transmitted through sheep, the host range is modified significantly and the PrP converting potency increased, allowing the ovine BSE to transmit more efficiently than cow BSE into supposedly less susceptible hosts.
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94
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Concha-Marambio L, Diaz-Espinoza R, Soto C. The extent of protease resistance of misfolded prion protein is highly dependent on the salt concentration. J Biol Chem 2013; 289:3073-9. [PMID: 24338008 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m113.513267] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies are neurodegenerative diseases caused by prions in mammals. An aberrantly folded protein (PrP(Sc)) is the main component of these proteinaceous infectious particles. Prions exhibit strong resistance to protease digestion, which is typically exploited for biochemical discrimination from its native cellular form (PrP(C)). This classical feature has been partially challenged by the isolation of sizeable amounts of protease-sensitive PrP(Sc) isoforms that self-propagate in vivo. Here, we report that the degree of PrP(Sc) protease resistance is highly dependent on the concentration of salt in the solution. Similar changes were observed in PrP(Sc) obtained from different strains and species. Strikingly, the effect of salt is reversible and is associated with changes on the size of PrP(Sc) particles, but surprisingly, the more protease-sensitive species consists of a larger size. These findings shed light on the mechanistic aspects of prion proteolysis and should be considered when assessing samples of biomedical relevance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis Concha-Marambio
- From the Department of Neurology, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, Texas 77030 and
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95
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Red-backed vole brain promotes highly efficient in vitro amplification of abnormal prion protein from macaque and human brains infected with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease agent. PLoS One 2013; 8:e78710. [PMID: 24205298 PMCID: PMC3813480 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0078710] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2013] [Accepted: 09/16/2013] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Rapid antemortem tests to detect individuals with transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE) would contribute to public health. We investigated a technique known as protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA) to amplify abnormal prion protein (PrPTSE) from highly diluted variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD)-infected human and macaque brain homogenates, seeking to improve the rapid detection of PrPTSE in tissues and blood. Macaque vCJD PrPTSE did not amplify using normal macaque brain homogenate as substrate (intraspecies PMCA). Next, we tested interspecies PMCA with normal brain homogenate of the southern red-backed vole (RBV), a close relative of the bank vole, seeded with macaque vCJD PrPTSE. The RBV has a natural polymorphism at residue 170 of the PrP-encoding gene (N/N, S/S, and S/N). We investigated the effect of this polymorphism on amplification of human and macaque vCJD PrPTSE. Meadow vole brain (170N/N PrP genotype) was also included in the panel of substrates tested. Both humans and macaques have the same 170S/S PrP genotype. Macaque PrPTSE was best amplified with RBV 170S/S brain, although 170N/N and 170S/N were also competent substrates, while meadow vole brain was a poor substrate. In contrast, human PrPTSE demonstrated a striking narrow selectivity for PMCA substrate and was successfully amplified only with RBV 170S/S brain. These observations suggest that macaque PrPTSE was more permissive than human PrPTSE in selecting the competent RBV substrate. RBV 170S/S brain was used to assess the sensitivity of PMCA with PrPTSE from brains of humans and macaques with vCJD. PrPTSE signals were reproducibly detected by Western blot in dilutions through 10-12 of vCJD-infected 10% brain homogenates. This is the first report showing PrPTSE from vCJD-infected human and macaque brains efficiently amplified with RBV brain as the substrate. Based on our estimates, PMCA showed a sensitivity that might be sufficient to detect PrPTSE in vCJD-infected human and macaque blood.
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96
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Morales R, Pritzkow S, Hu PP, Duran-Aniotz C, Soto C. Lack of prion transmission by sexual or parental routes in experimentally infected hamsters. Prion 2013; 7:412-9. [PMID: 24121659 DOI: 10.4161/pri.26747] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Prion diseases are a group of neurodegenerative disorders affecting humans as well as captive and wild animals. The mechanisms and routes governing the natural spread of prions are not completely understood and several hypotheses have been proposed. In this study, we analyzed the effect of gender in prion incubation period, as well as the possibility of prion transmission by sexual and parental contact using 263K infected hamsters as a model. Our results show that males have significantly longer incubation periods compared with females when exposed to the same quantity of infectious material. Importantly, no evidence of sexual or parental prion transmission was found, even 500 d after sexual contact or birth, respectively. Western blotting and PMCA were unable to detect sub-clinical levels of PrP(Sc) in experimental subjects, suggesting a complete absence of prion transmission by these routes. Our results show that sexual and parental transmission of prions does not occur in this model. It remains to be studied whether this conclusion is valid also for other prion strains and species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rodrigo Morales
- Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's disease and Related Brain Disorders; Department of Neurology; University of Texas Houston Medical School; Houston, TX USA
| | - Sandra Pritzkow
- Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's disease and Related Brain Disorders; Department of Neurology; University of Texas Houston Medical School; Houston, TX USA
| | - Ping Ping Hu
- Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's disease and Related Brain Disorders; Department of Neurology; University of Texas Houston Medical School; Houston, TX USA; Education Ministry Key Laboratory on Luminescence and Real-Time Analysis; College of Life Sciences; Southwest University; Chongqing, PR China
| | - Claudia Duran-Aniotz
- Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's disease and Related Brain Disorders; Department of Neurology; University of Texas Houston Medical School; Houston, TX USA; Universidad de los Andes; Facultad de Medicina; Las Condes, Santiago, Chile
| | - Claudio Soto
- Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's disease and Related Brain Disorders; Department of Neurology; University of Texas Houston Medical School; Houston, TX USA
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97
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Zhang Z, Zhang Y, Wang F, Wang X, Xu Y, Yang H, Yu G, Yuan C, Ma J. De novo generation of infectious prions with bacterially expressed recombinant prion protein. FASEB J 2013; 27:4768-75. [PMID: 23970796 DOI: 10.1096/fj.13-233965] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
The prion hypothesis is strongly supported by the fact that prion infectivity and the pathogenic conformer of prion protein (PrP) are simultaneously propagated in vitro by the serial protein misfolding cyclic amplification (sPMCA). However, due to sPMCA's enormous amplification power, whether an infectious prion can be formed de novo with bacterially expressed recombinant PrP (rPrP) remains to be satisfactorily resolved. To address this question, we performed unseeded sPMCA with rPrP in a laboratory that has never been exposed to any native prions. Two types of proteinase K (PK)-resistant and self-perpetuating recombinant PrP conformers (rPrP-res) with PK-resistant cores of 17 or 14 kDa were generated. A bioassay revealed that rPrP-res(17kDa) was highly infectious, causing prion disease in wild-type mice with an average survival time of about 172 d. In contrast, rPrP-res(14kDa) completely failed to induce any disease. Our findings reveal that sPMCA is sufficient to initiate various self-perpetuating PK-resistant rPrP conformers, but not all of them possess in vivo infectivity. Moreover, generating an infectious prion in a prion-free environment establishes that an infectious prion can be formed de novo with bacterially expressed rPrP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhihong Zhang
- 2Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, 1645 Neil Ave., Rm. 457A Hamilton Hall, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
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98
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Yi CW, Xu WC, Chen J, Liang Y. Recent progress in prion and prion-like protein aggregation. Acta Biochim Biophys Sin (Shanghai) 2013; 45:520-6. [PMID: 23709368 DOI: 10.1093/abbs/gmt052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Prion diseases and prion-like protein misfolding diseases involve the accumulation of abnormally aggregated forms of the normal host proteins, such as prion protein and Tau protein. These proteins are special because of their self-duplicating and transmissible characteristics. Such abnormally aggregated proteins mainly formed in neurons, cause the neurons dysfunction, and finally lead to invariably fatal neurodegenerative diseases. Prion diseases appear not only in animals, such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy in cattle and scrapie in sheep, but also in humans, such as Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, and even the same prion or prion-like proteins can have many different phenotypes. A lot of biological evidence has suggested that the molecular basis for different strains of prions could be hidden in protein conformations, and the misfolded proteins with conformations different from the normal proteins have been proved to be the main cause for protein aggregation. Crowded physiological environments can be imitated in vitro to study how the misfolding of these proteins leads to the diseases in vivo. In this review, we provide an overview of the existing structural information for prion and prion-like proteins, and discuss the post-translational modifications of prion proteins and the difference between prion and other infectious pathogens. We also discuss what makes a misfolded protein become an infectious agent, and show some examples of prion-like protein aggregation, such as Tau protein aggregation and superoxide dismutase 1 aggregation, as well as some cases of prion-like protein aggregation in crowded physiological environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chuan-Wei Yi
- State Key Laboratory of Virology, College of Life Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
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99
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Michel D. Life is a self-organizing machine driven by the informational cycle of Brillouin. ORIGINS LIFE EVOL B 2013; 43:137-50. [PMID: 23625038 DOI: 10.1007/s11084-013-9329-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2012] [Accepted: 01/04/2013] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Acquiring information is indisputably energy-consuming and conversely, the availability of information permits greater efficiency. Strangely, the scientific community long remained reluctant to establish a physical equivalence between the abstract notion of information and sensible thermodynamics. However, certain physicists such as Szilard and Brillouin proposed: (i) to give to information the status of a genuine thermodynamic entity (k B T ln2 joules/bit) and (ii) to link the capacity of storing information inferred from correlated systems, to that of indefinitely increasing organization. This positive feedback coupled to the self-templating molecular potential could provide a universal basis for the spontaneous rise of highly organized structures, typified by the emergence of life from a prebiotic chemical soup. Once established, this mechanism ensures the longevity and robustness of life envisioned as a general system, by allowing it to accumulate and optimize microstate-reducing recipes, thereby giving rise to strong nonlinearity, decisional capacity and multistability. Mechanisms possibly involved in priming this cycle are proposed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Denis Michel
- Université de Rennes 1 IRSET U1085 Transcription, Environment and Cancer, Campus de Beaulieu, Bat 13, 35042 Rennes Cedex, France.
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