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Prion protein inhibits fast axonal transport through a mechanism involving casein kinase 2. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0188340. [PMID: 29261664 PMCID: PMC5737884 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0188340] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2017] [Accepted: 11/06/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Prion diseases include a number of progressive neuropathies involving conformational changes in cellular prion protein (PrPc) that may be fatal sporadic, familial or infectious. Pathological evidence indicated that neurons affected in prion diseases follow a dying-back pattern of degeneration. However, specific cellular processes affected by PrPc that explain such a pattern have not yet been identified. Results from cell biological and pharmacological experiments in isolated squid axoplasm and primary cultured neurons reveal inhibition of fast axonal transport (FAT) as a novel toxic effect elicited by PrPc. Pharmacological, biochemical and cell biological experiments further indicate this toxic effect involves casein kinase 2 (CK2) activation, providing a molecular basis for the toxic effect of PrPc on FAT. CK2 was found to phosphorylate and inhibit light chain subunits of the major motor protein conventional kinesin. Collectively, these findings suggest CK2 as a novel therapeutic target to prevent the gradual loss of neuronal connectivity that characterizes prion diseases.
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Stabilization of microtubular cytoskeleton protects neurons from toxicity of N-terminal fragment of cytosolic prion protein. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-MOLECULAR CELL RESEARCH 2015; 1853:2228-39. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbamcr.2015.07.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2015] [Revised: 06/12/2015] [Accepted: 07/03/2015] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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Bade AN, Zhou B, McMillan J, Narayanasamy P, Veerubhotla R, Gendelman HE, Boska MD, Liu Y. Potential of N-acetylated-para-aminosalicylic acid to accelerate manganese enhancement decline for long-term MEMRI in rodent brain. J Neurosci Methods 2015; 251:92-8. [PMID: 26004847 DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2015.05.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2015] [Revised: 05/14/2015] [Accepted: 05/15/2015] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Manganese (Mn(2+))-enhanced MRI (MEMRI) is a valuable imaging tool to study brain structure and function in normal and diseased small animals. The brain retention of Mn(2+) is relatively long with a half-life (t1/2) of 51-74 days causing a slow decline of MRI signal enhancement following Mn(2+) administration. Such slow decline limits using repeated MEMRI to follow the central nervous system longitudinally in weeks or months. This is because residual Mn(2+) from preceding administrations can confound the interpretation of imaging results. We investigated whether the Mn(2+) enhancement decline could be accelerated thus enabling repeated MEMRI, and as a consequence broadens the utility of MEMRI tests. NEW METHODS We investigated whether N-acetyl-para-aminosalicylic acid (AcPAS), a chelator of Mn(2+), could affect the decline of Mn(2+) induced MRI enhancement in brain. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION Two-week treatment with AcPAS (200mg/kg/dose×3 daily) accelerated the decline of Mn(2+) induced enhancement in MRI. In the whole brain on average the enhancement declined from 100% to 17% in AcPAS treated mice, while in PBS controls the decline is from 100% to 27%. We posit that AcPAS could enhance MEMRI utility for evaluating brain biology in small animals. COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHODS To the best of our knowledge, no method exists to accelerate the decline of the Mn(2+) induced MRI enhancement for repeated MEMRI tests.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aditya N Bade
- Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5800, United States
| | - Biyun Zhou
- Department of Anesthesiology, Tongji Medical College, Huanzhong University of Science and Technology, China
| | - JoEllyn McMillan
- Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5800, United States
| | - Prabagaran Narayanasamy
- Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5800, United States; Department of Pathology and Microbiology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5900, United States
| | - Ram Veerubhotla
- Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5800, United States
| | - Howard E Gendelman
- Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5800, United States
| | - Michael D Boska
- Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5800, United States; Department of Radiology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-1045, United States
| | - Yutong Liu
- Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-5800, United States; Department of Radiology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, 68198-1045, United States.
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Jackson WS. Selective vulnerability to neurodegenerative disease: the curious case of Prion Protein. Dis Model Mech 2014; 7:21-9. [PMID: 24396151 PMCID: PMC3882045 DOI: 10.1242/dmm.012146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
The mechanisms underlying the selective targeting of specific brain regions by different neurodegenerative diseases is one of the most intriguing mysteries in medicine. For example, it is known that Alzheimer’s disease primarily affects parts of the brain that play a role in memory, whereas Parkinson’s disease predominantly affects parts of the brain that are involved in body movement. However, the reasons that other brain regions remain unaffected in these diseases are unknown. A better understanding of the phenomenon of selective vulnerability is required for the development of targeted therapeutic approaches that specifically protect affected neurons, thereby altering the disease course and preventing its progression. Prion diseases are a fascinating group of neurodegenerative diseases because they exhibit a wide phenotypic spectrum caused by different sequence perturbations in a single protein. The possible ways that mutations affecting this protein can cause several distinct neurodegenerative diseases are explored in this Review to highlight the complexity underlying selective vulnerability. The premise of this article is that selective vulnerability is determined by the interaction of specific protein conformers and region-specific microenvironments harboring unique combinations of subcellular components such as metals, chaperones and protein translation machinery. Given the abundance of potential contributory factors in the neurodegenerative process, a better understanding of how these factors interact will provide invaluable insight into disease mechanisms to guide therapeutic discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Walker S Jackson
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, 53127-Bonn, Germany
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Translation of the prion protein mRNA is robust in astrocytes but does not amplify during reactive astrocytosis in the mouse brain. PLoS One 2014; 9:e95958. [PMID: 24752288 PMCID: PMC3994155 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0095958] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2014] [Accepted: 04/01/2014] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Prion diseases induce neurodegeneration in specific brain areas for undetermined reasons. A thorough understanding of the localization of the disease-causing molecule, the prion protein (PrP), could inform on this issue but previous studies have generated conflicting conclusions. One of the more intriguing disagreements is whether PrP is synthesized by astrocytes. We developed a knock-in reporter mouse line in which the coding sequence of the PrP expressing gene (Prnp), was replaced with that for green fluorescent protein (GFP). Native GFP fluorescence intensity varied between and within brain regions. GFP was present in astrocytes but did not increase during reactive gliosis induced by scrapie prion infection. Therefore, reactive gliosis associated with prion diseases does not cause an acceleration of local PrP production. In addition to aiding in Prnp gene activity studies, this reporter mouse line will likely prove useful for analysis of chimeric animals produced by stem cell and tissue transplantation experiments.
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Profoundly different prion diseases in knock-in mice carrying single PrP codon substitutions associated with human diseases. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2013; 110:14759-64. [PMID: 23959875 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1312006110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
In man, mutations in different regions of the prion protein (PrP) are associated with infectious neurodegenerative diseases that have remarkably different clinical signs and neuropathological lesions. To explore the roots of this phenomenon, we created a knock-in mouse model carrying the mutation associated with one of these diseases [Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD)] that was exactly analogous to a previous knock-in model of a different prion disease [fatal familial insomnia (FFI)]. Together with the WT parent, this created an allelic series of three lines, each expressing the same protein with a single amino acid difference, and with all native regulatory elements intact. The previously described FFI mice develop neuronal loss and intense reactive gliosis in the thalamus, as seen in humans with FFI. In contrast, CJD mice had the hallmark features of CJD, spongiosis and proteinase K-resistant PrP aggregates, initially developing in the hippocampus and cerebellum but absent from the thalamus. A molecular transmission barrier protected the mice from any infectious prion agents that might have been present in our mouse facility and allowed us to conclude that the diseases occurred spontaneously. Importantly, both models created agents that caused a transmissible neurodegenerative disease in WT mice. We conclude that single codon differences in a single gene in an otherwise normal genome can cause remarkably different neurodegenerative diseases and are sufficient to create distinct protein-based infectious elements.
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Sonati T, Reimann RR, Falsig J, Baral PK, O'Connor T, Hornemann S, Yaganoglu S, Li B, Herrmann US, Wieland B, Swayampakula M, Rahman MH, Das D, Kav N, Riek R, Liberski PP, James MNG, Aguzzi A. The toxicity of antiprion antibodies is mediated by the flexible tail of the prion protein. Nature 2013; 501:102-6. [PMID: 23903654 DOI: 10.1038/nature12402] [Citation(s) in RCA: 160] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2012] [Accepted: 06/21/2013] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Prion infections cause lethal neurodegeneration. This process requires the cellular prion protein (PrP(C); ref. 1), which contains a globular domain hinged to a long amino-proximal flexible tail. Here we describe rapid neurotoxicity in mice and cerebellar organotypic cultured slices exposed to ligands targeting the α1 and α3 helices of the PrP(C) globular domain. Ligands included seven distinct monoclonal antibodies, monovalent Fab1 fragments and recombinant single-chain variable fragment miniantibodies. Similar to prion infections, the toxicity of globular domain ligands required neuronal PrP(C), was exacerbated by PrP(C) overexpression, was associated with calpain activation and was antagonized by calpain inhibitors. Neurodegeneration was accompanied by a burst of reactive oxygen species, and was suppressed by antioxidants. Furthermore, genetic ablation of the superoxide-producing enzyme NOX2 (also known as CYBB) protected mice from globular domain ligand toxicity. We also found that neurotoxicity was prevented by deletions of the octapeptide repeats within the flexible tail. These deletions did not appreciably compromise globular domain antibody binding, suggesting that the flexible tail is required to transmit toxic signals that originate from the globular domain and trigger oxidative stress and calpain activation. Supporting this view, various octapeptide ligands were not only innocuous to both cerebellar organotypic cultured slices and mice, but also prevented the toxicity of globular domain ligands while not interfering with their binding. We conclude that PrP(C) consists of two functionally distinct modules, with the globular domain and the flexible tail exerting regulatory and executive functions, respectively. Octapeptide ligands also prolonged the life of mice expressing the toxic PrP(C) mutant, PrP(Δ94-134), indicating that the flexible tail mediates toxicity in two distinct PrP(C)-related conditions. Flexible tail-mediated toxicity may conceivably play a role in further prion pathologies, such as familial Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans bearing supernumerary octapeptides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tiziana Sonati
- Institute of Neuropathology, University Hospital Zurich, Schmelzbergstrasse 12, CH-8091 Zurich, Switzerland
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Restelli E, Fioriti L, Mantovani S, Airaghi S, Forloni G, Chiesa R. Cell type-specific neuroprotective activity of untranslocated prion protein. PLoS One 2010; 5:e13725. [PMID: 21060848 PMCID: PMC2965675 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0013725] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2010] [Accepted: 10/07/2010] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Background A key pathogenic role in prion diseases was proposed for a cytosolic form of the prion protein (PrP). However, it is not clear how cytosolic PrP localization influences neuronal viability, with either cytotoxic or anti-apoptotic effects reported in different studies. The cellular mechanism by which PrP is delivered to the cytosol of neurons is also debated, and either retrograde transport from the endoplasmic reticulum or inefficient translocation during biosynthesis has been proposed. We investigated cytosolic PrP biogenesis and effect on cell viability in primary neuronal cultures from different mouse brain regions. Principal Findings Mild proteasome inhibition induced accumulation of an untranslocated form of cytosolic PrP in cortical and hippocampal cells, but not in cerebellar granules. A cyclopeptolide that interferes with the correct insertion of the PrP signal sequence into the translocon increased the amount of untranslocated PrP in cortical and hippocampal cells, and induced its synthesis in cerebellar neurons. Untranslocated PrP boosted the resistance of cortical and hippocampal neurons to apoptotic insults but had no effect on cerebellar cells. Significance These results indicate cell type-dependent differences in the efficiency of PrP translocation, and argue that cytosolic PrP targeting might serve a physiological neuroprotective function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Restelli
- Dulbecco Telethon Institute, Milan, Italy
- Department of Neuroscience, Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, Milan, Italy
| | - Luana Fioriti
- Dulbecco Telethon Institute, Milan, Italy
- Department of Neuroscience, Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, Milan, Italy
| | - Susanna Mantovani
- Dulbecco Telethon Institute, Milan, Italy
- Department of Neuroscience, Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, Milan, Italy
| | - Simona Airaghi
- Dulbecco Telethon Institute, Milan, Italy
- Department of Neuroscience, Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, Milan, Italy
| | - Gianluigi Forloni
- Department of Neuroscience, Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, Milan, Italy
| | - Roberto Chiesa
- Dulbecco Telethon Institute, Milan, Italy
- Department of Neuroscience, Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, Milan, Italy
- * E-mail:
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Nieznanski K. Interactions of prion protein with intracellular proteins: so many partners and no consequences? Cell Mol Neurobiol 2009; 30:653-66. [PMID: 20041289 DOI: 10.1007/s10571-009-9491-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2009] [Accepted: 12/18/2009] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Prion protein (PrP) plays a key role in the pathogenesis of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs)--fatal diseases of the central nervous system. Its physiological function as well as exact role in neurodegeneration remain unclear, hence screens for proteins interacting with PrP seem to be the most promising approach to elucidating these issues. PrP is mostly a plasma membrane-anchored extracellular glycoprotein and only a small fraction resides inside the cell, yet the number of identified intracellular partners of PrP is comparable to that of its membranal or extracellular interactors. Since some TSEs are accompanied by significantly increased levels of cytoplasmic PrP and this fraction of the protein has been found to be neurotoxic, it is of particular interest to characterize the intracellular interactome of PrP. It seems reasonable that at elevated cytoplasmic levels, PrP may exert cytotoxic effect by affecting the physiological functions of its intracellular interactors. This review is focused on the cytoplasmic partners of PrP along with possible consequences of their binding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Krzysztof Nieznanski
- Department of Biochemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, 3 Pasteur St, Warsaw 02093, Poland.
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Jackson WS, Borkowski AW, Faas H, Steele AD, King OD, Watson N, Jasanoff A, Lindquist S. Spontaneous generation of prion infectivity in fatal familial insomnia knockin mice. Neuron 2009; 63:438-50. [PMID: 19709627 PMCID: PMC2775465 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2009.07.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 113] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2009] [Revised: 07/20/2009] [Accepted: 07/30/2009] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
A crucial tenet of the prion hypothesis is that misfolding of the prion protein (PrP) induced by mutations associated with familial prion disease is, in an otherwise normal mammalian brain, sufficient to generate the infectious agent. Yet this has never been demonstrated. We engineered knockin mice to express a PrP mutation associated with a distinct human prion disease, fatal familial insomnia (FFI). An additional substitution created a strong transmission barrier against pre-existing prions. The mice spontaneously developed a disease distinct from that of other mouse prion models and highly reminiscent of FFI. Unique pathology was transmitted from FFI mice to mice expressing wild-type PrP sharing the same transmission barrier. FFI mice were highly resistant to infection by pre-existing prions, confirming infectivity did not arise from contaminating agents. Thus, a single amino acid change in PrP is sufficient to induce a distinct neurodegenerative disease and the spontaneous generation of prion infectivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Walker S Jackson
- Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Nine Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
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