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Jackson GS, Linehan J, Brandner S, Asante EA, Wadsworth JDF, Collinge J. Overexpression of mouse prion protein in transgenic mice causes a non-transmissible spongiform encephalopathy. Sci Rep 2022; 12:17198. [PMID: 36229637 PMCID: PMC9562354 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-21608-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2021] [Accepted: 09/29/2022] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Transgenic mice over-expressing human PRNP or murine Prnp transgenes on a mouse prion protein knockout background have made key contributions to the understanding of human prion diseases and have provided the basis for many of the fundamental advances in prion biology, including the first report of synthetic mammalian prions. In this regard, the prion paradigm is increasingly guiding the exploration of seeded protein misfolding in the pathogenesis of other neurodegenerative diseases. Here we report that a well-established and widely used line of such mice (Tg20 or tga20), which overexpress wild-type mouse prion protein, exhibit spontaneous aggregation and accumulation of misfolded prion protein in a strongly age-dependent manner, which is accompanied by focal spongiosis and occasional neuronal loss. In some cases a clinical syndrome developed with phenotypic features that closely resemble those seen in prion disease. However, passage of brain homogenate from affected, aged mice failed to transmit this syndrome when inoculated intracerebrally into further recipient animals. We conclude that overexpression of the wild-type mouse prion protein can cause an age-dependent protein misfolding disorder or proteinopathy that is not associated with the production of an infectious agent but can produce a phenotype closely similar to authentic prion disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Graham S Jackson
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, Courtauld Building, 33 Cleveland Street, London, W1W 7FF, UK.
| | - Jacqueline Linehan
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, Courtauld Building, 33 Cleveland Street, London, W1W 7FF, UK
| | - Sebastian Brandner
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, Courtauld Building, 33 Cleveland Street, London, W1W 7FF, UK
- Division of Neuropathology, Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Emmanuel A Asante
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, Courtauld Building, 33 Cleveland Street, London, W1W 7FF, UK
| | - Jonathan D F Wadsworth
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, Courtauld Building, 33 Cleveland Street, London, W1W 7FF, UK
| | - John Collinge
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, Courtauld Building, 33 Cleveland Street, London, W1W 7FF, UK
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2
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Han ZZ, Kang SG, Arce L, Westaway D. Prion-like strain effects in tauopathies. Cell Tissue Res 2022; 392:179-199. [PMID: 35460367 PMCID: PMC9034081 DOI: 10.1007/s00441-022-03620-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2021] [Accepted: 03/25/2022] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Tau is a microtubule-associated protein that plays crucial roles in physiology and pathophysiology. In the realm of dementia, tau protein misfolding is associated with a wide spectrum of clinicopathologically diverse neurodegenerative diseases, collectively known as tauopathies. As proposed by the tau strain hypothesis, the intrinsic heterogeneity of tauopathies may be explained by the existence of structurally distinct tau conformers, “strains”. Tau strains can differ in their associated clinical features, neuropathological profiles, and biochemical signatures. Although prior research into infectious prion proteins offers valuable lessons for studying how a protein-only pathogen can encompass strain diversity, the underlying mechanism by which tau subtypes are generated remains poorly understood. Here we summarize recent advances in understanding different tau conformers through in vivo and in vitro experimental paradigms, and the implications of heterogeneity of pathological tau species for drug development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhuang Zhuang Han
- Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, 204 Brain and Aging Research Building, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2M8, Canada.,Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.,Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Sang-Gyun Kang
- Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, 204 Brain and Aging Research Building, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2M8, Canada.,Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Luis Arce
- Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, 204 Brain and Aging Research Building, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2M8, Canada.,Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.,Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - David Westaway
- Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, 204 Brain and Aging Research Building, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2M8, Canada. .,Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada. .,Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
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3
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Mok TH, Nihat A, Luk C, Sequeira D, Batchelor M, Mead S, Collinge J, Jackson GS. Bank vole prion protein extends the use of RT-QuIC assays to detect prions in a range of inherited prion diseases. Sci Rep 2021; 11:5231. [PMID: 33664355 PMCID: PMC7933407 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-84527-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2020] [Accepted: 02/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) real-time quaking-induced conversion assay (RT-QuIC) is an ultrasensitive prion amyloid seeding assay for diagnosis of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) but several prion strains remain unexplored or resistant to conversion with commonly used recombinant prion protein (rPrP) substrates. Here, bank vole (BV) rPrP was used to study seeding by a wide range of archived post-mortem human CSF samples from cases of sporadic, acquired and various inherited prion diseases in high throughput 384-well format. BV rPrP substrate yielded positive reactions in 70/79 cases of sporadic CJD [Sensitivity 88.6% (95% CI 79.5-94.7%)], 1/2 variant CJD samples, and 9/20 samples from various inherited prion diseases; 5/57 non-prion disease control CSFs had positive reactions, yielding an overall specificity of 91.2% (95% CI 80.1-97.1%). Despite limitations of using post-mortem samples and our results' discrepancy with other studies, we demonstrated for the first time that BV rPrP is susceptible to conversion by human CSF samples containing certain prion strains not previously responsive in conventional rPrPs, thus justifying further optimisation for wider diagnostic and prognostic use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tze How Mok
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, Institute of Prion Diseases, Courtauld Building, 33 Cleveland Street, London, W1W 7FF, UK
| | - Akin Nihat
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, Institute of Prion Diseases, Courtauld Building, 33 Cleveland Street, London, W1W 7FF, UK
| | - Connie Luk
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, Institute of Prion Diseases, Courtauld Building, 33 Cleveland Street, London, W1W 7FF, UK
| | - Danielle Sequeira
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, Institute of Prion Diseases, Courtauld Building, 33 Cleveland Street, London, W1W 7FF, UK
| | - Mark Batchelor
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, Institute of Prion Diseases, Courtauld Building, 33 Cleveland Street, London, W1W 7FF, UK
| | - Simon Mead
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, Institute of Prion Diseases, Courtauld Building, 33 Cleveland Street, London, W1W 7FF, UK
| | - John Collinge
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, Institute of Prion Diseases, Courtauld Building, 33 Cleveland Street, London, W1W 7FF, UK
| | - Graham S Jackson
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, Institute of Prion Diseases, Courtauld Building, 33 Cleveland Street, London, W1W 7FF, UK.
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4
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Koriath C, Kenny J, Adamson G, Druyeh R, Taylor W, Beck J, Quinn L, Mok TH, Dimitriadis A, Norsworthy P, Bass N, Carter J, Walker Z, Kipps C, Coulthard E, Polke JM, Bernal-Quiros M, Denning N, Thomas R, Raybould R, Williams J, Mummery CJ, Wild EJ, Houlden H, Tabrizi SJ, Rossor MN, Hummerich H, Warren JD, Rowe JB, Rohrer JD, Schott JM, Fox NC, Collinge J, Mead S. Predictors for a dementia gene mutation based on gene-panel next-generation sequencing of a large dementia referral series. Mol Psychiatry 2020; 25:3399-3412. [PMID: 30279455 PMCID: PMC6330090 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-018-0224-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2018] [Revised: 06/28/2018] [Accepted: 07/18/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Next-generation genetic sequencing (NGS) technologies facilitate the screening of multiple genes linked to neurodegenerative dementia, but there are few reports about their use in clinical practice. Which patients would most profit from testing, and information on the likelihood of discovery of a causal variant in a clinical syndrome, are conspicuously absent from the literature, mostly for a lack of large-scale studies. We applied a validated NGS dementia panel to 3241 patients with dementia and healthy aged controls; 13,152 variants were classified by likelihood of pathogenicity. We identified 354 deleterious variants (DV, 12.6% of patients); 39 were novel DVs. Age at clinical onset, clinical syndrome and family history each strongly predict the likelihood of finding a DV, but healthcare setting and gender did not. DVs were frequently found in genes not usually associated with the clinical syndrome. Patients recruited from primary referral centres were compared with those seen at higher-level research centres and a national clinical neurogenetic laboratory; rates of discovery were comparable, making selection bias unlikely and the results generalisable to clinical practice. We estimated penetrance of DVs using large-scale online genomic population databases and found 71 with evidence of reduced penetrance. Two DVs in the same patient were found more frequently than expected. These data should provide a basis for more informed counselling and clinical decision making.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Koriath
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, Courtauld Building, London, W1W 7FF, UK
| | - J Kenny
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, Courtauld Building, London, W1W 7FF, UK
| | - G Adamson
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, Courtauld Building, London, W1W 7FF, UK
| | - R Druyeh
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, Courtauld Building, London, W1W 7FF, UK
| | - W Taylor
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, Courtauld Building, London, W1W 7FF, UK
| | - J Beck
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, Courtauld Building, London, W1W 7FF, UK
| | - L Quinn
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, Courtauld Building, London, W1W 7FF, UK
| | - T H Mok
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, Courtauld Building, London, W1W 7FF, UK
| | - A Dimitriadis
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, Courtauld Building, London, W1W 7FF, UK
| | - P Norsworthy
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, Courtauld Building, London, W1W 7FF, UK
| | - N Bass
- UCL Division of Psychiatry, Maple House, University College London, London, UK
| | - J Carter
- UCL Division of Psychiatry, Maple House, University College London, London, UK
| | - Z Walker
- UCL Division of Psychiatry, Maple House, University College London, London, UK
- Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, Essex, SS11 7XX, UK
| | - C Kipps
- Wessex Neurological Centre, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Southampton, UK
| | - E Coulthard
- Institute of Clinical Neuroscience, University of Bristol, Level 1 Learning and Research Building, Bristol, BS10 5NB, UK
| | - J M Polke
- Neurogenetics Laboratory, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - M Bernal-Quiros
- Neurogenetics Laboratory, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - N Denning
- Division of Psychological Medicine & Clinical Neurosciences, Cardiff University, Hadyn Ellis Building, Maindy Road, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ, UK
| | - R Thomas
- Division of Psychological Medicine & Clinical Neurosciences, Cardiff University, Hadyn Ellis Building, Maindy Road, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ, UK
| | - R Raybould
- Division of Psychological Medicine & Clinical Neurosciences, Cardiff University, Hadyn Ellis Building, Maindy Road, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ, UK
| | - J Williams
- Division of Psychological Medicine & Clinical Neurosciences, Cardiff University, Hadyn Ellis Building, Maindy Road, Cardiff, CF24 4HQ, UK
| | - C J Mummery
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - E J Wild
- Huntington's Disease Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - H Houlden
- Neurogenetics Laboratory, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - S J Tabrizi
- Huntington's Disease Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - M N Rossor
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - H Hummerich
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, Courtauld Building, London, W1W 7FF, UK
| | - J D Warren
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - J B Rowe
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0SZ, UK
- Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge, CB2 7EF, UK
| | - J D Rohrer
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - J M Schott
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - N C Fox
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - J Collinge
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, Courtauld Building, London, W1W 7FF, UK
| | - S Mead
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, Courtauld Building, London, W1W 7FF, UK.
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5
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Asante EA, Linehan JM, Tomlinson A, Jakubcova T, Hamdan S, Grimshaw A, Smidak M, Jeelani A, Nihat A, Mead S, Brandner S, Wadsworth JDF, Collinge J. Spontaneous generation of prions and transmissible PrP amyloid in a humanised transgenic mouse model of A117V GSS. PLoS Biol 2020; 18:e3000725. [PMID: 32516343 PMCID: PMC7282622 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000725] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [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: 10/17/2019] [Accepted: 05/06/2020] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Inherited prion diseases are caused by autosomal dominant coding mutations in the human prion protein (PrP) gene (PRNP) and account for about 15% of human prion disease cases worldwide. The proposed mechanism is that the mutation predisposes to conformational change in the expressed protein, leading to the generation of disease-related multichain PrP assemblies that propagate by seeded protein misfolding. Despite considerable experimental support for this hypothesis, to-date spontaneous formation of disease-relevant, transmissible PrP assemblies in transgenic models expressing only mutant human PrP has not been demonstrated. Here, we report findings from transgenic mice that express human PrP 117V on a mouse PrP null background (117VV Tg30 mice), which model the PRNP A117V mutation causing inherited prion disease (IPD) including Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker (GSS) disease phenotypes in humans. By studying brain samples from uninoculated groups of mice, we discovered that some mice (≥475 days old) spontaneously generated abnormal PrP assemblies, which after inoculation into further groups of 117VV Tg30 mice, produced a molecular and neuropathological phenotype congruent with that seen after transmission of brain isolates from IPD A117V patients to the same mice. To the best of our knowledge, the 117VV Tg30 mouse line is the first transgenic model expressing only mutant human PrP to show spontaneous generation of transmissible PrP assemblies that directly mirror those generated in an inherited prion disease in humans. Transgenic mice expressing the human prion protein containing a mutation linked to the inherited prion disease Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker disease develop spontaneous neuropathology. This represents the first human prion protein transgenic model to show spontaneous generation of transmissible prion assemblies that directly mirror those generated in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emmanuel A. Asante
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, London, United Kingdom
- * E-mail: (EAA); (JDFW); (JC)
| | | | - Andrew Tomlinson
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, London, United Kingdom
| | - Tatiana Jakubcova
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, London, United Kingdom
| | - Shyma Hamdan
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, London, United Kingdom
| | - Andrew Grimshaw
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, London, United Kingdom
| | - Michelle Smidak
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, London, United Kingdom
| | - Asif Jeelani
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, London, United Kingdom
| | - Akin Nihat
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, London, United Kingdom
| | - Simon Mead
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, London, United Kingdom
| | - Sebastian Brandner
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, London, United Kingdom
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and Division of Neuropathology, the National Hospital For Neurology and Neurosurgery, University College London NHS Foundation Trust, Queen Square, London United Kingdom
| | - Jonathan D. F. Wadsworth
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, London, United Kingdom
- * E-mail: (EAA); (JDFW); (JC)
| | - John Collinge
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, London, United Kingdom
- * E-mail: (EAA); (JDFW); (JC)
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6
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Katrak SM, Pauranik A, Desai SB, Mead S, Beck J, Brandner S, Collinge J. Familial Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in an Indian Kindred. Ann Indian Acad Neurol 2019; 22:458-461. [PMID: 31736569 PMCID: PMC6839320 DOI: 10.4103/aian.aian_214_19] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2019] [Revised: 04/28/2019] [Accepted: 05/02/2019] [Indexed: 11/04/2022] Open
Abstract
It is now known that the inherited prion disease is caused by over 60 different mutations in the Prion protein (PRNP) gene. Four missense mutations at codons 102, 178, 200 and 210, account for over 95% of these cases. In this study we describe, a large Indian family with familial Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (fCJD). One affected member presented with a presenile dementia, a protracted clinical course and characateristic MRI features. Genetic analysis revealed a D178N mutation in the 2 affected individuals and 7 unaffected members. The neuropathological examination of the brain of one of the affected member was conspicuous by spongiform degeneration, neuronal loss and gliosis. This is a detailed report of a genetically and neuropathologically proven fCJD from India.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarosh M. Katrak
- Department of Neurology, Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre, Mumbai, India
| | - Apoorva Pauranik
- Pauranik Academy of Medical Education, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India
| | - Shrinivas B. Desai
- Department of Radiology, Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre, Mumbai, India
| | - Simon Mead
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, Institute of Prion Diseases, London, UK
| | - Jon Beck
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, Institute of Prion Diseases, London, UK
| | - Sebastian Brandner
- Division of Neuropathology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queens Square, London, UK
| | - John Collinge
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, Institute of Prion Diseases, London, UK
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7
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Terry C, Harniman RL, Sells J, Wenborn A, Joiner S, Saibil HR, Miles MJ, Collinge J, Wadsworth JDF. Structural features distinguishing infectious ex vivo mammalian prions from non-infectious fibrillar assemblies generated in vitro. Sci Rep 2019; 9:376. [PMID: 30675000 PMCID: PMC6344479 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-36700-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2018] [Accepted: 11/23/2018] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Seeded polymerisation of proteins forming amyloid fibres and their spread in tissues has been implicated in the pathogenesis of multiple neurodegenerative diseases: so called "prion-like" mechanisms. While ex vivo mammalian prions, composed of multichain assemblies of misfolded host-encoded prion protein (PrP), act as lethal infectious agents, PrP amyloid fibrils produced in vitro generally do not. The high-resolution structure of authentic infectious prions and the structural basis of prion strain diversity remain unknown. Here we use cryo-electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy to examine the structure of highly infectious PrP rods isolated from mouse brain in comparison to non-infectious recombinant PrP fibrils generated in vitro. Non-infectious recombinant PrP fibrils are 10 nm wide single fibres, with a double helical repeating substructure displaying small variations in adhesive force interactions across their width. In contrast, infectious PrP rods are 20 nm wide and contain two fibres, each with a double helical repeating substructure, separated by a central gap of 8-10 nm in width. This gap contains an irregularly structured material whose adhesive force properties are strikingly different to that of the fibres, suggestive of a distinct composition. The structure of the infectious PrP rods, which cause lethal neurodegeneration, readily differentiates them from all other protein assemblies so far characterised in other neurodegenerative diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cassandra Terry
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, 33 Cleveland Street, London, W1W 7FF, UK
- London Metropolitan University, North Campus, Holloway Road, London, N7 8DB, UK
| | | | - Jessica Sells
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, 33 Cleveland Street, London, W1W 7FF, UK
- King's Centre for Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine, King's College London, Guy's Campus, London, SE1 9RT, UK
| | - Adam Wenborn
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, 33 Cleveland Street, London, W1W 7FF, UK
| | - Susan Joiner
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, 33 Cleveland Street, London, W1W 7FF, UK
| | - Helen R Saibil
- Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology, Department of Biological Sciences, Birkbeck College, University of London, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HX, UK
| | - Mervyn J Miles
- School of Physics, H.H. Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TL, UK
| | - John Collinge
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, 33 Cleveland Street, London, W1W 7FF, UK.
| | - Jonathan D F Wadsworth
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, 33 Cleveland Street, London, W1W 7FF, UK.
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8
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Mok TH, Koriath C, Jaunmuktane Z, Campbell T, Joiner S, Wadsworth JDF, Hosszu LLP, Brandner S, Parvez A, Truelsen TC, Lund EL, Saha R, Collinge J, Mead S. Evaluating the causality of novel sequence variants in the prion protein gene by example. Neurobiol Aging 2018; 71:265.e1-265.e7. [PMID: 29861043 PMCID: PMC6175539 DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2018.05.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2018] [Revised: 04/22/2018] [Accepted: 05/06/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
The estimation of pathogenicity and penetrance of novel prion protein gene (PRNP) variants presents significant challenges, particularly in the absence of family history, which precludes the application of Mendelian segregation. Moreover, the ambiguities of prion disease pathophysiology renders conventional in silico predictions inconclusive. Here, we describe 2 patients with rapid cognitive decline progressing to akinetic mutism and death within 10 weeks of symptom onset, both of whom possessed the novel T201S variant in PRNP. Clinically, both satisfied diagnostic criteria for probable sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and in one, the diagnosis was confirmed by neuropathology. While computational analyses predicted that T201S was possibly deleterious, molecular strain typing, prion protein structural considerations, and calculations leveraging large-scale population data (gnomAD) indicate that T201S is at best either of low penetrance or nonpathogenic. Thus, we illustrate the utility of harnessing multiple lines of prion disease-specific evidence in the evaluation of the T201S variant, which may be similarly applied to assess other novel variants in PRNP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tze How Mok
- MRC Prion Unit, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, London, UK; National Prion Clinic, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, UCLH NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - Carolin Koriath
- Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK
| | - Zane Jaunmuktane
- Department of Molecular Neuroscience, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK; Division of Neuropathology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, UCLH NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - Tracy Campbell
- MRC Prion Unit, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, London, UK
| | - Susan Joiner
- MRC Prion Unit, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, London, UK
| | | | | | - Sebastian Brandner
- Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK; Division of Neuropathology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, UCLH NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - Ambereen Parvez
- Department of Neurology, University of Copenhagen, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | | | - Eva Løbner Lund
- Department of Pathology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Romi Saha
- Hurstwood Park Neurological Centre, Sussex, UK
| | - John Collinge
- MRC Prion Unit, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, London, UK; National Prion Clinic, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, UCLH NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - Simon Mead
- MRC Prion Unit, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, London, UK; National Prion Clinic, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, UCLH NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
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9
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Fernández-Borges N, Espinosa JC, Marín-Moreno A, Aguilar-Calvo P, Asante EA, Kitamoto T, Mohri S, Andréoletti O, Torres JM. Protective Effect of Val 129-PrP against Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy but not Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. Emerg Infect Dis 2018; 23:1522-1530. [PMID: 28820136 PMCID: PMC5572891 DOI: 10.3201/eid2309.161948] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is the only known zoonotic prion that causes variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) in humans. The major risk determinant for this disease is the polymorphic codon 129 of the human prion protein (Hu-PrP), where either methionine (Met129) or valine (Val129) can be encoded. To date, all clinical and neuropathologically confirmed vCJD cases have been Met129 homozygous, with the exception of 1 recently reported Met/Val heterozygous case. Here, we found that transgenic mice homozygous for Val129 Hu-PrP show severely restricted propagation of the BSE prion strain, but this constraint can be partially overcome by adaptation of the BSE agent to the Met129 Hu-PrP. In addition, the transmission of vCJD to transgenic mice homozygous for Val129 Hu-PrP resulted in a prion with distinct strain features. These observations may indicate increased risk for vCJD secondary transmission in Val129 Hu-PrP–positive humans with the emergence of new strain features.
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10
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Joiner S, Asante EA, Linehan JM, Brock L, Brandner S, Bellworthy SJ, Simmons MM, Hope J, Collinge J, Wadsworth JDF. Experimental sheep BSE prions generate the vCJD phenotype when serially passaged in transgenic mice expressing human prion protein. J Neurol Sci 2017; 386:4-11. [PMID: 29406965 PMCID: PMC5946165 DOI: 10.1016/j.jns.2017.12.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2017] [Revised: 12/01/2017] [Accepted: 12/28/2017] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
The epizootic prion disease of cattle, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), causes variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) in humans following dietary exposure. While it is assumed that all cases of vCJD attributed to a dietary aetiology are related to cattle BSE, sheep and goats are susceptible to experimental oral challenge with cattle BSE prions and farmed animals in the UK were undoubtedly exposed to BSE-contaminated meat and bone meal during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Although no natural field cases of sheep BSE have been identified, it cannot be excluded that some BSE-infected sheep might have entered the European human food chain. Evaluation of the zoonotic potential of sheep BSE prions has been addressed by examining the transmission properties of experimental brain isolates in transgenic mice that express human prion protein, however to-date there have been relatively few studies. Here we report that serial passage of experimental sheep BSE prions in transgenic mice expressing human prion protein with methionine at residue 129 produces the vCJD phenotype that mirrors that seen when the same mice are challenged with vCJD prions from patient brain. These findings are congruent with those reported previously by another laboratory, and thereby strongly reinforce the view that sheep BSE prions could have acted as a causal agent of vCJD within Europe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susan Joiner
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, London, UK
| | | | | | - Lara Brock
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, London, UK
| | | | | | | | - James Hope
- Animal and Plant Health Agency, Addlestone, Surrey, UK
| | - John Collinge
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, London, UK
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11
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Wadsworth JDF, Adamson G, Joiner S, Brock L, Powell C, Linehan JM, Beck JA, Brandner S, Mead S, Collinge J. Methods for Molecular Diagnosis of Human Prion Disease. Methods Mol Biol 2017; 1658:311-346. [PMID: 28861799 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-7244-9_22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Human prion diseases are associated with a range of clinical presentations, and they are classified by both clinicopathological syndrome and etiology, with subclassification according to molecular criteria. Here, we describe updated procedures that are currently used within the MRC Prion Unit at UCL to determine a molecular diagnosis of human prion disease. Sequencing of the PRNP open reading frame to establish the presence of pathogenic mutations is described, together with detailed methods for immunoblot or immunohistochemical determination of the presence of abnormal prion protein in the brain or peripheral tissues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan D F Wadsworth
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK.
| | - Gary Adamson
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Susan Joiner
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Lara Brock
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Caroline Powell
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Jacqueline M Linehan
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Jonathan A Beck
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Sebastian Brandner
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Simon Mead
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - John Collinge
- MRC Prion Unit at UCL, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
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12
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Schmidt C, Fizet J, Properzi F, Batchelor M, Sandberg MK, Edgeworth JA, Afran L, Ho S, Badhan A, Klier S, Linehan JM, Brandner S, Hosszu LLP, Tattum MH, Jat P, Clarke AR, Klöhn PC, Wadsworth JDF, Jackson GS, Collinge J. A systematic investigation of production of synthetic prions from recombinant prion protein. Open Biol 2016; 5:150165. [PMID: 26631378 PMCID: PMC4703057 DOI: 10.1098/rsob.150165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
According to the protein-only hypothesis, infectious mammalian prions, which exist as distinct strains with discrete biological properties, consist of multichain assemblies of misfolded cellular prion protein (PrP). A critical test would be to produce prion strains synthetically from defined components. Crucially, high-titre ‘synthetic' prions could then be used to determine the structural basis of infectivity and strain diversity at the atomic level. While there have been multiple reports of production of prions from bacterially expressed recombinant PrP using various methods, systematic production of high-titre material in a form suitable for structural analysis remains a key goal. Here, we report a novel high-throughput strategy for exploring a matrix of conditions, additives and potential cofactors that might generate high-titre prions from recombinant mouse PrP, with screening for infectivity using a sensitive automated cell-based bioassay. Overall, approximately 20 000 unique conditions were examined. While some resulted in apparently infected cell cultures, this was transient and not reproducible. We also adapted published methods that reported production of synthetic prions from recombinant hamster PrP, but again did not find evidence of significant infectious titre when using recombinant mouse PrP as substrate. Collectively, our findings are consistent with the formation of prion infectivity from recombinant mouse PrP being a rare stochastic event and we conclude that systematic generation of prions from recombinant PrP may only become possible once the detailed structure of authentic ex vivo prions is solved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Schmidt
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Jeremie Fizet
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Francesca Properzi
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Mark Batchelor
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Malin K Sandberg
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Julie A Edgeworth
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Louise Afran
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Sammy Ho
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Anjna Badhan
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Steffi Klier
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Jacqueline M Linehan
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Sebastian Brandner
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Laszlo L P Hosszu
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - M Howard Tattum
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Parmjit Jat
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Anthony R Clarke
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Peter C Klöhn
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Jonathan D F Wadsworth
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Graham S Jackson
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - John Collinge
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
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13
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Mead S, Burnell M, Lowe J, Thompson A, Lukic A, Porter MC, Carswell C, Kaski D, Kenny J, Mok TH, Bjurstrom N, Franko E, Gorham M, Druyeh R, Wadsworth JDF, Jaunmuktane Z, Brandner S, Hyare H, Rudge P, Walker AS, Collinge J. Clinical Trial Simulations Based on Genetic Stratification and the Natural History of a Functional Outcome Measure in Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. JAMA Neurol 2016; 73:447-55. [PMID: 26902324 DOI: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2015.4885] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
IMPORTANCE A major challenge for drug development in neurodegenerative diseases is that adequately powered efficacy studies with meaningful end points typically require several hundred participants and long durations. Prion diseases represent the archetype of brain diseases caused by protein misfolding, the most common subtype being sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD), a rapidly progressive dementia. There is no well-established trial method in prion disease. OBJECTIVE To establish a more powerful and meaningful clinical trial method in sCJD. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS A stratified medicine and simulation approach based on a prospective interval-cohort study conducted from October 2008 to June 2014. This study involved 598 participants with probable or definite sCJD followed up over 470 patient-years at a specialist national referral service in the United Kingdom with domiciliary, care home, and hospital patient visits. We fitted linear mixed models to the outcome measurements, and simulated clinical trials involving 10 to 120 patients (no dropouts) with early to moderately advanced prion disease using model parameters to compare the power of various designs. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES A total of 2681 assessments were done using a functionally orientated composite end point (Medical Research Council Scale) and associated with clinical investigations (brain magnetic resonance imaging, electroencephalography, and cerebrospinal fluid analysis) and molecular data (prion protein [PrP] gene sequencing, PrPSc type). RESULTS Of the 598 participants, 273 were men. The PrP gene sequence was significantly associated with decline relative to any other demographic or investigation factors. Patients with sCJD and polymorphic codon 129 genotypes MM, VV, and MV lost 10% of their function in 5.3 (95% CI, 4.2-6.9), 13.2 (95% CI, 10.9-16.6), and 27.8 (95% CI, 21.9-37.8) days, respectively (P < .001). Simulations indicate that an adequately powered (80%; 2-sided α = .05) open-label randomized trial using 50% reduction in Medical Research Council Scale decline as the primary outcome could be conducted with only 120 participants assessed every 10 days and only 90 participants assessed daily, providing considerably more power than using survival as the primary outcome. Restricting to VV or MV codon 129 genotypes increased power even further. Alternatively, single-arm intervention studies (half the total sample size) could provide similar power in comparison to the natural history cohort. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Functional end points in neurodegeneration need not require long and very large clinical studies to be adequately powered for efficacy. Patients with sCJD may be an efficient and cost-effective group for testing disease-modifying therapeutics. Stratified medicine and natural history cohort approaches may transform the feasibility of clinical trials in orphan diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon Mead
- Medical Research Council Prion Unit, Department of Neurodegnerative Disease, University College London Institute of Neurology, London, England2National Prion Clinic, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, University College London Hospitals, NH
| | - Matthew Burnell
- Department of Statistical Science, Faculty of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University College London, London, England
| | - Jessica Lowe
- National Prion Clinic, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, University College London Hospitals, NHS Trust, London, England
| | - Andrew Thompson
- National Prion Clinic, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, University College London Hospitals, NHS Trust, London, England
| | - Ana Lukic
- National Prion Clinic, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, University College London Hospitals, NHS Trust, London, England
| | - Marie-Claire Porter
- National Prion Clinic, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, University College London Hospitals, NHS Trust, London, England
| | - Christopher Carswell
- National Prion Clinic, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, University College London Hospitals, NHS Trust, London, England
| | - Diego Kaski
- National Prion Clinic, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, University College London Hospitals, NHS Trust, London, England
| | - Janna Kenny
- National Prion Clinic, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, University College London Hospitals, NHS Trust, London, England
| | - Tze How Mok
- National Prion Clinic, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, University College London Hospitals, NHS Trust, London, England
| | - Nina Bjurstrom
- National Prion Clinic, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, University College London Hospitals, NHS Trust, London, England
| | - Edit Franko
- National Prion Clinic, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, University College London Hospitals, NHS Trust, London, England
| | - Michele Gorham
- National Prion Clinic, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, University College London Hospitals, NHS Trust, London, England
| | - Ronald Druyeh
- Medical Research Council Prion Unit, Department of Neurodegnerative Disease, University College London Institute of Neurology, London, England
| | - Jonathan D F Wadsworth
- Medical Research Council Prion Unit, Department of Neurodegnerative Disease, University College London Institute of Neurology, London, England
| | - Zane Jaunmuktane
- Division of Neuropathology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, University College London Hospitals, NHS Trust, London, England
| | - Sebastian Brandner
- Division of Neuropathology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, University College London Hospitals, NHS Trust, London, England5Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, University College London Institute of Neurology, London, England
| | - Harpreet Hyare
- National Prion Clinic, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, University College London Hospitals, NHS Trust, London, England
| | - Peter Rudge
- Medical Research Council Prion Unit, Department of Neurodegnerative Disease, University College London Institute of Neurology, London, England2National Prion Clinic, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, University College London Hospitals, NH
| | - A Sarah Walker
- MRC Clinical Trials Unit at University College London, London, England
| | - John Collinge
- Medical Research Council Prion Unit, Department of Neurodegnerative Disease, University College London Institute of Neurology, London, England2National Prion Clinic, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, University College London Hospitals, NH
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14
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Terry C, Wenborn A, Gros N, Sells J, Joiner S, Hosszu LLP, Tattum MH, Panico S, Clare DK, Collinge J, Saibil HR, Wadsworth JDF. Ex vivo mammalian prions are formed of paired double helical prion protein fibrils. Open Biol 2016; 6:rsob.160035. [PMID: 27249641 PMCID: PMC4892434 DOI: 10.1098/rsob.160035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2016] [Accepted: 04/13/2016] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Mammalian prions are hypothesized to be fibrillar or amyloid forms of prion protein (PrP), but structures observed to date have not been definitively correlated with infectivity and the three-dimensional structure of infectious prions has remained obscure. Recently, we developed novel methods to obtain exceptionally pure preparations of prions from mouse brain and showed that pathogenic PrP in these high-titre preparations is assembled into rod-like assemblies. Here, we have used precise cell culture-based prion infectivity assays to define the physical relationship between the PrP rods and prion infectivity and have used electron tomography to define their architecture. We show that infectious PrP rods isolated from multiple prion strains have a common hierarchical assembly comprising twisted pairs of short fibres with repeating substructure. The architecture of the PrP rods provides a new structural basis for understanding prion infectivity and can explain the inability to systematically generate high-titre synthetic prions from recombinant PrP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cassandra Terry
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Adam Wenborn
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Nathalie Gros
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Jessica Sells
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Susan Joiner
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Laszlo L P Hosszu
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - M Howard Tattum
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Silvia Panico
- Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology, Department of Biological Sciences, Birkbeck College, University of London, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX, UK
| | - Daniel K Clare
- Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology, Department of Biological Sciences, Birkbeck College, University of London, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX, UK
| | - John Collinge
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Helen R Saibil
- Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology, Department of Biological Sciences, Birkbeck College, University of London, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX, UK
| | - Jonathan D F Wadsworth
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
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15
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McKinnon C, Goold R, Andre R, Devoy A, Ortega Z, Moonga J, Linehan JM, Brandner S, Lucas JJ, Collinge J, Tabrizi SJ. Prion-mediated neurodegeneration is associated with early impairment of the ubiquitin-proteasome system. Acta Neuropathol 2016; 131:411-25. [PMID: 26646779 PMCID: PMC4752964 DOI: 10.1007/s00401-015-1508-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2015] [Revised: 11/02/2015] [Accepted: 11/12/2015] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Prion diseases are a group of fatal neurodegenerative disorders characterised by the accumulation of misfolded prion protein (PrP(Sc)) in the brain. The critical relationship between aberrant protein misfolding and neurotoxicity currently remains unclear. The accumulation of aggregation-prone proteins has been linked to impairment of the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) in a variety of neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases. As the principal route for protein degradation in mammalian cells, this could have profound detrimental effects on neuronal function and survival. Here, we determine the temporal onset of UPS dysfunction in prion-infected Ub(G76V)-GFP reporter mice, which express a ubiquitin fusion proteasome substrate to measure in vivo UPS activity. We show that the onset of UPS dysfunction correlates closely with PrP(Sc) deposition, preceding earliest behavioural deficits and neuronal loss. UPS impairment was accompanied by accumulation of polyubiquitinated substrates and found to affect both neuronal and astrocytic cell populations. In prion-infected CAD5 cells, we demonstrate that activation of the UPS by the small molecule inhibitor IU1 is sufficient to induce clearance of polyubiquitinated substrates and reduce misfolded PrP(Sc) load. Taken together, these results identify the UPS as a possible early mediator of prion pathogenesis and promising target for development of future therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chris McKinnon
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, University College London, Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Rob Goold
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, University College London, Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Ralph Andre
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, University College London, Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Anny Devoy
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, University College London, Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Zaira Ortega
- Centro de Biología Molecular "Severo Ochoa", (CBMSO) CSIC/UAM, Madrid, Spain
- Networking Research Center on Neurodegenerative Diseases (CIBERNED), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Julie Moonga
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, University College London, Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Jacqueline M Linehan
- MRC Prion Unit, University College London, Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, UK
| | - Sebastian Brandner
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, University College London, Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
- Division of Neuropathology, The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London, UK
| | - José J Lucas
- Centro de Biología Molecular "Severo Ochoa", (CBMSO) CSIC/UAM, Madrid, Spain
- Networking Research Center on Neurodegenerative Diseases (CIBERNED), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - John Collinge
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, University College London, Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK
- MRC Prion Unit, University College London, Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, UK
| | - Sarah J Tabrizi
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, University College London, Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK.
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16
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Jaunmuktane Z, Mead S, Ellis M, Wadsworth JDF, Nicoll AJ, Kenny J, Launchbury F, Linehan J, Richard-Loendt A, Walker AS, Rudge P, Collinge J, Brandner S. Evidence for human transmission of amyloid-β pathology and cerebral amyloid angiopathy. Nature 2015; 525:247-50. [PMID: 26354483 DOI: 10.1038/nature15369] [Citation(s) in RCA: 357] [Impact Index Per Article: 39.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2015] [Accepted: 08/14/2015] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
More than two hundred individuals developed Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) worldwide as a result of treatment, typically in childhood, with human cadaveric pituitary-derived growth hormone contaminated with prions. Although such treatment ceased in 1985, iatrogenic CJD (iCJD) continues to emerge because of the prolonged incubation periods seen in human prion infections. Unexpectedly, in an autopsy study of eight individuals with iCJD, aged 36-51 years, in four we found moderate to severe grey matter and vascular amyloid-β (Aβ) pathology. The Aβ deposition in the grey matter was typical of that seen in Alzheimer's disease and Aβ in the blood vessel walls was characteristic of cerebral amyloid angiopathy and did not co-localize with prion protein deposition. None of these patients had pathogenic mutations, APOE ε4 or other high-risk alleles associated with early-onset Alzheimer's disease. Examination of a series of 116 patients with other prion diseases from a prospective observational cohort study showed minimal or no Aβ pathology in cases of similar age range, or a decade older, without APOE ε4 risk alleles. We also analysed pituitary glands from individuals with Aβ pathology and found marked Aβ deposition in multiple cases. Experimental seeding of Aβ pathology has been previously demonstrated in primates and transgenic mice by central nervous system or peripheral inoculation with Alzheimer's disease brain homogenate. The marked deposition of parenchymal and vascular Aβ in these relatively young patients with iCJD, in contrast with other prion disease patients and population controls, is consistent with iatrogenic transmission of Aβ pathology in addition to CJD and suggests that healthy exposed individuals may also be at risk of iatrogenic Alzheimer's disease and cerebral amyloid angiopathy. These findings should also prompt investigation of whether other known iatrogenic routes of prion transmission may also be relevant to Aβ and other proteopathic seeds associated with neurodegenerative and other human diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zane Jaunmuktane
- Division of Neuropathology, The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Simon Mead
- Medical Research Council Prion Unit, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK.,Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK.,National Prion Clinic, The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Matthew Ellis
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Jonathan D F Wadsworth
- Medical Research Council Prion Unit, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK.,Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Andrew J Nicoll
- Medical Research Council Prion Unit, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK.,Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Joanna Kenny
- Medical Research Council Prion Unit, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK.,National Prion Clinic, The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Francesca Launchbury
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | | | - Angela Richard-Loendt
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - A Sarah Walker
- MRC Clinical Trials Unit at University College London, 125 Kingsway, London WC2B 6NH, UK
| | - Peter Rudge
- Medical Research Council Prion Unit, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK.,National Prion Clinic, The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - John Collinge
- Medical Research Council Prion Unit, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK.,Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK.,National Prion Clinic, The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Sebastian Brandner
- Division of Neuropathology, The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK.,Medical Research Council Prion Unit, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK.,Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
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17
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Rudge P, Jaunmuktane Z, Adlard P, Bjurstrom N, Caine D, Lowe J, Norsworthy P, Hummerich H, Druyeh R, Wadsworth JDF, Brandner S, Hyare H, Mead S, Collinge J. Iatrogenic CJD due to pituitary-derived growth hormone with genetically determined incubation times of up to 40 years. Brain 2015; 138:3386-99. [PMID: 26268531 PMCID: PMC4620512 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awv235] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2015] [Accepted: 06/22/2015] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Cases of iatrogenic CJD still occur in the UK 30 years after administration of human pituitary-derived growth hormone ceased. Rudge et al. report a change over time in genotype profile at polymorphic codon 129 of the human prion protein gene in UK patients, distinct from that seen in other countries. Patients with iatrogenic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease due to administration of cadaver-sourced growth hormone during childhood are still being seen in the UK 30 years after cessation of this treatment. Of the 77 patients who have developed iatrogenic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, 56 have been genotyped. There has been a marked change in genotype profile at polymorphic codon 129 of the prion protein gene (PRNP) from predominantly valine homozygous to a mixed picture of methionine homozygous and methionine-valine heterozygous over time. The incubation period of iatrogenic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is significantly different between all three genotypes. This experience is a striking contrast with that in France and the USA, which may relate to contamination of different growth hormone batches with different strains of human prions. We describe the clinical, imaging, molecular and autopsy features in 22 of 24 patients who have developed iatrogenic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in the UK since 2003. Mean age at onset of symptoms was 42.7 years. Gait ataxia and lower limb dysaesthesiae were the most frequent presenting symptoms. All had cerebellar signs, and the majority had myoclonus and lower limb pyramidal signs, with relatively preserved cognitive function, when first seen. There was a progressive decline in neurological and cognitive function leading to death after 5–32 (mean 14) months. Despite incubation periods approaching 40 years, the clinical duration in methionine homozygote patients appeared to be shorter than that seen in heterozygote patients. MRI showed restricted diffusion in the basal ganglia, thalamus, hippocampus, frontal and the paracentral motor cortex and cerebellar vermis. The electroencephalogram was abnormal in 15 patients and cerebrospinal fluid 14-3-3 protein was positive in half the patients. Neuropathological examination was conducted in nine patients. All but one showed synaptic prion deposition with numerous kuru type plaques in the basal ganglia, anterior frontal and parietal cortex, thalamus, basal ganglia and cerebellum. The patient with the shortest clinical duration had an atypical synaptic deposition of abnormal prion protein and no kuru plaques. Taken together, these data provide a remarkable example of the interplay between the strain of the pathogen and host prion protein genotype. Based on extensive modelling of human prion transmission barriers in transgenic mice expressing human prion protein on a mouse prion protein null background, the temporal distribution of codon 129 genotypes within the cohort of patients with iatrogenic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in the UK suggests that there was a point source of infecting prion contamination of growth hormone derived from a patient with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease expressing prion protein valine 129.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Rudge
- 1 National Prion Clinic, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN), University College London (UCL) Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK 2 MRC Prion Unit, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Zane Jaunmuktane
- 3 Division of Neuropathology, NHNN, UCL Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Peter Adlard
- 4 UCL Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, London WC1N 1EH, UK
| | - Nina Bjurstrom
- 1 National Prion Clinic, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN), University College London (UCL) Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Diana Caine
- 1 National Prion Clinic, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN), University College London (UCL) Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK 5 Department of Neuropsychology, NHNN, UCL Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Jessica Lowe
- 2 MRC Prion Unit, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Penny Norsworthy
- 2 MRC Prion Unit, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Holger Hummerich
- 2 MRC Prion Unit, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Ron Druyeh
- 2 MRC Prion Unit, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Jonathan D F Wadsworth
- 2 MRC Prion Unit, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Sebastian Brandner
- 3 Division of Neuropathology, NHNN, UCL Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Harpreet Hyare
- 1 National Prion Clinic, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN), University College London (UCL) Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK 2 MRC Prion Unit, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Simon Mead
- 1 National Prion Clinic, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN), University College London (UCL) Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK 2 MRC Prion Unit, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - John Collinge
- 1 National Prion Clinic, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN), University College London (UCL) Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK 2 MRC Prion Unit, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
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18
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Transmission Properties of Human PrP 102L Prions Challenge the Relevance of Mouse Models of GSS. PLoS Pathog 2015; 11:e1004953. [PMID: 26135918 PMCID: PMC4489887 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1004953] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2015] [Accepted: 05/13/2015] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Inherited prion disease (IPD) is caused by autosomal-dominant pathogenic mutations in the human prion protein (PrP) gene (PRNP). A proline to leucine substitution at PrP residue 102 (P102L) is classically associated with Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker (GSS) disease but shows marked clinical and neuropathological variability within kindreds that may be caused by variable propagation of distinct prion strains generated from either PrP 102L or wild type PrP. To-date the transmission properties of prions propagated in P102L patients remain ill-defined. Multiple mouse models of GSS have focused on mutating the corresponding residue of murine PrP (P101L), however murine PrP 101L, a novel PrP primary structure, may not have the repertoire of pathogenic prion conformations necessary to accurately model the human disease. Here we describe the transmission properties of prions generated in human PrP 102L expressing transgenic mice that were generated after primary challenge with ex vivo human GSS P102L or classical CJD prions. We show that distinct strains of prions were generated in these mice dependent upon source of the inoculum (either GSS P102L or CJD brain) and have designated these GSS-102L and CJD-102L prions, respectively. GSS-102L prions have transmission properties distinct from all prion strains seen in sporadic and acquired human prion disease. Significantly, GSS-102L prions appear incapable of transmitting disease to conventional mice expressing wild type mouse PrP, which contrasts strikingly with the reported transmission properties of prions generated in GSS P102L-challenged mice expressing mouse PrP 101L. We conclude that future transgenic modeling of IPDs should focus exclusively on expression of mutant human PrP, as other approaches may generate novel experimental prion strains that are unrelated to human disease. Inherited prion disease (IPD) is caused by pathogenic mutations in the human prion protein (PrP) gene leading to the formation of lethal prions in the brain. To-date the properties of prions causing IPD and their similarities to prions causing other forms of human prion disease remain ill-defined. In the present study we have investigated the properties of prions seen in patients with Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker (GSS) disease associated with the substitution of leucine for proline at amino acid position 102 (GSS P102L). We examined the ability of these prions to infect transgenic mice expressing human mutant 102L PrP, human wild-type PrP or wild-type mice. We found that GSS-102L prions have properties distinct from other types of human prions by showing that they can only infect transgenic mice expressing human PrP carrying the same mutation. Mice expressing wild-type human PrP or wild-type mouse PrP were entirely resistant to infection with GSS-102L prions. We conclude that accurate modeling of inherited prion disease requires the expression of authentic mutant human PrP in transgenic models, as other approaches may generate results that do not mirror the human disease.
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19
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A naturally occurring variant of the human prion protein completely prevents prion disease. Nature 2015; 522:478-81. [PMID: 26061765 PMCID: PMC4486072 DOI: 10.1038/nature14510] [Citation(s) in RCA: 117] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2015] [Accepted: 05/07/2015] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Mammalian prions, transmissible agents causing lethal neurodegenerative diseases, are composed of assemblies of misfolded cellular prion protein (PrP). A novel PrP variant, G127V, was under positive evolutionary selection during the epidemic of kuru--an acquired prion disease epidemic of the Fore population in Papua New Guinea--and appeared to provide strong protection against disease in the heterozygous state. Here we have investigated the protective role of this variant and its interaction with the common, worldwide M129V PrP polymorphism. V127 was seen exclusively on a M129 PRNP allele. We demonstrate that transgenic mice expressing both variant and wild-type human PrP are completely resistant to both kuru and classical Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) prions (which are closely similar) but can be infected with variant CJD prions, a human prion strain resulting from exposure to bovine spongiform encephalopathy prions to which the Fore were not exposed. Notably, mice expressing only PrP V127 were completely resistant to all prion strains, demonstrating a different molecular mechanism to M129V, which provides its relative protection against classical CJD and kuru in the heterozygous state. Indeed, this single amino acid substitution (G→V) at a residue invariant in vertebrate evolution is as protective as deletion of the protein. Further study in transgenic mice expressing different ratios of variant and wild-type PrP indicates that not only is PrP V127 completely refractory to prion conversion but acts as a potent dose-dependent inhibitor of wild-type prion propagation.
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20
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Trevitt CR, Hosszu LLP, Batchelor M, Panico S, Terry C, Nicoll AJ, Risse E, Taylor WA, Sandberg MK, Al-Doujaily H, Linehan JM, Saibil HR, Scott DJ, Collinge J, Waltho JP, Clarke AR. N-terminal domain of prion protein directs its oligomeric association. J Biol Chem 2014; 289:25497-508. [PMID: 25074940 PMCID: PMC4162156 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m114.566588] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
The self-association of prion protein (PrP) is a critical step in the pathology of prion diseases. It is increasingly recognized that small non-fibrillar β-sheet-rich oligomers of PrP may be of crucial importance in the prion disease process. Here, we characterize the structure of a well defined β-sheet-rich oligomer, containing ∼12 PrP molecules, and often enclosing a central cavity, formed using full-length recombinant PrP. The N-terminal region of prion protein (residues 23-90) is required for the formation of this distinct oligomer; a truncated form comprising residues 91-231 forms a broad distribution of aggregated species. No infectivity or toxicity was found using cell and animal model systems. This study demonstrates that examination of the full repertoire of conformers and assembly states that can be accessed by PrP under specific experimental conditions should ideally be done using the full-length protein.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clare R Trevitt
- From the Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, MRC Prion Unit, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG
| | - Laszlo L P Hosszu
- From the Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, MRC Prion Unit, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG
| | - Mark Batchelor
- From the Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, MRC Prion Unit, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG
| | - Silvia Panico
- the Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology, Birkbeck College, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX
| | - Cassandra Terry
- From the Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, MRC Prion Unit, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG
| | - Andrew J Nicoll
- From the Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, MRC Prion Unit, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG
| | - Emmanuel Risse
- From the Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, MRC Prion Unit, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG
| | - William A Taylor
- From the Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, MRC Prion Unit, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG
| | - Malin K Sandberg
- From the Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, MRC Prion Unit, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG
| | - Huda Al-Doujaily
- From the Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, MRC Prion Unit, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG
| | - Jacqueline M Linehan
- From the Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, MRC Prion Unit, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG
| | - Helen R Saibil
- the Institute of Structural and Molecular Biology, Birkbeck College, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HX
| | - David J Scott
- the National Centre for Macromolecular Hydrodynamics, School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus, Leicestershire, LE12 5RD, the ISIS Spallation Neutron and Muon Source and Research Complex at Harwell, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Oxfordshire, OX11 0FA, and
| | - John Collinge
- From the Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, MRC Prion Unit, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG
| | - Jonathan P Waltho
- the Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Krebs Institute for Biomolecular Research, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, United Kingdom
| | - Anthony R Clarke
- From the Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, MRC Prion Unit, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG,
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21
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Prion neuropathology follows the accumulation of alternate prion protein isoforms after infective titre has peaked. Nat Commun 2014; 5:4347. [PMID: 25005024 PMCID: PMC4104459 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms5347] [Citation(s) in RCA: 103] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2014] [Accepted: 06/09/2014] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Prions are lethal infectious agents thought to consist of multi-chain forms (PrPSc) of misfolded cellular prion protein (PrPC). Prion propagation proceeds in two distinct mechanistic phases: an exponential phase 1, which rapidly reaches a fixed level of infectivity irrespective of PrPC expression level, and a plateau (phase 2), which continues until clinical onset with duration inversely proportional to PrPC expression level. We hypothesized that neurotoxicity relates to distinct neurotoxic species produced following a pathway switch when prion levels saturate. Here we show a linear increase of proteinase K-sensitive PrP isoforms distinct from classical PrPSc at a rate proportional to PrPC concentration, commencing at the phase transition and rising until clinical onset. The unaltered level of total PrP during phase 1, when prion infectivity increases a million-fold, indicates that prions comprise a small minority of total PrP. This is consistent with PrPC concentration not being rate limiting to exponential prion propagation and neurotoxicity relating to critical concentrations of alternate PrP isoforms whose production is PrPC concentration dependent. Prions (PrP) are infectious agents that cause lethal neurodegenerative diseases. Here the authors study the kinetics of prion propagation in mice and show that the onset of neuropathology occurs during the late phase of disease and is hypothesized to be due to increases in a toxic isoform of PrP that is different from the infectious species.
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22
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Wadsworth JDF, Joiner S, Linehan JM, Balkema-Buschmann A, Spiropoulos J, Simmons MM, Griffiths PC, Groschup MH, Hope J, Brandner S, Asante EA, Collinge J. Atypical scrapie prions from sheep and lack of disease in transgenic mice overexpressing human prion protein. Emerg Infect Dis 2014; 19:1731-9. [PMID: 24188521 PMCID: PMC3837652 DOI: 10.3201/eid1911.121341] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Public and animal health controls to limit human exposure to animal prions are focused on bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), but other prion strains in ruminants may also have zoonotic potential. One example is atypical/Nor98 scrapie, which evaded statutory diagnostic methods worldwide until the early 2000s. To investigate whether sheep infected with scrapie prions could be another source of infection, we inoculated transgenic mice that overexpressed human prion protein with brain tissue from sheep with natural field cases of classical and atypical scrapie, sheep with experimental BSE, and cattle with BSE. We found that these mice were susceptible to BSE prions, but disease did not develop after prolonged postinoculation periods when mice were inoculated with classical or atypical scrapie prions. These data are consistent with the conclusion that prion disease is less likely to develop in humans after exposure to naturally occurring prions of sheep than after exposure to epizootic BSE prions of ruminants.
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23
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Sheppard O, Plattner F, Rubin A, Slender A, Linehan JM, Brandner S, Tybulewicz VL, Fisher EM, Wiseman FK. Altered regulation of tau phosphorylation in a mouse model of down syndrome aging. Neurobiol Aging 2012; 33:828.e31-44. [PMID: 21843906 PMCID: PMC3314962 DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2011.06.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2010] [Revised: 04/05/2011] [Accepted: 06/23/2011] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Down syndrome (DS) results from trisomy of human chromosome 21 (Hsa21) and is associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here, using the unique transchromosomic Tc1 mouse model of DS we investigate the influence of trisomy of Hsa21 on the protein tau, which is hyperphosphorylated in Alzheimer's disease. We show that in old, but not young, Tc1 mice increased phosphorylation of tau occurs at a site suggested to be targeted by the Hsa21 encoded kinase, dual-specificity tyrosine-(Y)-phosphorylation regulated kinase 1A (DYRK1A). We show that DYRK1A is upregulated in young and old Tc1 mice, but that young trisomic mice may be protected from accumulating aberrantly phosphorylated tau. We observe that the key tau kinase, glycogen synthase kinase3-β (GSK-3β) is aberrantly phosphorylated at an inhibitory site in the aged Tc1 brain which may reduce total glycogen synthase kinase3-β activity. It is possible that a similar mechanism may also occur in people with DS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olivia Sheppard
- University College London Institute of Neurology, London, UK
| | | | - Anna Rubin
- University College London Institute of Neurology, London, UK
| | - Amy Slender
- MRC National Institute for Medical Research, London, UK
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24
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Begué C, Martinetto H, Schultz M, Rojas E, Romero C, D'Giano C, Sevlever G, Somoza M, Taratuto AL. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease surveillance in Argentina, 1997-2008. Neuroepidemiology 2011; 37:193-202. [PMID: 22067221 DOI: 10.1159/000331907] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2011] [Accepted: 08/04/2011] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Epidemiological data on Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) from Latin America are limited. We present a comprehensive epidemiological survey on CJD patients in Argentina based on systematic surveillance between 1997 and 2008. METHODS A CJD Surveillance Referral Center (SRC) was established in Argentina in 1997; previously a Neuropathology Referral Center was used from 1983 to 1996. All suspected cases referred to the SRC were classified using established criteria on the basis of information derived from the following: clinical data form, EEG, MRI (both for central review), cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for protein 14-3-3 Western blot (WB), autopsy or biopsy material for neuropathology, prion protein (PrP) immunohistochemistry and PrP WB, as well as blood for DNA studies (when brain tissue was not available). RESULTS Of the 517 patients referred to the SRC between 1997 and 2008, 211 (40.8%) had CJD or other transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) (definite or probable). Possible cases totaled 14.5%, while cases with no WHO criteria accounted for 16.4%. Non-CJD cases excluded by biopsy/autopsy or during follow-up corresponded to 28.2% of the 517 referrals. Main differential diagnoses included neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, frontotemporal dementia, vascular, metabolic or viral encephalopathy, and Hashimoto's disease. Five percent of referred patients ultimately recovered. Eighty-three percent of TSE cases were sporadic CJD; 17% were genetic, mainly E200K (15.6%); the remaining 1.4% included an octarepeat insertion and two Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker cases (P102L). Seventy-four of 100 definite cases had frozen tissue available for molecular subtyping (PrP(Sc)/codon 129). CSF protein 14-3-3 WB sensitivity was 72.3% and specificity was 92.1%. Clinical diagnostic criteria for probable CJD when compared to definite diagnosis by neuropathology showed 71.3% sensitivity, 86.2% specificity, 94.4% positive predictive value and 48% negative predictive value. Country incidence increased over time and reached 0.85 cases per million in 2008, with the highest rate detected in the city of Buenos Aires (1.8). Districts with 6% of the total population have never reported suspected cases. CONCLUSION In spite of an increase in incidence observed over time, the difference between Buenos Aires city, where the incidence is comparable to that of smaller European countries with higher population density, and the incidence observed in the rest of the country suggests underreporting in nonmetropolitan areas, probably due to a lack of access to specialized medical facilities. CSF WB sensitivity results for protein 14-3-3 were probably linked to the fact that testing was not routinely repeated during the course of the disease, when earlier test results had been negative. The spectrum of molecular CJD subtypes observed did not differ from other countries in Europe. No iatrogenic or variant CJD cases were identified. The sensitivity and negative predictive value of clinical diagnostic criteria for probable CJD (which includes EEG and/or CSF protein 14-3-3 levels) may have been resulted from confirmed cases not meeting probable criteria before autopsy, due to a lack of ancillary tests such as EEG and/or CSF 14-3-3 WB, or because negative tests were not repeated during follow-up.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christián Begué
- CJD Surveillance Referral Center, Department of Neuropathology, Institute for Neurological Research, FLENI, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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25
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Kaski DN, Pennington C, Beck J, Poulter M, Uphill J, Bishop MT, Linehan JM, O’Malley C, Wadsworth JDF, Joiner S, Knight RSG, Ironside JW, Brandner S, Collinge J, Mead S. Inherited prion disease with 4-octapeptide repeat insertion: disease requires the interaction of multiple genetic risk factors. Brain 2011; 134:1829-38. [DOI: 10.1093/brain/awr079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
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26
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Hussain A, Babar ME, Imran M, Haq IU, Javed MM. Detection of four novel polymorphisms in PrP gene of Pakistani sheep (Damani and Hashtnagri) and goats (Kamori and Local Hairy) breeds. Virol J 2011; 8:246. [PMID: 21595993 PMCID: PMC3120785 DOI: 10.1186/1743-422x-8-246] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2011] [Accepted: 05/20/2011] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Scrapie is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder of sheep and goats caused by post-translational conformational change in the host-encoded prion protein (PrPC). Susceptibility or resistance to scrapie has been associated with the presence of polymorphisms in the prion protein (PrP) gene. In the present study, we analyzed the PrP gene sequence to determine the frequency of polymorphisms in 56 sheep (28 each from Damani and Hashtnagri breeds) and 56 goats (28 each from Kamori and Local Hairy breeds). A total of 7 amino acid polymorphisms were detected in the PrP gene for sheep and 4 for goats. These amino acid polymorphisms were combined in 13 alleles and 15 genotypes in sheep and 5 alleles and 6 genotypes in goats. The overall frequency of the most sheep scrapie-resistant polymorphism (Q171R) was calculated to be 0.107. The most scrapie-susceptible polymorphism (A136V) was not detected in any of the studied sheep. The overall frequency of scrapie-associated polymorphism (H143R) in goats was found to be 0.152. Along with already known amino acid polymorphisms, two novel polymorphisms were also detected for each of sheep (Q171N and T191I) and goats (G22C and P63L). However, the overall frequency of these polymorphisms was extremely low.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amjed Hussain
- University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan
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27
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Wadsworth JDF, Asante EA, Collinge J. Review: contribution of transgenic models to understanding human prion disease. Neuropathol Appl Neurobiol 2011; 36:576-97. [PMID: 20880036 PMCID: PMC3017745 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2990.2010.01129.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
Transgenic mice expressing human prion protein in the absence of endogenous mouse prion protein faithfully replicate human prions. These models reproduce all of the key features of human disease, including long clinically silent incubation periods prior to fatal neurodegeneration with neuropathological phenotypes that mirror human prion strain diversity. Critical contributions to our understanding of human prion disease pathogenesis and aetiology have only been possible through the use of transgenic mice. These models have provided the basis for the conformational selection model of prion transmission barriers and have causally linked bovine spongiform encephalopathy with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. In the future these models will be essential for evaluating newly identified potentially zoonotic prion strains, for validating effective methods of prion decontamination and for developing effective therapeutic treatments for human prion disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- J D F Wadsworth
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, Institute of Neurology, University College London, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK.
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28
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Wadsworth JDF, Collinge J. Molecular pathology of human prion disease. Acta Neuropathol 2011; 121:69-77. [PMID: 20694796 PMCID: PMC3015177 DOI: 10.1007/s00401-010-0735-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2010] [Revised: 07/29/2010] [Accepted: 07/30/2010] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Human prion diseases are associated with a range of clinical presentations and are classified by both clinicopathological syndrome and aetiology with sub-classification according to molecular criteria. Considerable experimental evidence suggests that phenotypic diversity in human prion disease relates in significant part to the existence of distinct human prion strains encoded by abnormal PrP isoforms with differing physicochemical properties. To date, however, the conformational repertoire of pathological isoforms of wild-type human PrP and the various forms of mutant human PrP has not been fully defined. Efforts to produce a unified international classification of human prion disease are still ongoing. The ability of genetic background to influence prion strain selection together with knowledge of numerous other factors that may influence clinical and neuropathological presentation strongly emphasises the requirement to identify distinct human prion strains in appropriate transgenic models, where host genetic variability and other modifiers of phenotype are removed. Defining how many human prion strains exist allied with transgenic modelling of potentially zoonotic prion strains will inform on how many human infections may have an animal origin. Understanding these relationships will have direct translation to protecting public health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan D. F. Wadsworth
- MRC Prion Unit, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG UK
| | - John Collinge
- MRC Prion Unit, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG UK
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Wadsworth JDF, Dalmau-Mena I, Joiner S, Linehan JM, O'Malley C, Powell C, Brandner S, Asante EA, Ironside JW, Hilton DA, Collinge J. Effect of fixation on brain and lymphoreticular vCJD prions and bioassay of key positive specimens from a retrospective vCJD prevalence study. J Pathol 2010; 223:511-8. [PMID: 21294124 DOI: 10.1002/path.2821] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2010] [Revised: 10/21/2010] [Accepted: 11/06/2010] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Anonymous screening of lymphoreticular tissues removed during routine surgery has been applied to estimate the UK population prevalence of asymptomatic vCJD prion infection. The retrospective study of Hilton et al (J Pathol 2004; 203: 733-739) found accumulation of abnormal prion protein in three formalin-fixed appendix specimens. This led to an estimated UK prevalence of vCJD infection of ∼1 in 4000, which remains the key evidence supporting current risk reduction measures to reduce iatrogenic transmission of vCJD prions in the UK. Confirmatory testing of these positives has been hampered by the inability to perform immunoblotting of formalin-fixed tissue. Animal transmission studies offer the potential for 'gold standard' confirmatory testing but are limited by both transmission barrier effects and known effects of fixation on scrapie prion titre in experimental models. Here we report the effects of fixation on brain and lymphoreticular human vCJD prions and comparative bioassay of two of the three prevalence study formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) appendix specimens using transgenic mice expressing human prion protein (PrP). While transgenic mice expressing human PrP 129M readily reported vCJD prion infection after inoculation with frozen vCJD brain or appendix, and also FFPE vCJD brain, no infectivity was detected in FFPE vCJD spleen. No prion transmission was observed from either of the FFPE appendix specimens. The absence of detectable infectivity in fixed, known positive vCJD lymphoreticular tissue precludes interpreting negative transmissions from vCJD prevalence study appendix specimens. In this context, the Hilton et al study should continue to inform risk assessment pending the outcome of larger-scale studies on discarded surgical tissues and autopsy samples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan D F Wadsworth
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
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Schott JM, Reiniger L, Thom M, Holton JL, Grieve J, Brandner S, Warren JD, Revesz T. Brain biopsy in dementia: clinical indications and diagnostic approach. Acta Neuropathol 2010; 120:327-41. [PMID: 20640903 DOI: 10.1007/s00401-010-0721-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2010] [Revised: 07/08/2010] [Accepted: 07/08/2010] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Brain biopsy may be performed to make a definitive diagnosis in patients with rapidly progressive dementia. To assess the value of this procedure, we previously studied 90 consecutive cerebral biopsies performed in the tertiary referral centre of the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square between 1989 and 2003 (6 biopsies/year). Fifty-seven percent of all biopsies were diagnostic with Alzheimer's disease (18%), Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) (12%) and inflammatory disorders (9%) being the most frequent. In the non-diagnostic group and for the series as a whole non-specific gliosis was the commonest diagnosis (37%). Treatment was altered because of information obtained from neuropathological findings in 11% of cases. To identify changes in practice that may have occurred due to recent advances in clinical assessment and improved histopathological techniques, we performed a follow-up study of 19 brain biopsies (approximately 3 cases/year) carried out for a dementing illness in the same centre between 2004 and 2009. These data suggest that brain biopsy may be less frequently used to help clinical diagnosis whilst its diagnostic yield increased from 57 to 74%. The commonest diagnosis was CJD, mostly suspected during life. Amongst the diagnoses, there were two cases of vasculitis and two cases of primary neurodegenerative dementia. These data suggest that improved clinical selection criteria supported by advances in diagnostic testing may result in brain biopsy being less frequently required, although it may still provide useful diagnostic information in difficult cases. We propose algorithms to aid the clinician in selecting appropriate patients for a biopsy and the neuropathologist in assessing a biopsy specimen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan M Schott
- Dementia Research Centre, The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London WC1N 3BG, UK
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Wiseman FK, Sheppard O, Linehan JM, Brandner S, Tybulewicz VLJ, Fisher EMC. Generation of a panel of antibodies against proteins encoded on human chromosome 21. J Negat Results Biomed 2010; 9:7. [PMID: 20727138 PMCID: PMC2936279 DOI: 10.1186/1477-5751-9-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2010] [Accepted: 08/20/2010] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Down syndrome (DS) is caused by trisomy of all or part of chromosome 21. To further understanding of DS we are working with a mouse model, the Tc1 mouse, which carries most of human chromosome 21 in addition to the normal mouse chromosome complement. This mouse is a model for human DS and recapitulates many of the features of the human syndrome such as specific heart defects, and cerebellar neuronal loss. The Tc1 mouse is mosaic for the human chromosome such that not all cells in the model carry it. Thus to help our investigations we aimed to develop a method to identify cells that carry human chromosome 21 in the Tc1 mouse. To this end, we have generated a panel of antibodies raised against proteins encoded by genes on human chromosome 21 that are known to be expressed in the adult brain of Tc1 mice RESULTS We attempted to generate human specific antibodies against proteins encoded by human chromosome 21. We selected proteins that are expressed in the adult brain of Tc1 mice and contain regions of moderate/low homology with the mouse ortholog. We produced antibodies to seven human chromosome 21 encoded proteins. Of these, we successfully generated three antibodies that preferentially recognise human compared with mouse SOD1 and RRP1 proteins on western blots. However, these antibodies did not specifically label cells which carry a freely segregating copy of Hsa21 in the brains of our Tc1 mouse model of DS. CONCLUSIONS Although we have successfully isolated new antibodies to SOD1 and RRP1 for use on western blots, in our hands these antibodies have not been successfully used for immunohistochemistry studies. These antibodies are freely available to other researchers. Our data high-light the technical difficulty of producing species-specific antibodies for both western blotting and immunohistochemistry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frances K Wiseman
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Olivia Sheppard
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Jacqueline M Linehan
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Sebastian Brandner
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Victor LJ Tybulewicz
- MRC National Institute for Medical Research, The Ridgeway, Mill Hill, London NW7 1AA, UK
| | - Elizabeth MC Fisher
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
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Sandberg MK, Al-Doujaily H, Sigurdson CJ, Glatzel M, O'Malley C, Powell C, Asante EA, Linehan JM, Brandner S, Wadsworth JDF, Collinge J. Chronic wasting disease prions are not transmissible to transgenic mice overexpressing human prion protein. J Gen Virol 2010; 91:2651-7. [PMID: 20610667 PMCID: PMC3052602 DOI: 10.1099/vir.0.024380-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 85] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a prion disease that affects free-ranging and captive cervids, including mule deer, white-tailed deer, Rocky Mountain elk and moose. CWD-infected cervids have been reported in 14 USA states, two Canadian provinces and in South Korea. The possibility of a zoonotic transmission of CWD prions via diet is of particular concern in North America where hunting of cervids is a popular sport. To investigate the potential public health risks posed by CWD prions, we have investigated whether intracerebral inoculation of brain and spinal cord from CWD-infected mule deer transmits prion infection to transgenic mice overexpressing human prion protein with methionine or valine at polymorphic residue 129. These transgenic mice have been utilized in extensive transmission studies of human and animal prion disease and are susceptible to BSE and vCJD prions, allowing comparison with CWD. Here, we show that these mice proved entirely resistant to infection with mule deer CWD prions arguing that the transmission barrier associated with this prion strain/host combination is greater than that observed with classical BSE prions. However, it is possible that CWD may be caused by multiple prion strains. Further studies will be required to evaluate the transmission properties of distinct cervid prion strains as they are characterized.
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Affiliation(s)
- Malin K Sandberg
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
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Asante EA, Gowland I, Grimshaw A, Linehan JM, Smidak M, Houghton R, Osiguwa O, Tomlinson A, Joiner S, Brandner S, Wadsworth JDF, Collinge J. Absence of spontaneous disease and comparative prion susceptibility of transgenic mice expressing mutant human prion proteins. J Gen Virol 2009; 90:546-558. [PMID: 19218199 PMCID: PMC2885063 DOI: 10.1099/vir.0.007930-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Approximately 15 % of human prion disease is associated with autosomal-dominant pathogenic mutations in the prion protein (PrP) gene. Previous attempts to model these diseases in mice have expressed human PrP mutations in murine PrP, but this may have different structural consequences. Here, we describe transgenic mice expressing human PrP with P102L or E200K mutations and methionine (M) at the polymorphic residue 129. Although no spontaneous disease developed in aged animals, these mice were readily susceptible to prion infection from patients with the homotypic pathogenic mutation. However, while variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD) prions transmitted infection efficiently to both lines of mice, markedly different susceptibilities to classical (sporadic and iatrogenic) CJD prions were observed. Prions from E200K and classical CJD M129 homozygous patients, transmitted disease with equivalent efficiencies and short incubation periods in human PrP 200K, 129M transgenic mice. However, mismatch at residue 129 between inoculum and host dramatically increased the incubation period. In human PrP 102L, 129M transgenic mice, short disease incubation periods were only observed with transmissions of prions from P102L patients, whereas classical CJD prions showed prolonged and variable incubation periods irrespective of the codon 129 genotype. Analysis of disease-related PrP (PrPSc) showed marked alteration in the PrPSc glycoform ratio propagated after transmission of classical CJD prions, consistent with the PrP point mutations directly influencing PrPSc assembly. These data indicate that P102L or E200K mutations of human PrP have differing effects on prion propagation that depend upon prion strain type and can be significantly influenced by mismatch at the polymorphic residue 129.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emmanuel A Asante
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Ian Gowland
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Andrew Grimshaw
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Jacqueline M Linehan
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Michelle Smidak
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Richard Houghton
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Olufunmilayo Osiguwa
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Andrew Tomlinson
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Susan Joiner
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Sebastian Brandner
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Jonathan D F Wadsworth
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - John Collinge
- MRC Prion Unit and Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
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Wang YT, Su ZY, Liao JM, Chen CL. Potential of mean force for Syrian hamster prion epitope protein--monoclonal fab 3f4 antibody interaction studies. Eur J Med Chem 2008; 44:3504-8. [PMID: 19304354 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2008.12.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2008] [Revised: 08/27/2008] [Accepted: 12/17/2008] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Simulating antigen-antibody interactions are crucial for understanding antigen-antibody associations in immunology. To shed further light on this question, we study a dissociation of the Syrian hamster prion epitope protein-fab 3f4 antibody complex structure. The stretching, that is, the distance between the center of mass of the prion epitope protein and the fab 3f4 antibody, has been studied using potential of mean force (PMF) calculations based on molecular dynamics (MD) and the implicit water model. For the complex structure, there are four important intermediates, U-shaped groove on the antibodies, and two inter-protein molecular hydrogen bonds in the stretching process. Use of our simulations may help in understanding the binding mechanics of the complex structure, and thus of significance in the design of antibodies against prion disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yeng-Tseng Wang
- National Center for High-performance Computing, Hsin-Shi, Tainan County, Taiwan, ROC
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Brandner S, Whitfield J, Boone K, Puwa A, O'Malley C, Linehan JM, Joiner S, Scaravilli F, Calder I, P Alpers M, Wadsworth JDF, Collinge J. Central and peripheral pathology of kuru: pathological analysis of a recent case and comparison with other forms of human prion disease. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2008; 363:3755-63. [PMID: 18849292 PMCID: PMC2581659 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2008.0091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
While the neuropathology of kuru is well defined, there are few data concerning the distribution of disease-related prion protein in peripheral tissues. Here we report the investigation of brain and peripheral tissues from a kuru patient who died in 2003. Neuropathological findings were compared with those seen in classical (sporadic and iatrogenic) Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD) and variant CJD (vCJD). The neuropathological findings of the kuru patient showed all the stereotypical changes that define kuru, with the occurrence of prominent PrP plaques throughout the brain. Lymphoreticular tissue showed no evidence of prion colonization, suggesting that the peripheral pathogenesis of kuru is similar to that seen in classical CJD rather than vCJD. These findings now strongly suggest that the characteristic peripheral pathogenesis of vCJD is determined by prion strain type alone rather than route of infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Brandner
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, MRC Prion Unit, UCL Institute of Neurology, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London, UK
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First report of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease occurring in 2 siblings unexplained by PRNP mutation. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 2008; 67:838-41. [PMID: 18716560 DOI: 10.1097/nen.0b013e318182f36e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Sibling concurrence of pathologically confirmed prion disease has only been reported in association with pathogenic mutation of the prion protein gene (PRNP). Here, we report 2 siblings with classic neuropathologic features of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease unexplained by PRNP mutation or known risk factors for iatrogenic transmission of prion infection. Possible explanations include coincidental occurrence, common exposure to an unidentified environmental source of prions, horizontal transmission of disease, or the presence of unknown shared genetic predisposition.
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