1
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Mehra S, Bourkas ME, Kaczmarczyk L, Stuart E, Arshad H, Griffin JK, Frost KL, Walsh DJ, Supattapone S, Booth SA, Jackson WS, Watts JC. Convergent generation of atypical prions in knockin mouse models of genetic prion disease. J Clin Invest 2024; 134:e176344. [PMID: 39087478 PMCID: PMC11291267 DOI: 10.1172/jci176344] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2023] [Accepted: 06/11/2024] [Indexed: 08/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Most cases of human prion disease arise due to spontaneous misfolding of WT or mutant prion protein, yet recapitulating this event in animal models has proven challenging. It remains unclear whether spontaneous prion generation can occur within the mouse lifespan in the absence of protein overexpression and how disease-causing mutations affect prion strain properties. To address these issues, we generated knockin mice that express the misfolding-prone bank vole prion protein (BVPrP). While mice expressing WT BVPrP (I109 variant) remained free from neurological disease, a subset of mice expressing BVPrP with mutations (D178N or E200K) causing genetic prion disease developed progressive neurological illness. Brains from spontaneously ill knockin mice contained prion disease-specific neuropathological changes as well as atypical protease-resistant BVPrP. Moreover, brain extracts from spontaneously ill D178N- or E200K-mutant BVPrP-knockin mice exhibited prion seeding activity and transmitted disease to mice expressing WT BVPrP. Surprisingly, the properties of the D178N- and E200K-mutant prions appeared identical before and after transmission, suggesting that both mutations guide the formation of a similar atypical prion strain. These findings imply that knockin mice expressing mutant BVPrP spontaneously develop a bona fide prion disease and that mutations causing prion diseases may share a uniform initial mechanism of action.
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Affiliation(s)
- Surabhi Mehra
- Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases and
| | - Matthew E.C. Bourkas
- Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases and
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Lech Kaczmarczyk
- Wallenberg Center for Molecular Medicine, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany
| | - Erica Stuart
- Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases and
| | - Hamza Arshad
- Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases and
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | | | - Kathy L. Frost
- One Health Division, National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
| | | | - Surachai Supattapone
- Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology and
- Department of Medicine, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
| | - Stephanie A. Booth
- One Health Division, National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
| | - Walker S. Jackson
- Wallenberg Center for Molecular Medicine, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany
| | - Joel C. Watts
- Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases and
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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2
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Vidal E, Sánchez-Martín MA, Eraña H, Lázaro SP, Pérez-Castro MA, Otero A, Charco JM, Marín B, López-Moreno R, Díaz-Domínguez CM, Geijo M, Ordóñez M, Cantero G, di Bari M, Lorenzo NL, Pirisinu L, d’Agostino C, Torres JM, Béringue V, Telling G, Badiola JJ, Pumarola M, Bolea R, Nonno R, Requena JR, Castilla J. Bona fide atypical scrapie faithfully reproduced for the first time in a rodent model. Acta Neuropathol Commun 2022; 10:179. [PMID: 36514160 PMCID: PMC9749341 DOI: 10.1186/s40478-022-01477-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2022] [Accepted: 11/10/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Atypical Scrapie, which is not linked to epidemics, is assumed to be an idiopathic spontaneous prion disease in small ruminants. Therefore, its occurrence is unlikely to be controlled through selective breeding or other strategies as it is done for classical scrapie outbreaks. Its spontaneous nature and its sporadic incidence worldwide is reminiscent of the incidence of idiopathic spontaneous prion diseases in humans, which account for more than 85% of the cases in humans. Hence, developing animal models that consistently reproduce this phenomenon of spontaneous PrP misfolding, is of importance to study the pathobiology of idiopathic spontaneous prion disorders. Transgenic mice overexpressing sheep PrPC with I112 polymorphism (TgShI112, 1-2 × PrP levels compared to sheep brain) manifest clinical signs of a spongiform encephalopathy spontaneously as early as 380 days of age. The brains of these animals show the neuropathological hallmarks of prion disease and biochemical analyses of the misfolded prion protein show a ladder-like PrPres pattern with a predominant 7-10 kDa band. Brain homogenates from spontaneously diseased transgenic mice were inoculated in several models to assess their transmissibility and characterize the prion strain generated: TgShI112 (ovine I112 ARQ PrPC), Tg338 (ovine VRQ PrPC), Tg501 (ovine ARQ PrPC), Tg340 (human M129 PrPC), Tg361 (human V129 PrPC), TgVole (bank vole I109 PrPC), bank vole (I109I PrPC), and sheep (AHQ/ARR and AHQ/AHQ churra-tensina breeds). Our analysis of the results of these bioassays concludes that the strain generated in this model is indistinguishable to that causing atypical scrapie (Nor98). Thus, we present the first faithful model for a bona fide, transmissible, ovine, atypical scrapie prion disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Enric Vidal
- grid.424716.2Unitat Mixta d’Investigació IRTA-UAB en Sanitat Animal, Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA), Campus de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra, Catalonia Spain ,grid.424716.2IRTA Programa de Sanitat Animal, Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA), Campus de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra, Catalonia Spain
| | - Manuel A. Sánchez-Martín
- grid.11762.330000 0001 2180 1817Transgenic Facility. Department of Medicine, University of Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain
| | - Hasier Eraña
- grid.420175.50000 0004 0639 2420Centro de Investigación Cooperativa en Biociencias (CIC BioGUNE), Laboratorio de Investigación de Priones, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Derio, Bizkaia Spain ,ATLAS Molecular Pharma S. L., Derio, Bizkaia Spain ,grid.413448.e0000 0000 9314 1427Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBERINFEC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Sonia Pérez Lázaro
- grid.11205.370000 0001 2152 8769Centro de Encefalopatías y Enfermedades Transmisibles Emergentes, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Zaragoza–IA2, Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Miguel A. Pérez-Castro
- grid.420175.50000 0004 0639 2420Centro de Investigación Cooperativa en Biociencias (CIC BioGUNE), Laboratorio de Investigación de Priones, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Derio, Bizkaia Spain
| | - Alicia Otero
- grid.11205.370000 0001 2152 8769Centro de Encefalopatías y Enfermedades Transmisibles Emergentes, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Zaragoza–IA2, Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Jorge M. Charco
- grid.420175.50000 0004 0639 2420Centro de Investigación Cooperativa en Biociencias (CIC BioGUNE), Laboratorio de Investigación de Priones, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Derio, Bizkaia Spain ,ATLAS Molecular Pharma S. L., Derio, Bizkaia Spain ,grid.413448.e0000 0000 9314 1427Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBERINFEC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Belén Marín
- grid.11205.370000 0001 2152 8769Centro de Encefalopatías y Enfermedades Transmisibles Emergentes, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Zaragoza–IA2, Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Rafael López-Moreno
- grid.420175.50000 0004 0639 2420Centro de Investigación Cooperativa en Biociencias (CIC BioGUNE), Laboratorio de Investigación de Priones, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Derio, Bizkaia Spain
| | - Carlos M. Díaz-Domínguez
- grid.420175.50000 0004 0639 2420Centro de Investigación Cooperativa en Biociencias (CIC BioGUNE), Laboratorio de Investigación de Priones, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Derio, Bizkaia Spain
| | - Mariví Geijo
- grid.509696.50000 0000 9853 6743Animal Health Department, NEIKER-Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Derio, Spain
| | - Montserrat Ordóñez
- grid.424716.2Unitat Mixta d’Investigació IRTA-UAB en Sanitat Animal, Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA), Campus de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra, Catalonia Spain ,grid.424716.2IRTA Programa de Sanitat Animal, Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA), Campus de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra, Catalonia Spain
| | - Guillermo Cantero
- grid.424716.2Unitat Mixta d’Investigació IRTA-UAB en Sanitat Animal, Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA), Campus de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra, Catalonia Spain ,grid.424716.2IRTA Programa de Sanitat Animal, Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA), Campus de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra, Catalonia Spain
| | - Michele di Bari
- grid.416651.10000 0000 9120 6856Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health, Istituto Superiore Di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Nuria L. Lorenzo
- grid.11794.3a0000000109410645CIMUS Biomedical Research Institute, University of Santiago de Compostela-IDIS, Santiago, Spain
| | - Laura Pirisinu
- grid.416651.10000 0000 9120 6856Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health, Istituto Superiore Di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Claudia d’Agostino
- grid.416651.10000 0000 9120 6856Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health, Istituto Superiore Di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Juan María Torres
- grid.419190.40000 0001 2300 669XCentro de Investigación en Sanidad Animal (CISA), Centro Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) Valdeolmos, Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA), 28130 Madrid, Spain
| | - Vincent Béringue
- grid.417961.cMolecular Virology and Immunology, Institut National de La Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Université Paris-Saclay, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Glenn Telling
- grid.47894.360000 0004 1936 8083Prion Research Center (PRC) and the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO USA
| | - Juan J. Badiola
- grid.11205.370000 0001 2152 8769Centro de Encefalopatías y Enfermedades Transmisibles Emergentes, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Zaragoza–IA2, Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Martí Pumarola
- Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Facultat de Veterinària, Campus de UAB, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Catalonia Spain
| | - Rosa Bolea
- grid.11205.370000 0001 2152 8769Centro de Encefalopatías y Enfermedades Transmisibles Emergentes, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de Zaragoza–IA2, Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Romolo Nonno
- grid.416651.10000 0000 9120 6856Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health, Istituto Superiore Di Sanità, 00161 Rome, Italy
| | - Jesús R. Requena
- grid.11794.3a0000000109410645CIMUS Biomedical Research Institute, University of Santiago de Compostela-IDIS, Santiago, Spain
| | - Joaquín Castilla
- grid.420175.50000 0004 0639 2420Centro de Investigación Cooperativa en Biociencias (CIC BioGUNE), Laboratorio de Investigación de Priones, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Derio, Bizkaia Spain ,grid.413448.e0000 0000 9314 1427Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBERINFEC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain ,grid.424810.b0000 0004 0467 2314IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao, Bizkaia Spain
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3
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Myers RR, Sanchez-Garcia J, Leving DC, Melvin RG, Fernandez-Funez P. New Drosophila models to uncover the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that mediate the toxicity of the human prion protein. Dis Model Mech 2022; 15:dmm049184. [PMID: 35142350 PMCID: PMC9093039 DOI: 10.1242/dmm.049184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2021] [Accepted: 02/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Misfolding of the prion protein (PrP) is responsible for devastating neurological disorders in humans and other mammals. An unresolved problem in the field is unraveling the mechanisms governing PrP conformational dynamics, misfolding, and the cellular mechanism leading to neurodegeneration. The variable susceptibility of mammals to prion diseases is a natural resource that can be exploited to understand the conformational dynamics of PrP. Here we present a new fly model expressing human PrP with new, robust phenotypes in brain neurons and the eye. By using comparable attP2 insertions, we demonstrated the heightened toxicity of human PrP compared to rodent PrP along with a specific interaction with the amyloid-β peptide. By using this new model, we started to uncover the intrinsic (sequence/structure) and extrinsic (interactions) factors regulating PrP toxicity. We described PERK (officially known as EIF2AK3 in humans) and activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4) as key in the cellular mechanism mediating the toxicity of human PrP and uncover a key new protective activity for 4E-BP (officially known as Thor in Drosophila and EIF4EBP2 in humans), an ATF4 transcriptional target. Lastly, mutations in human PrP (N159D, D167S, N174S) showed partial protective activity, revealing its high propensity to misfold into toxic conformations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan R. Myers
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth Campus, Duluth, MN 55812, USA
| | | | - Daniel C. Leving
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth Campus, Duluth, MN 55812, USA
| | - Richard G. Melvin
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth Campus, Duluth, MN 55812, USA
| | - Pedro Fernandez-Funez
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth Campus, Duluth, MN 55812, USA
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4
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Otero A, Velásquez CD, Aiken J, McKenzie D. Chronic wasting disease: a cervid prion infection looming to spillover. Vet Res 2021; 52:115. [PMID: 34488900 PMCID: PMC8420063 DOI: 10.1186/s13567-021-00986-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2021] [Accepted: 07/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
The spread of chronic wasting disease (CWD) during the last six decades has resulted in cervid populations of North America where CWD has become enzootic. This insidious disease has also been reported in wild and captive cervids from other continents, threatening ecosystems, livestock and public health. These CWD "hot zones" are particularly complex given the interplay between cervid PRNP genetics, the infection biology, the strain diversity of infectious prions and the long-term environmental persistence of infectivity, which hinder eradication efforts. Here, we review different aspects of CWD including transmission mechanisms, pathogenesis, epidemiology and assessment of interspecies infection. Further understanding of these aspects could help identify "control points" that could help reduce exposure for humans and livestock and decrease CWD spread between cervids.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alicia Otero
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.,Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.,Centro de Encefalopatías y Enfermedades Transmisibles Emergentes, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Camilo Duque Velásquez
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.,Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Judd Aiken
- Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.,Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Debbie McKenzie
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada. .,Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
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5
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Otero A, Betancor M, Eraña H, Fernández Borges N, Lucas JJ, Badiola JJ, Castilla J, Bolea R. Prion-Associated Neurodegeneration Causes Both Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Proteasome Impairment in a Murine Model of Spontaneous Disease. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:ijms22010465. [PMID: 33466523 PMCID: PMC7796520 DOI: 10.3390/ijms22010465] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2020] [Revised: 12/30/2020] [Accepted: 12/31/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Prion diseases are a group of neurodegenerative disorders that can be spontaneous, familial or acquired by infection. The conversion of the prion protein PrPC to its abnormal and misfolded isoform PrPSc is the main event in the pathogenesis of prion diseases of all origins. In spontaneous prion diseases, the mechanisms that trigger the formation of PrPSc in the central nervous system remain unknown. Several reports have demonstrated that the accumulation of PrPSc can induce endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and proteasome impairment from the early stages of the prion disease. Both mechanisms lead to an increment of PrP aggregates in the secretory pathway, which could explain the pathogenesis of spontaneous prion diseases. Here, we investigate the role of ER stress and proteasome impairment during prion disorders in a murine model of spontaneous prion disease (TgVole) co-expressing the UbG76V-GFP reporter, which allows measuring the proteasome activity in vivo. Spontaneously prion-affected mice showed a significantly higher accumulation of the PKR-like ER kinase (PERK), the ER chaperone binding immunoglobulin protein (BiP/Grp78), the ER protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) and the UbG76V-GFP reporter than age-matched controls in certain brain areas. The upregulation of PERK, BiP, PDI and ubiquitin was detected from the preclinical stage of the disease, indicating that ER stress and proteasome impairment begin at early stages of the spontaneous disease. Strong correlations were found between the deposition of these markers and neuropathological markers of prion disease in both preclinical and clinical mice. Our results suggest that both ER stress and proteasome impairment occur during the pathogenesis of spontaneous prion diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alicia Otero
- Centro de Encefalopatías y Enfermedades Transmisibles Emergentes, Universidad de Zaragoza IA2 IIS Aragón, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain; (A.O.); (M.B.); (J.J.B.)
| | - Marina Betancor
- Centro de Encefalopatías y Enfermedades Transmisibles Emergentes, Universidad de Zaragoza IA2 IIS Aragón, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain; (A.O.); (M.B.); (J.J.B.)
| | - Hasier Eraña
- ATLAS Molecular Pharma S.L., Parque tecnológico de Bizkaia, 48160 Derio, Spain;
- Center for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC bioGUNE) Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Bizkaia Technology Park, 48160 Derio, Spain; (N.F.B.); (J.C.)
| | - Natalia Fernández Borges
- Center for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC bioGUNE) Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Bizkaia Technology Park, 48160 Derio, Spain; (N.F.B.); (J.C.)
| | - José J. Lucas
- Centro de Biología Molecular ‘Severo Ochoa’ (CBMSO) CSIC/UAM, 28049 Madrid, Spain;
- Networking Research Center on Neurodegenerative Diseases (CIBERNED), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28031 Madrid, Spain
| | - Juan José Badiola
- Centro de Encefalopatías y Enfermedades Transmisibles Emergentes, Universidad de Zaragoza IA2 IIS Aragón, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain; (A.O.); (M.B.); (J.J.B.)
| | - Joaquín Castilla
- Center for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC bioGUNE) Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Bizkaia Technology Park, 48160 Derio, Spain; (N.F.B.); (J.C.)
- IKERBasque Basque Foundation for Science, 48009 Bilbao, Spain
| | - Rosa Bolea
- Centro de Encefalopatías y Enfermedades Transmisibles Emergentes, Universidad de Zaragoza IA2 IIS Aragón, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain; (A.O.); (M.B.); (J.J.B.)
- Correspondence:
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6
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Arshad H, Bourkas MEC, Watts JC. The utility of bank voles for studying prion disease. PROGRESS IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE 2020; 175:179-211. [PMID: 32958232 DOI: 10.1016/bs.pmbts.2020.08.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
The transmission of prions between species is typically an inefficient process due to the species barrier, which represents incompatibility between prion seed and substrate molecules. Bank voles (Myodes glareolus) are an exception to this rule, as they are susceptible to a diverse range of prion strains from many different animal species. In particular, bank voles can be efficiently infected with most types of human prions and have played a critical role in validating variably protease-sensitive prionopathy (VPSPr) and certain forms of Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker (GSS) disease as bona fide prion disorders rather than non-transmissible proteinopathies. The bank vole prion protein (BVPrP) confers a "universal prion acceptor" phenotype when expressed in mice and when used as a substrate for in vitro prion amplification assays, indicating that the unique prion transmission properties of bank voles are mediated by BVPrP. Over-expression of BVPrP in mice can also promote the spontaneous development of prion disease, indicating that BVPrP is intrinsically prone to both spontaneous and template-directed misfolding. Here, we discuss the utility of bank voles and BVPrP for prion research and how they have provided new tools for establishing rapid animal bioassays, modeling spontaneous prion disease, standardizing prion diagnostics, and understanding the molecular basis of the species barrier.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hamza Arshad
- Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Matthew E C Bourkas
- Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Joel C Watts
- Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
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7
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Identification of a homology-independent linchpin domain controlling mouse and bank vole prion protein conversion. PLoS Pathog 2020; 16:e1008875. [PMID: 32898162 PMCID: PMC7508373 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1008875] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2020] [Revised: 09/22/2020] [Accepted: 08/11/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Prions are unorthodox pathogens that cause fatal neurodegenerative diseases in humans and other mammals. Prion propagation occurs through the self-templating of the pathogenic conformer PrPSc, onto the cell-expressed conformer, PrPC. Here we study the conversion of PrPC to PrPSc using a recombinant mouse PrPSc conformer (mouse protein-only recPrPSc) as a unique tool that can convert bank vole but not mouse PrPC substrates in vitro. Thus, its templating ability is not dependent on sequence homology with the substrate. In the present study, we used chimeric bank vole/mouse PrPC substrates to systematically determine the domain that allows for conversion by Mo protein-only recPrPSc. Our results show that that either the presence of the bank vole amino acid residues E227 and S230 or the absence of the second N-linked glycan are sufficient to allow PrPC substrates to be converted by Mo protein-only recPrPSc and several native infectious prion strains. We propose that residues 227 and 230 and the second glycan are part of a C-terminal domain that acts as a linchpin for bank vole and mouse prion conversion. Prions are unconventional infectious agents that lack nucleic acids such as DNA and RNA, and the mechanism by which prions replicate is not fully understood. It has been established that a central feature of the replication mechanism involves the misfolding of a host protein (PrPC) into an infectious shape termed PrPSc, but it is unclear how this misfolding occurs. Interestingly, it has been observed that a particular animal species, the European bank vole, is unusually susceptible to prion infection and that this near-universal susceptibility is caused by the specific PrPC sequence of this protein. Here we use a powerful and unique biochemical system to determine the specific region of bank vole PrPC that is primarily responsible for its propensity to misfold into PrPSc. This critical region, which is located at the extreme C-terminal end of the protein, appears to act as a linchpin domain that normally stabilizes the shape of PrPC and thereby regulates its misfolding into PrPSc.
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8
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Myers R, Cembran A, Fernandez-Funez P. Insight From Animals Resistant to Prion Diseases: Deciphering the Genotype - Morphotype - Phenotype Code for the Prion Protein. Front Cell Neurosci 2020; 14:254. [PMID: 33013324 PMCID: PMC7461849 DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2020.00254] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2020] [Accepted: 07/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Prion diseases are a group of neurodegenerative diseases endemic in humans and several ruminants caused by the misfolding of native prion protein (PrP) into pathological conformations. Experimental work and the mad-cow epidemic of the 1980s exposed a wide spectrum of animal susceptibility to prion diseases, including a few highly resistant animals: horses, rabbits, pigs, and dogs/canids. The variable susceptibility to disease offers a unique opportunity to uncover the mechanisms governing PrP misfolding, neurotoxicity, and transmission. Previous work indicates that PrP-intrinsic differences (sequence) are the main contributors to disease susceptibility. Several residues have been cited as critical for encoding PrP conformational stability in prion-resistant animals, including D/E159 in dog, S167 in horse, and S174 in rabbit and pig PrP (all according to human numbering). These amino acids alter PrP properties in a variety of assays, but we still do not clearly understand the structural correlates of PrP toxicity. Additional insight can be extracted from comparative structural studies, followed by molecular dynamics simulations of selected mutations, and testing in manipulable animal models. Our working hypothesis is that protective amino acids generate more compact and stable structures in a C-terminal subdomain of the PrP globular domain. We will explore this idea in this review and identify subdomains within the globular domain that may hold the key to unravel how conformational stability and disease susceptibility are encoded in PrP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan Myers
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth, MN, United States
| | - Alessandro Cembran
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, MN, United States
| | - Pedro Fernandez-Funez
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth, MN, United States
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Eraña H, Charco JM, Di Bari MA, Díaz-Domínguez CM, López-Moreno R, Vidal E, González-Miranda E, Pérez-Castro MA, García-Martínez S, Bravo S, Fernández-Borges N, Geijo M, D’Agostino C, Garrido J, Bian J, König A, Uluca-Yazgi B, Sabate R, Khaychuk V, Vanni I, Telling GC, Heise H, Nonno R, Requena JR, Castilla J. Development of a new largely scalable in vitro prion propagation method for the production of infectious recombinant prions for high resolution structural studies. PLoS Pathog 2019; 15:e1008117. [PMID: 31644574 PMCID: PMC6827918 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1008117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2019] [Revised: 11/04/2019] [Accepted: 10/01/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The resolution of the three-dimensional structure of infectious prions at the atomic level is pivotal to understand the pathobiology of Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSE), but has been long hindered due to certain particularities of these proteinaceous pathogens. Difficulties related to their purification from brain homogenates of disease-affected animals were resolved almost a decade ago by the development of in vitro recombinant prion propagation systems giving rise to highly infectious recombinant prions. However, lack of knowledge about the molecular mechanisms of the misfolding event and the complexity of systems such as the Protein Misfolding Cyclic Amplification (PMCA), have limited generating the large amounts of homogeneous recombinant prion preparations required for high-resolution techniques such as solid state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (ssNMR) imaging. Herein, we present a novel recombinant prion propagation system based on PMCA that substitutes sonication with shaking thereby allowing the production of unprecedented amounts of multi-labeled, infectious recombinant prions. The use of specific cofactors, such as dextran sulfate, limit the structural heterogeneity of the in vitro propagated prions and makes possible, for the first time, the generation of infectious and likely homogeneous samples in sufficient quantities for studies with high-resolution structural techniques as demonstrated by the preliminary ssNMR spectrum presented here. Overall, we consider that this new method named Protein Misfolding Shaking Amplification (PMSA), opens new avenues to finally elucidate the three-dimensional structure of infectious prions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hasier Eraña
- CIC bioGUNE, Derio (Bizkaia), Spain
- ATLAS Molecular Pharma S. L. Derio (Bizkaia), Spain
| | | | - Michele A. Di Bari
- Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | | | | | - Enric Vidal
- Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA), UAB-IRTA, Barcelona, Spain
| | | | | | | | - Susana Bravo
- Proteomics Lab, IDIS, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | | | - Mariví Geijo
- Animal Health Department, NEIKER-Instituto Vasco de Investigación y Desarrollo Agrario, Derio (Bizkaia), Spain
| | - Claudia D’Agostino
- Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Joseba Garrido
- Animal Health Department, NEIKER-Instituto Vasco de Investigación y Desarrollo Agrario, Derio (Bizkaia), Spain
| | - Jifeng Bian
- Prion Research Center (PRC), Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States of America
| | - Anna König
- Institute of Complex Systems (ICS-6) and Jülich Center for Structural Biology (JuStruct), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
- Physikalische Biologie, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Boran Uluca-Yazgi
- Institute of Complex Systems (ICS-6) and Jülich Center for Structural Biology (JuStruct), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
- Physikalische Biologie, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Raimon Sabate
- Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Technology and Physical-Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences, University of Barcelona, Spain
- Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (IN2UB), University of Barcelona, Spain
| | - Vadim Khaychuk
- Prion Research Center (PRC), Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States of America
| | - Ilaria Vanni
- Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Glenn C. Telling
- Prion Research Center (PRC), Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States of America
| | - Henrike Heise
- Institute of Complex Systems (ICS-6) and Jülich Center for Structural Biology (JuStruct), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
- Physikalische Biologie, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Romolo Nonno
- Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Jesús R. Requena
- CIMUS Biomedical Research Institute, University of Santiago de Compostela-IDIS, Spain
| | - Joaquín Castilla
- CIC bioGUNE, Derio (Bizkaia), Spain
- IKERBasque, Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao (Bizkaia), Spain
- * E-mail:
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Won SY, Kim YC, Kim K, Kim AD, Jeong BH. The First Report of Polymorphisms and Genetic Features of the prion-like Protein Gene ( PRND) in a Prion Disease-Resistant Animal, Dog. Int J Mol Sci 2019; 20:ijms20061404. [PMID: 30897750 PMCID: PMC6470729 DOI: 10.3390/ijms20061404] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2019] [Revised: 03/15/2019] [Accepted: 03/18/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Prion disease has displayed large infection host ranges among several species; however, dogs have not been reported to be infected and are considered prion disease-resistant animals. Case-controlled studies in several species, including humans and cattle, indicated a potent association of prion protein gene (PRNP) polymorphisms in the progression of prion disease. Thus, because of the proximal location and similar structure of the PRNP gene among the prion gene family, the prion-like protein gene (PRND) was noted as a novel candidate gene that contributes to prion disease susceptibility. Several case-controlled studies have confirmed the relationship of the PRND gene with prion disease vulnerability, and strong genetic linkage disequilibrium blocks were identified in prion-susceptible species between the PRNP and PRND genes. However, to date, polymorphisms of the dog PRND gene have not been reported, and the genetic linkage between the PRNP and PRND genes has not been examined thus far. Here, we first investigated dog PRND polymorphisms in 207 dog DNA samples using direct DNA sequencing. A total of four novel single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), including one nonsynonymous SNP (c.149G>A, R50H), were identified in this study. We also found two major haplotypes among the four novel SNPs. In addition, we compared the genotype and allele frequencies of the c.149G>A (R50H) SNP and found significantly different distributions among eight dog breeds. Furthermore, we annotated the c.149G>A (R50H) SNP of the dog PRND gene using in silico tools, PolyPhen-2, PROVEAN, and PANTHER. Finally, we examined linkage disequilibrium between the PRNP and PRND genes in dogs. Interestingly, we did not find a strong genetic linkage between these two genes. To the best of our knowledge, this was the first genetic study of the PRND gene in a prion disease-resistant animal, a dog.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sae-Young Won
- Korea Zoonosis Research Institute, Chonbuk National University, Iksan, Jeonbuk 54531, Korea.
- Department of Bioactive Material Sciences, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, Jeonbuk 54896, Korea.
| | - Yong-Chan Kim
- Korea Zoonosis Research Institute, Chonbuk National University, Iksan, Jeonbuk 54531, Korea.
- Department of Bioactive Material Sciences, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, Jeonbuk 54896, Korea.
| | - Kiwon Kim
- Haemalken Animal Hospital, Yangju, Gyeonggi 11492, Korea.
| | - An-Dang Kim
- Cool-Pet Animal Hospital, Anyang, Gyeonggi 14066, Korea.
| | - Byung-Hoon Jeong
- Korea Zoonosis Research Institute, Chonbuk National University, Iksan, Jeonbuk 54531, Korea.
- Department of Bioactive Material Sciences, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, Jeonbuk 54896, Korea.
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