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Balusu S, De Strooper B. The necroptosis cell death pathway drives neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease. Acta Neuropathol 2024; 147:96. [PMID: 38852117 PMCID: PMC11162975 DOI: 10.1007/s00401-024-02747-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2024] [Revised: 05/28/2024] [Accepted: 05/28/2024] [Indexed: 06/10/2024]
Abstract
Although apoptosis, pyroptosis, and ferroptosis have been implicated in AD, none fully explains the extensive neuronal loss observed in AD brains. Recent evidence shows that necroptosis is abundant in AD, that necroptosis is closely linked to the appearance of Tau pathology, and that necroptosis markers accumulate in granulovacuolar neurodegeneration vesicles (GVD). We review here the neuron-specific activation of the granulovacuolar mediated neuronal-necroptosis pathway, the potential AD-relevant triggers upstream of this pathway, and the interaction of the necrosome with the endo-lysosomal pathway, possibly providing links to Tau pathology. In addition, we underscore the therapeutic potential of inhibiting necroptosis in neurodegenerative diseases such as AD, as this presents a novel avenue for drug development targeting neuronal loss to preserve cognitive abilities. Such an approach seems particularly relevant when combined with amyloid-lowering drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sriram Balusu
- Laboratory for the Research of Neurodegenerative Diseases, VIB Center for Brain and Disease Research, 3000, Leuven, Belgium.
- Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, 3000, Leuven, Belgium.
| | - Bart De Strooper
- Laboratory for the Research of Neurodegenerative Diseases, VIB Center for Brain and Disease Research, 3000, Leuven, Belgium.
- Leuven Brain Institute, KU Leuven, 3000, Leuven, Belgium.
- UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL, London, WC1E 6BT, UK.
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Wu M, Chen Z, Jiang M, Bao B, Li D, Yin X, Wang X, Liu D, Zhu LQ. Friend or foe: role of pathological tau in neuronal death. Mol Psychiatry 2023; 28:2215-2227. [PMID: 36918705 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-023-02024-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2022] [Revised: 02/25/2023] [Accepted: 02/28/2023] [Indexed: 03/16/2023]
Abstract
Neuronal death is one of the most common pathological hallmarks of diverse neurological diseases, which manifest varying degrees of cognitive or motor dysfunction. Neuronal death can be classified into multiple forms with complicated and unique regulatory signaling pathways. Tau is a key microtubule-associated protein that is predominantly expressed in neurons to stabilize microtubules under physiological conditions. In contrast, pathological tau always detaches from microtubules and is implicated in a series of neurological disorders that are characterized by irreversible neuronal death, such as necrosis, apoptosis, necroptosis, pyroptosis, ferroptosis, autophagy-dependent neuronal death and phagocytosis by microglia. However, recent studies have also revealed that pathological tau can facilitate neuron escape from acute apoptosis, delay necroptosis through its action on granulovacuolar degeneration bodies (GVBs), and facilitate iron export from neurons to block ferroptosis. In this review, we briefly describe the current understanding of how pathological tau exerts dual effects on neuronal death by acting as a double-edged sword in different neurological diseases. We propose that elucidating the mechanism by which pathological tau affects neuronal death is critical for exploring novel and precise therapeutic strategies for neurological disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Moxin Wu
- Department of Medical Laboratory, Affiliated Hospital of Jiujiang University, Jiujiang, 332000, China
- Jiujiang Clinical Precision Medicine Research Center, Jiujiang, 332000, China
| | - Zhiying Chen
- Jiujiang Clinical Precision Medicine Research Center, Jiujiang, 332000, China
- Department of Neurology, Affiliated Hospital of Jiujiang University, Jiujiang, 332000, China
| | - Min Jiang
- Jiujiang Clinical Precision Medicine Research Center, Jiujiang, 332000, China
| | - Bing Bao
- Jiujiang Clinical Precision Medicine Research Center, Jiujiang, 332000, China
- Department of Neurology, Affiliated Hospital of Jiujiang University, Jiujiang, 332000, China
| | - Dongling Li
- Jiujiang Clinical Precision Medicine Research Center, Jiujiang, 332000, China
- Department of Neurology, Affiliated Hospital of Jiujiang University, Jiujiang, 332000, China
| | - Xiaoping Yin
- Jiujiang Clinical Precision Medicine Research Center, Jiujiang, 332000, China.
- Department of Neurology, Affiliated Hospital of Jiujiang University, Jiujiang, 332000, China.
| | - Xueren Wang
- Department of Anesthesiology, Shanxi Bethune Hospital, Taiyuan, 030032, China.
- Department of Anesthesiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China.
| | - Dan Liu
- Department of Medical Genetics, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China.
| | - Ling-Qiang Zhu
- Department of Pathophysiology, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China.
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Jorge-Oliva M, Smits JFM, Wiersma VI, Hoozemans JJM, Scheper W. Granulovacuolar degeneration bodies are independently induced by tau and α-synuclein pathology. Alzheimers Res Ther 2022; 14:187. [PMID: 36517915 PMCID: PMC9749177 DOI: 10.1186/s13195-022-01128-y] [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: 08/16/2022] [Accepted: 11/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Granulovacuolar degeneration bodies (GVBs) are intracellular vesicular structures that commonly accompany pathological tau accumulations in neurons of patients with tauopathies. Recently, we developed the first model for GVBs in primary neurons, that requires exogenous tau seeds to elicit tau aggregation. This model allowed the identification of GVBs as proteolytically active lysosomes induced by tau pathology. GVBs selectively accumulate cargo in a dense core, that shows differential and inconsistent immunopositivity for (phosphorylated) tau epitopes. Despite the strong evidence connecting GVBs to tau pathology, these structures have been reported in neurons without apparent pathology in brain tissue of tauopathy patients. Additionally, GVBs and putative GVBs have also been reported in the brain of patients with non-tau proteinopathies. Here, we investigated the connection between pathological protein assemblies and GVBs in more detail. METHODS This study combined newly developed primary neuron models for tau and α-synuclein pathology with observations in human brain tissue from tauopathy and Parkinson's disease patients. Immunolabeling and imaging techniques were employed for extensive characterisation of pathological proteins and GVBs. Quantitative data were obtained by high-content automated microscopy as well as single-cell analysis of confocal images. RESULTS Employing a novel seed-independent neuronal tau/GVB model, we show that in the context of tauopathy, GVBs are inseparably associated with the presence of cytosolic pathological tau and that intracellular tau aggregation precedes GVB formation, strengthening the causal relationship between pathological accumulation of tau and GVBs. We also report that GVBs are inseparably associated with pathological tau at the single-cell level in the hippocampus of tauopathy patients. Paradoxically, we demonstrate the presence of GVBs in the substantia nigra of Parkinson's disease patients and in a primary neuron model for α-synuclein pathology. GVBs in this newly developed α-synuclein/GVB model are induced in the absence of cytosolic pathological tau accumulations. GVBs in the context of tau or α-synuclein pathology showed similar immunoreactivity for different phosphorylated tau epitopes. The phosphorylated tau immunoreactivity signature of GVBs is therefore independent of the presence of cytosolic tau pathology. CONCLUSION Our data identify the emergence of GVBs as a more generalised response to cytosolic protein pathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marta Jorge-Oliva
- grid.12380.380000 0004 1754 9227Department of Functional Genomics, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit (VU), De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Jasper F. M. Smits
- grid.12380.380000 0004 1754 9227Department of Functional Genomics, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit (VU), De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Vera I. Wiersma
- grid.12380.380000 0004 1754 9227Department of Functional Genomics, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit (VU), De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, the Netherlands ,grid.509540.d0000 0004 6880 3010Department of Human Genetics, Amsterdam UMC location Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1117, 1081 HV Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Jeroen J. M. Hoozemans
- grid.509540.d0000 0004 6880 3010Department of Pathology, Amsterdam UMC location Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1117, 1081 HV Amsterdam, the Netherlands ,grid.484519.5Amsterdam Neuroscience, Neurodegeneration, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Wiep Scheper
- grid.12380.380000 0004 1754 9227Department of Functional Genomics, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit (VU), De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, the Netherlands ,grid.509540.d0000 0004 6880 3010Department of Human Genetics, Amsterdam UMC location Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1117, 1081 HV Amsterdam, the Netherlands ,grid.484519.5Amsterdam Neuroscience, Neurodegeneration, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
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Jiang J, Yang C, Ai JQ, Zhang QL, Cai XL, Tu T, Wan L, Wang XS, Wang H, Pan A, Manavis J, Gai WP, Che C, Tu E, Wang XP, Li ZY, Yan XX. Intraneuronal sortilin aggregation relative to granulovacuolar degeneration, tau pathogenesis and sorfra plaque formation in human hippocampal formation. Front Aging Neurosci 2022; 14:926904. [PMID: 35978952 PMCID: PMC9376392 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2022.926904] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2022] [Accepted: 07/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Extracellular β-amyloid (Aβ) deposition and intraneuronal phosphorylated-tau (pTau) accumulation are the hallmark lesions of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Recently, “sorfra” plaques, named for the extracellular deposition of sortilin c-terminal fragments, are reported as a new AD-related proteopathy, which develop in the human cerebrum resembling the spatiotemporal trajectory of tauopathy. Here, we identified intraneuronal sortilin aggregation as a change related to the development of granulovacuolar degeneration (GVD), tauopathy, and sorfra plaques in the human hippocampal formation. Intraneuronal sortilin aggregation occurred as cytoplasmic inclusions among the pyramidal neurons, co-labeled by antibodies to the extracellular domain and intracellular C-terminal of sortilin. They existed infrequently in the brains of adults, while their density as quantified in the subiculum/CA1 areas increased in the brains from elderly lacking Aβ/pTau, with pTau (i.e., primary age-related tauopathy, PART cases), and with Aβ/pTau (probably/definitive AD, pAD/AD cases) pathologies. In PART and pAD/AD cases, the intraneuronal sortilin aggregates colocalized partially with various GVD markers including casein kinase 1 delta (Ck1δ) and charged multivesicular body protein 2B (CHMP2B). Single-cell densitometry established an inverse correlation between sortilin immunoreactivity and that of Ck1δ, CHMP2B, p62, and pTau among pyramidal neurons. In pAD/AD cases, the sortilin aggregates were reduced in density as moving from the subiculum to CA subregions, wherein sorfra plaques became fewer and absent. Taken together, we consider intraneuronal sortilin aggregation an aging/stress-related change implicating protein sorting deficit, which can activate protein clearance responses including via enhanced phosphorylation and hydrolysis, thereby promoting GVD, sorfra, and Tau pathogenesis, and ultimately, neuronal destruction and death.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan Jiang
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Central South University Xiangya School of Medicine, Changsha, China
| | - Chen Yang
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Central South University Xiangya School of Medicine, Changsha, China
| | - Jia-Qi Ai
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Central South University Xiangya School of Medicine, Changsha, China
| | - Qi-Lei Zhang
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Central South University Xiangya School of Medicine, Changsha, China
| | - Xiao-Lu Cai
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Central South University Xiangya School of Medicine, Changsha, China
| | - Tian Tu
- Department of Neurology, Xiangya Hospital, Changsha, China
| | - Lily Wan
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Central South University Xiangya School of Medicine, Changsha, China
| | - Xiao-Sheng Wang
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Central South University Xiangya School of Medicine, Changsha, China
| | - Hui Wang
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Central South University Xiangya School of Medicine, Changsha, China
| | - Aihua Pan
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Central South University Xiangya School of Medicine, Changsha, China
| | - Jim Manavis
- Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Wei-Ping Gai
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Central South University Xiangya School of Medicine, Changsha, China
| | - Chong Che
- GeneScience Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd., Changchun High-Tech Dev. Zone, Changchun, China
| | - Ewen Tu
- Department of Neurology, Brain Hospital of Hunan Province, Changsha, China
| | - Xiao-Ping Wang
- Department of Psychiatry, The Second Xiangya Hospital, Changsha, China
| | - Zhen-Yan Li
- Department of Neurosurgery, Xiangya Hospital, Changsha, China
- *Correspondence: Zhen-Yan Li,
| | - Xiao-Xin Yan
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Central South University Xiangya School of Medicine, Changsha, China
- Xiao-Xin Yan,
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Matti N, Javanshiri K, Haglund M, Saenz-Sardá X, Englund E. Locus Coeruleus Degeneration Differs Between Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration Subtypes. J Alzheimers Dis 2022; 89:463-471. [PMID: 35871340 PMCID: PMC9535600 DOI: 10.3233/jad-220276] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/04/2022]
Abstract
Background: There are few studies on the locus coeruleus (LC) in frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) and the potential differences in the LC related to the underlying proteinopathy. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the LC in FTLD subgroups. Methods: Neuropathological cases diagnosed with FTLD were included. The subgroups consisted of FTLD with tau, transactive response DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP) and fused in sarcoma (FUS). Micro- and macroscopical degeneration of the LC were assessed with respect to the number of neurons and the degree of depigmentation. A group of cognitively healthy subjects and a group with vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) served as comparison groups. Results: A total of 85 FTLD cases were included, of which 44 had FTLD-TDP, 38 had FTLD-tau, and three had FTLD-FUS. The groups were compared with 25 VCI cases and 41 cognitively healthy control cases (N = 151 for the entire study). All FTLD groups had a statistically higher microscopical degeneration of the LC compared to the controls, but the FTLD-tau group had greater micro- and macroscopical degeneration than the FTLD-TDP group. Age correlated positively with the LC score in the FTLD-tau group, but not in the FTLD-TDP group. Conclusion: A greater microscopical degeneration of the LC was observed in all FTLD cases compared to healthy controls and those with VCI. The LC degeneration was more severe in FTLD-tau than in FTLD-TDP. The macroscopically differential degeneration of the LC in FTLD subgroups may facilitate differential diagnostics, potentially with imaging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathalie Matti
- Division of Pathology, Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Lund University, Sweden
| | - Keivan Javanshiri
- Division of Pathology, Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Lund University, Sweden
| | - Mattias Haglund
- Division of Pathology, Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Lund University, Sweden
| | - Xavier Saenz-Sardá
- Division of Pathology, Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Lund University, Sweden
| | - Elisabet Englund
- Division of Pathology, Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Lund University, Sweden
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Honea RA, John CS, Green ZD, Kueck PJ, Taylor MK, Lepping RJ, Townley R, Vidoni ED, Burns JM, Morris JK. Relationship of fasting glucose and longitudinal Alzheimer's disease imaging markers. ALZHEIMER'S & DEMENTIA (NEW YORK, N. Y.) 2022; 8:e12239. [PMID: 35128029 PMCID: PMC8804928 DOI: 10.1002/trc2.12239] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2021] [Revised: 11/30/2021] [Accepted: 12/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Fasting glucose increases with age and is linked to modifiable Alzheimer's disease risk factors such as cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes (T2D). METHODS We leveraged available biospecimens and neuroimaging measures collected during the Alzheimer's Prevention Through Exercise (APEx) trial (n = 105) to examine the longitudinal relationship between change in blood glucose metabolism and change in regional cerebral amyloid deposition and gray and white matter (WM) neurodegeneration in older adults over 1 year of follow-up. RESULTS Individuals with improving fasting glucose (n = 61) exhibited less atrophy and regional amyloid accumulation compared to those whose fasting glucose worsened over 1 year (n = 44). Specifically, while individuals with increasing fasting glucose did not yet show cognitive decline, they did have regional atrophy in the hippocampus and inferior parietal cortex, and increased amyloid accumulation in the precuneus cortex. Signs of early dementia pathology occurred in the absence of significant group differences in insulin or body composition, and was not modified by apolipoprotein E ε4 carrier status. DISCUSSION Dysregulation of glucose in late life may signal preclinical brain change prior to clinically relevant cognitive decline. Additional work is needed to determine whether treatments specifically targeting fasting glucose levels may impact change in brain structure or cerebral amyloid in older adults.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robyn A. Honea
- University of Kansas Alzheimer's Disease Research CenterKansas CityKansasUSA
- Department of NeurologyUniversity of Kansas Medical CenterKansas CityKansasUSA
| | - Casey S. John
- University of Kansas Alzheimer's Disease Research CenterKansas CityKansasUSA
- Department of NeurologyUniversity of Kansas Medical CenterKansas CityKansasUSA
| | - Zachary D. Green
- University of Kansas Alzheimer's Disease Research CenterKansas CityKansasUSA
- Department of NeurologyUniversity of Kansas Medical CenterKansas CityKansasUSA
| | - Paul J. Kueck
- University of Kansas Alzheimer's Disease Research CenterKansas CityKansasUSA
- Department of NeurologyUniversity of Kansas Medical CenterKansas CityKansasUSA
| | - Matthew K. Taylor
- Department of Dietetics and NutritionUniversity of Kansas Medical CenterKansas CityKansasUSA
| | - Rebecca J. Lepping
- Hoglund Biomedical Imaging CenterUniversity of Kansas Medical CenterKansas CityKansasUSA
| | - Ryan Townley
- University of Kansas Alzheimer's Disease Research CenterKansas CityKansasUSA
- Department of NeurologyUniversity of Kansas Medical CenterKansas CityKansasUSA
| | - Eric D. Vidoni
- University of Kansas Alzheimer's Disease Research CenterKansas CityKansasUSA
- Department of NeurologyUniversity of Kansas Medical CenterKansas CityKansasUSA
| | - Jeffery M. Burns
- University of Kansas Alzheimer's Disease Research CenterKansas CityKansasUSA
- Department of NeurologyUniversity of Kansas Medical CenterKansas CityKansasUSA
| | - Jill K. Morris
- University of Kansas Alzheimer's Disease Research CenterKansas CityKansasUSA
- Department of NeurologyUniversity of Kansas Medical CenterKansas CityKansasUSA
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Tau aggregation and its relation to selected forms of neuronal cell death. Essays Biochem 2021; 65:847-857. [PMID: 34897457 PMCID: PMC8709892 DOI: 10.1042/ebc20210030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2021] [Revised: 11/17/2021] [Accepted: 11/17/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
How neurons die in neurodegenerative diseases is still unknown. The distinction between apoptosis as a genetically controlled mechanism, and necrosis, which was viewed as an unregulated process, has blurred with the ever-increasing number of necrotic-like death subroutines underpinned by genetically defined pathways. It is therefore pertinent to ask whether any of them apply to neuronal cell death in tauopathies. Although Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent tauopathy, tauopathies comprise an array of over 30 diseases in which the cytoplasmic protein tau aggregates in neurons, and also, in some diseases, in glia. Animal models have sought to distil the contribution of tau aggregation to the cell death process but despite intensive research, no one mechanism of cell death has been unequivocally defined. The process of tau aggregation, and the fibrillar structures that form, touch on so many cellular functions that there is unlikely to be a simple linear pathway of death; as one is blocked another is likely to take the lead. It is timely to ask how far we have advanced into defining whether any of the molecular players in the new death subroutines participate in the death process. Here we briefly review the currently known cell death routines and explore what is known about their participation in tau aggregation-related cell death. We highlight the involvement of cell autonomous and the more recent non-cell autonomous pathways that may enhance tau-aggregate toxicity, and discuss recent findings that implicate microglial phagocytosis of live neurons with tau aggregates as a mechanism of death.
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