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Parra Bravo C, Naguib SA, Gan L. Cellular and pathological functions of tau. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 2024:10.1038/s41580-024-00753-9. [PMID: 39014245 DOI: 10.1038/s41580-024-00753-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/10/2024] [Indexed: 07/18/2024]
Abstract
Tau protein is involved in various cellular processes, including having a canonical role in binding and stabilization of microtubules in neurons. Tauopathies are neurodegenerative diseases marked by the abnormal accumulation of tau protein aggregates in neurons, as seen, for example, in conditions such as frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer disease. Mutations in tau coding regions or that disrupt tau mRNA splicing, tau post-translational modifications and cellular stress factors (such as oxidative stress and inflammation) increase the tendency of tau to aggregate and interfere with its clearance. Pathological tau is strongly implicated in the progression of neurodegenerative diseases, and the propagation of tau aggregates is associated with disease severity. Recent technological advancements, including cryo-electron microscopy and disease models derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells, have increased our understanding of tau-related pathology in neurodegenerative conditions. Substantial progress has been made in deciphering tau aggregate structures and the molecular mechanisms that underlie protein aggregation and toxicity. In this Review, we discuss recent insights into the diverse cellular functions of tau and the pathology of tau inclusions and explore the potential for therapeutic interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Celeste Parra Bravo
- Helen and Robert Appel Alzheimer's Disease Research Institute, Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, New York, NY, USA
| | - Sarah A Naguib
- Helen and Robert Appel Alzheimer's Disease Research Institute, Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Li Gan
- Helen and Robert Appel Alzheimer's Disease Research Institute, Brain and Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, New York, NY, USA.
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2
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Abedini SS, Akhavantabasi S, Liang Y, Heng J, Alizadehsani R, Dehzangi I, Bauer DC, Alinejad-Rokny H. A Critical Review of the Impact of Candidate Copy Number Variants on Autism Spectrum Disorder. MUTATION RESEARCH. REVIEWS IN MUTATION RESEARCH 2024:108509. [PMID: 38977176 DOI: 10.1016/j.mrrev.2024.108509] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2023] [Revised: 04/14/2024] [Accepted: 07/02/2024] [Indexed: 07/10/2024]
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD) influenced by genetic, epigenetic, and environmental factors. Recent advancements in genomic analysis have shed light on numerous genes associated with ASD, highlighting the significant role of both common and rare genetic mutations, as well as copy number variations (CNVs), single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and unique de novo variants. These genetic variations disrupt neurodevelopmental pathways, contributing to the disorder's complexity. Notably, CNVs are present in 10%-20% of individuals with autism, with 3%-7% detectable through cytogenetic methods. While the role of submicroscopic CNVs in ASD has been recently studied, their association with genomic loci and genes has not been thoroughly explored. In this review, we focus on 47 CNV regions linked to ASD, encompassing 1,632 genes, including protein-coding genes and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), of which 659 show significant brain expression. Using a list of ASD-associated genes from SFARI, we detect 17 regions harboring at least one known ASD-related protein-coding gene. Of the remaining 30 regions, we identify 24 regions containing at least one protein-coding gene with brain-enriched expression and a nervous system phenotype in mouse mutants, and one lncRNA with both brain-enriched expression and upregulation in iPSC to neuron differentiation. This review not only expands our understanding of the genetic diversity associated with ASD but also underscores the potential of lncRNAs in contributing to its etiology. Additionally, the discovered CNVs will be a valuable resource for future diagnostic, therapeutic, and research endeavors aimed at prioritizing genetic variations in ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seyedeh Sedigheh Abedini
- UNSW BioMedical Machine Learning Lab (BML), The Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia
| | - Shiva Akhavantabasi
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Yeni Yuzyil University, Istanbul, Turkey; Ghiaseddin Jamshid Kashani University, Andisheh University Town- Danesh Blvd, 3441356611, Abyek, Qazvin, IR
| | - Yuheng Liang
- UNSW BioMedical Machine Learning Lab (BML), The Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia
| | - Julian Heng
- Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, Curtin University, Bentley 6845, Australia
| | - Roohallah Alizadehsani
- Institute for Intelligent Systems Research and Innovation (IISRI), Deakin University, Victoria, Australia
| | - Iman Dehzangi
- Center for Computational and Integrative Biology, Rutgers University, Camden, NJ 08102, USA; Department of Computer Science, Rutgers University, Camden, NJ 08102, USA
| | - Denis C Bauer
- Transformational Bioinformatics, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Sydney, Australia; Applied BioSciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, Macquarie Park, Australia
| | - Hamid Alinejad-Rokny
- UNSW BioMedical Machine Learning Lab (BML), The Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia; Tyree Institute of Health Engineering (IHealthE), UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
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3
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Abyadeh M, Gupta V, Paulo JA, Mahmoudabad AG, Shadfar S, Mirshahvaladi S, Gupta V, Nguyen CTO, Finkelstein DI, You Y, Haynes PA, Salekdeh GH, Graham SL, Mirzaei M. Amyloid-beta and tau protein beyond Alzheimer's disease. Neural Regen Res 2024; 19:1262-1276. [PMID: 37905874 DOI: 10.4103/1673-5374.386406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2023] [Accepted: 09/07/2023] [Indexed: 11/02/2023] Open
Abstract
ABSTRACT The aggregation of amyloid-beta peptide and tau protein dysregulation are implicated to play key roles in Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis and are considered the main pathological hallmarks of this devastating disease. Physiologically, these two proteins are produced and expressed within the normal human body. However, under pathological conditions, abnormal expression, post-translational modifications, conformational changes, and truncation can make these proteins prone to aggregation, triggering specific disease-related cascades. Recent studies have indicated associations between aberrant behavior of amyloid-beta and tau proteins and various neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, as well as retinal neurodegenerative diseases like Glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration. Additionally, these proteins have been linked to cardiovascular disease, cancer, traumatic brain injury, and diabetes, which are all leading causes of morbidity and mortality. In this comprehensive review, we provide an overview of the connections between amyloid-beta and tau proteins and a spectrum of disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Vivek Gupta
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie Medical School, Macquarie University, Macquarie Park, North Ryde, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Joao A Paulo
- Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Sina Shadfar
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie Medical School, Macquarie University, Macquarie Park, North Ryde, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Shahab Mirshahvaladi
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie Medical School, Macquarie University, Macquarie Park, North Ryde, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Veer Gupta
- School of Medicine, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia
| | - Christine T O Nguyen
- Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - David I Finkelstein
- The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Yuyi You
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie Medical School, Macquarie University, Macquarie Park, North Ryde, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Paul A Haynes
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Macquarie Park, NSW, Australia
| | - Ghasem H Salekdeh
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Macquarie Park, NSW, Australia
| | - Stuart L Graham
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie Medical School, Macquarie University, Macquarie Park, North Ryde, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Mehdi Mirzaei
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie Medical School, Macquarie University, Macquarie Park, North Ryde, Sydney, NSW, Australia
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Voskobiynyk Y, Li Z, Cochran JN, Davis MN, Carullo NVN, Creed RB, Buckingham SC, Hall AM, Wilson SM, Roberson ED. Excitoprotective effects of conditional tau reduction in excitatory neurons and in adulthood. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.05.14.594246. [PMID: 38798487 PMCID: PMC11118377 DOI: 10.1101/2024.05.14.594246] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/29/2024]
Abstract
Tau reduction is a promising therapeutic strategy for Alzheimer's disease. In numerous models, tau reduction via genetic knockout is beneficial, at least in part due to protection against hyperexcitability and seizures, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Here we describe the generation and initial study of a new conditional Tau flox model to address these mechanisms. Given the protective effects of tau reduction against hyperexcitability, we compared the effects of selective tau reduction in excitatory or inhibitory neurons. Tau reduction in excitatory neurons mimicked the protective effects of global tau reduction, while tau reduction in inhibitory neurons had the opposite effect and increased seizure susceptibility. Since most prior studies used knockout mice lacking tau throughout development, we crossed Tau flox mice with inducible Cre mice and found beneficial effects of tau reduction in adulthood. Our findings support the effectiveness of tau reduction in adulthood and indicate that excitatory neurons may be a key site for its excitoprotective effects. SUMMARY A new conditional tau knockout model was generated to study the protective effects of tau reduction against hyperexcitability. Conditional tau reduction in excitatory, but not inhibitory, neurons was excitoprotective, and induced tau reduction in adulthood was excitoprotective without adverse effects.
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Wainberg M, Forde NJ, Mansour S, Kerrebijn I, Medland SE, Hawco C, Tripathy SJ. Genetic architecture of the structural connectome. Nat Commun 2024; 15:1962. [PMID: 38438384 PMCID: PMC10912129 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-46023-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2022] [Accepted: 02/12/2024] [Indexed: 03/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Myelinated axons form long-range connections that enable rapid communication between distant brain regions, but how genetics governs the strength and organization of these connections remains unclear. We perform genome-wide association studies of 206 structural connectivity measures derived from diffusion magnetic resonance imaging tractography of 26,333 UK Biobank participants, each representing the density of myelinated connections within or between a pair of cortical networks, subcortical structures or cortical hemispheres. We identify 30 independent genome-wide significant variants after Bonferroni correction for the number of measures studied (126 variants at nominal genome-wide significance) implicating genes involved in myelination (SEMA3A), neurite elongation and guidance (NUAK1, STRN, DPYSL2, EPHA3, SEMA3A, HGF, SHTN1), neural cell proliferation and differentiation (GMNC, CELF4, HGF), neuronal migration (CCDC88C), cytoskeletal organization (CTTNBP2, MAPT, DAAM1, MYO16, PLEC), and brain metal transport (SLC39A8). These variants have four broad patterns of spatial association with structural connectivity: some have disproportionately strong associations with corticothalamic connectivity, interhemispheric connectivity, or both, while others are more spatially diffuse. Structural connectivity measures are highly polygenic, with a median of 9.1 percent of common variants estimated to have non-zero effects on each measure, and exhibited signatures of negative selection. Structural connectivity measures have significant genetic correlations with a variety of neuropsychiatric and cognitive traits, indicating that connectivity-altering variants tend to influence brain health and cognitive function. Heritability is enriched in regions with increased chromatin accessibility in adult oligodendrocytes (as well as microglia, inhibitory neurons and astrocytes) and multiple fetal cell types, suggesting that genetic control of structural connectivity is partially mediated by effects on myelination and early brain development. Our results indicate pervasive, pleiotropic, and spatially structured genetic control of white-matter structural connectivity via diverse neurodevelopmental pathways, and support the relevance of this genetic control to healthy brain function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Wainberg
- Krembil Centre for Neuroinformatics, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada.
- Prosserman Centre for Population Health Research, Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health, Toronto, ON, Canada.
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
- Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
| | - Natalie J Forde
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Salim Mansour
- Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Isabel Kerrebijn
- Prosserman Centre for Population Health Research, Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Sarah E Medland
- QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Colin Hawco
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
- Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
- Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada.
| | - Shreejoy J Tripathy
- Krembil Centre for Neuroinformatics, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada.
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
- Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
- Department of Physiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
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Pugsley K, Namipashaki A, Bellgrove MA, Hawi Z. Evaluating the regulatory function of non-coding autism-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms on gene expression in human brain tissue. Autism Res 2024; 17:467-481. [PMID: 38323502 DOI: 10.1002/aur.3101] [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: 09/11/2023] [Accepted: 01/18/2024] [Indexed: 02/08/2024]
Abstract
Common variants account for most of the estimated heritability associated with autism spectrum disorder (autism). Although several replicable single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for the condition have been detected using genome-wide association study (GWAS) methodologies, their pathophysiological relevance remains elusive. Examining this is complicated, however, as all detected loci are situated within non-coding regions of the genome. It is therefore likely that they possess roles of regulatory function as opposed to directly affecting gene coding sequences. To bridge the gap between SNP discovery and mechanistic insight, we applied a comprehensive bioinformatic pipeline to functionally annotate autism-associated polymorphisms and their non-coding linkage disequilibrium (i.e., non-randomly associated) partners. We identified 82 DNA variants of probable regulatory function that may contribute to autism pathogenesis. To validate these predictions, we measured the impact of 11 high-confidence candidates and their GWAS linkage disequilibrium partners on gene expression in human brain tissue from Autistic and non-Autistic donors. Although a small number of the surveyed variants exhibited measurable influence on gene expression as determined via quantitative polymerase chain reaction, these did not survive correction for multiple comparisons. Additionally, no significant genotype-by-diagnosis effects were observed for any of the SNP-gene associations. We contend that this may reflect an inability to effectively capture the modest, neurodevelopmental-specific impact of individual variants on biological dysregulation in available post-mortem tissue samples, as well as limitations in the existing autism GWAS data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kealan Pugsley
- Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health and School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Atefeh Namipashaki
- Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health and School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Mark A Bellgrove
- Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health and School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Ziarih Hawi
- Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health and School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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7
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Zhang Q, Xing M, Bao Z, Xu L, Bai Y, Chen W, Pan W, Cai F, Wang Q, Guo S, Zhang J, Wang Z, Wu Y, Zhang Y, Li JD, Song W. Contactin-associated protein-like 2 (CNTNAP2) mutations impair the essential α-secretase cleavages, leading to autism-like phenotypes. Signal Transduct Target Ther 2024; 9:51. [PMID: 38424048 PMCID: PMC10904759 DOI: 10.1038/s41392-024-01768-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2023] [Revised: 01/22/2024] [Accepted: 02/07/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Mutations in the Contactin-associated protein-like 2 (CNTNAP2) gene are associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and ectodomain shedding of the CNTNAP2 protein plays a role in its function. However, key enzymes involved in the C-terminal cleavage of CNTNAP2 remain largely unknown, and the effect of ASD-associated mutations on this process and its role in ASD pathogenesis remain elusive. In this report we showed that CNTNAP2 undergoes sequential cleavages by furin, ADAM10/17-dependent α-secretase and presenilin-dependent γ-secretase. We identified that the cleavage sites of ADAM10 and ADAM17 in CNTNAP2 locate at its C-terminal residue I79 and L96, and the main α-cleavage product C79 by ADAM10 is required for the subsequent γ-secretase cleavage to generate CNTNAP2 intracellular domain (CICD). ASD-associated CNTNAP2 mutations impair the α-cleavage to generate C79, and the inhibition leads to ASD-like repetitive and social behavior abnormalities in the Cntnap2-I1254T knock-in mice. Finally, exogenous expression of C79 improves autism-like phenotypes in the Cntnap2-I1254T knock-in and Cntnap2-/- knockout mice. This data demonstrates that the α-secretase is essential for CNTNAP2 processing and its function. Our study indicates that inhibition of the cleavage by pathogenic mutations underlies ASD pathogenesis, and upregulation of its C-terminal fragments could have therapeutical potentials for ASD treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qing Zhang
- Oujiang Laboratory (Zhejiang Lab for Regenerative Medicine, Vision and Brain Health), Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Alzheimer's Disease, Zhejiang Provincial Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, School of Mental Health and Wenzhou Kangning Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital, Institute of Aging, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, 325035, China
- Townsend Family Laboratories, Department of Psychiatry, Brain Research Center, The University of British Columbia, 2255 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Mengen Xing
- Oujiang Laboratory (Zhejiang Lab for Regenerative Medicine, Vision and Brain Health), Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Alzheimer's Disease, Zhejiang Provincial Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, School of Mental Health and Wenzhou Kangning Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital, Institute of Aging, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, 325035, China
| | - Zhengkai Bao
- Oujiang Laboratory (Zhejiang Lab for Regenerative Medicine, Vision and Brain Health), Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Alzheimer's Disease, Zhejiang Provincial Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, School of Mental Health and Wenzhou Kangning Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital, Institute of Aging, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, 325035, China
| | - Lu Xu
- Oujiang Laboratory (Zhejiang Lab for Regenerative Medicine, Vision and Brain Health), Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Alzheimer's Disease, Zhejiang Provincial Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, School of Mental Health and Wenzhou Kangning Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital, Institute of Aging, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, 325035, China
| | - Yang Bai
- Oujiang Laboratory (Zhejiang Lab for Regenerative Medicine, Vision and Brain Health), Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Alzheimer's Disease, Zhejiang Provincial Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, School of Mental Health and Wenzhou Kangning Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital, Institute of Aging, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, 325035, China
| | - Wanqi Chen
- Oujiang Laboratory (Zhejiang Lab for Regenerative Medicine, Vision and Brain Health), Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Alzheimer's Disease, Zhejiang Provincial Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, School of Mental Health and Wenzhou Kangning Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital, Institute of Aging, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, 325035, China
| | - Wenhao Pan
- Oujiang Laboratory (Zhejiang Lab for Regenerative Medicine, Vision and Brain Health), Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Alzheimer's Disease, Zhejiang Provincial Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, School of Mental Health and Wenzhou Kangning Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital, Institute of Aging, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, 325035, China
| | - Fang Cai
- Oujiang Laboratory (Zhejiang Lab for Regenerative Medicine, Vision and Brain Health), Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Alzheimer's Disease, Zhejiang Provincial Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, School of Mental Health and Wenzhou Kangning Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital, Institute of Aging, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, 325035, China
| | - Qunxian Wang
- Chongqing Key Laboratory of Translational Medical Research in Cognitive Development and Learning and Memory Disorders, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, 400014, China
| | - Shipeng Guo
- Chongqing Key Laboratory of Translational Medical Research in Cognitive Development and Learning and Memory Disorders, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, 400014, China
| | - Jing Zhang
- Center for Medical Genetics, Hunan Key Laboratory of Animal Models for Human Diseases, Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, Hunan International Scientific and Technological Cooperation Base of Animal Models for Human Diseases, School of Life Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, 410078, Hunan, China
| | - Zhe Wang
- The National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disease, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100053, China
| | - Yili Wu
- Oujiang Laboratory (Zhejiang Lab for Regenerative Medicine, Vision and Brain Health), Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Alzheimer's Disease, Zhejiang Provincial Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, School of Mental Health and Wenzhou Kangning Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital, Institute of Aging, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, 325035, China
| | - Yun Zhang
- The National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disease, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100053, China.
| | - Jia-Da Li
- Center for Medical Genetics, Hunan Key Laboratory of Animal Models for Human Diseases, Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, Hunan International Scientific and Technological Cooperation Base of Animal Models for Human Diseases, School of Life Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, 410078, Hunan, China.
| | - Weihong Song
- Oujiang Laboratory (Zhejiang Lab for Regenerative Medicine, Vision and Brain Health), Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Alzheimer's Disease, Zhejiang Provincial Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, School of Mental Health and Wenzhou Kangning Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital, Institute of Aging, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, 325035, China.
- Townsend Family Laboratories, Department of Psychiatry, Brain Research Center, The University of British Columbia, 2255 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada.
- Chongqing Key Laboratory of Translational Medical Research in Cognitive Development and Learning and Memory Disorders, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Child Development and Disorders, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, 400014, China.
- The National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disease, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100053, China.
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8
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Yu M, Risacher SL, Nho KT, Wen Q, Oblak AL, Unverzagt FW, Apostolova LG, Farlow MR, Brosch JR, Clark DG, Wang S, Deardorff R, Wu YC, Gao S, Sporns O, Saykin AJ. Spatial transcriptomic patterns underlying amyloid-β and tau pathology are associated with cognitive dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease. Cell Rep 2024; 43:113691. [PMID: 38244198 PMCID: PMC10926093 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.113691] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2023] [Revised: 11/29/2023] [Accepted: 01/03/2024] [Indexed: 01/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Amyloid-β (Aβ) and tau proteins accumulate within distinct neuronal systems in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although it is not clear why certain brain regions are more vulnerable to Aβ and tau pathologies than others, gene expression may play a role. We study the association between brain-wide gene expression profiles and regional vulnerability to Aβ (gene-to-Aβ associations) and tau (gene-to-tau associations) pathologies by leveraging two large independent AD cohorts. We identify AD susceptibility genes and gene modules in a gene co-expression network with expression profiles specifically related to regional vulnerability to Aβ and tau pathologies in AD. In addition, we identify distinct biochemical pathways associated with the gene-to-Aβ and the gene-to-tau associations. These findings may explain the discordance between regional Aβ and tau pathologies. Finally, we propose an analytic framework, linking the identified gene-to-pathology associations to cognitive dysfunction in AD at the individual level, suggesting potential clinical implication of the gene-to-pathology associations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meichen Yu
- Indiana Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Center for Neuroimaging, Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Stark Neurosciences Research Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana University Network Science Institute, Bloomington, IN, USA.
| | - Shannon L Risacher
- Indiana Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Center for Neuroimaging, Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Stark Neurosciences Research Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | - Kwangsik T Nho
- Indiana Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Center for Neuroimaging, Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Stark Neurosciences Research Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana University Network Science Institute, Bloomington, IN, USA
| | - Qiuting Wen
- Indiana Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Center for Neuroimaging, Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | - Adrian L Oblak
- Center for Neuroimaging, Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Stark Neurosciences Research Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | - Frederick W Unverzagt
- Indiana Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | - Liana G Apostolova
- Indiana Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Center for Neuroimaging, Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Stark Neurosciences Research Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Department of Neurology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | - Martin R Farlow
- Indiana Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Stark Neurosciences Research Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Department of Neurology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | - Jared R Brosch
- Indiana Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Department of Neurology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | - David G Clark
- Indiana Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Department of Neurology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | - Sophia Wang
- Indiana Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | - Rachael Deardorff
- Indiana Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Center for Neuroimaging, Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | - Yu-Chien Wu
- Indiana Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Center for Neuroimaging, Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Stark Neurosciences Research Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | - Sujuan Gao
- Indiana Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Department of Biostatistics and Health Data Science, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | - Olaf Sporns
- Indiana Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Center for Neuroimaging, Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana University Network Science Institute, Bloomington, IN, USA; Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
| | - Andrew J Saykin
- Indiana Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Center for Neuroimaging, Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Stark Neurosciences Research Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Indiana University Network Science Institute, Bloomington, IN, USA.
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9
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Leitner D, Pires G, Kavanagh T, Kanshin E, Askenazi M, Ueberheide B, Devinsky O, Wisniewski T, Drummond E. Similar brain proteomic signatures in Alzheimer's disease and epilepsy. Acta Neuropathol 2024; 147:27. [PMID: 38289539 PMCID: PMC10827928 DOI: 10.1007/s00401-024-02683-4] [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: 10/04/2023] [Revised: 12/15/2023] [Accepted: 01/03/2024] [Indexed: 02/01/2024]
Abstract
The prevalence of epilepsy is increased among Alzheimer's Disease (AD) patients and cognitive impairment is common among people with epilepsy. Epilepsy and AD are linked but the shared pathophysiological changes remain poorly defined. We aim to identify protein differences associated with epilepsy and AD using published proteomics datasets. We observed a highly significant overlap in protein differences in epilepsy and AD: 89% (689/777) of proteins altered in the hippocampus of epilepsy patients were significantly altered in advanced AD. Of the proteins altered in both epilepsy and AD, 340 were altered in the same direction, while 216 proteins were altered in the opposite direction. Synapse and mitochondrial proteins were markedly decreased in epilepsy and AD, suggesting common disease mechanisms. In contrast, ribosome proteins were increased in epilepsy but decreased in AD. Notably, many of the proteins altered in epilepsy interact with tau or are regulated by tau expression. This suggests that tau likely mediates common protein changes in epilepsy and AD. Immunohistochemistry for Aβ and multiple phosphorylated tau species (pTau396/404, pTau217, pTau231) showed a trend for increased intraneuronal pTau217 and pTau231 but no phosphorylated tau aggregates or amyloid plaques in epilepsy hippocampal sections. Our results provide insights into common mechanisms in epilepsy and AD and highlights the potential role of tau in mediating common pathological protein changes in epilepsy and AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dominique Leitner
- Center for Cognitive Neurology, Department of Neurology, Grossman School of Medicine, New York University, New York, NY, 10016, USA
- Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, 10016, USA
| | - Geoffrey Pires
- Center for Cognitive Neurology, Department of Neurology, Grossman School of Medicine, New York University, New York, NY, 10016, USA
| | - Tomas Kavanagh
- Brain and Mind Centre and School of Medical Sciences, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, 2050, Australia
| | - Evgeny Kanshin
- Proteomics Laboratory, Division of Advanced Research Technologies and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, 10016, USA
| | | | - Beatrix Ueberheide
- Center for Cognitive Neurology, Department of Neurology, Grossman School of Medicine, New York University, New York, NY, 10016, USA
- Proteomics Laboratory, Division of Advanced Research Technologies and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, 10016, USA
| | - Orrin Devinsky
- Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, 10016, USA
| | - Thomas Wisniewski
- Center for Cognitive Neurology, Department of Neurology, Grossman School of Medicine, New York University, New York, NY, 10016, USA.
| | - Eleanor Drummond
- Center for Cognitive Neurology, Department of Neurology, Grossman School of Medicine, New York University, New York, NY, 10016, USA.
- Brain and Mind Centre and School of Medical Sciences, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, 2050, Australia.
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10
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Wang C, Chen W, Jiang Y, Xiao X, Zou Q, Liang J, Zhao Y, Wang Q, Yuan T, Guo R, Liu X, Liu Z. A synbiotic formulation of Lactobacillus reuteri and inulin alleviates ASD-like behaviors in a mouse model: the mediating role of the gut-brain axis. Food Funct 2024; 15:387-400. [PMID: 38099485 DOI: 10.1039/d3fo02663a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2024]
Abstract
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), a complex neurodevelopmental disorder marked by social communication deficits and repetitive behaviors, may see symptom amelioration through gut microbiota modulation. This study investigates the effects of a synbiotic - specifically a probiotic amplified by prebiotic supplementation - on ASD-like mouse model's social deficiencies. This model was established via valproic acid injection into pregnant females. Post-weaning, male progeny received daily synbiotic treatment, a combination of Lactobacillus reuteri (L. reuteri) and inulin, for four weeks. Results indicated that the synbiotic rectified social impairments and attenuated inflammatory cytokine expressions in the brain. Moreover, synbiotic intervention protected gut barrier integrity and altered the gut microbiota composition, enhancing the butyrate-producing Bifidobacterium abundance. The synbiotic elevated metabolites such as butyrate and 3-hydroxybutyric acid (3-HB), alongside upregulated genes associated with 3-HB synthesis in the colon and liver, and brain receptors. Conclusively, the synbiotic combination of L. reuteri and inulin mitigated ASD-related social impairments, partially via their regulatory effect on the gut-brain axis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chuanchuan Wang
- Laboratory of Functional Chemistry and Nutrition of Food, College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China.
- Northwest A&F University Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518000, China
| | - Weixuan Chen
- Laboratory of Functional Chemistry and Nutrition of Food, College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China.
| | - Yishan Jiang
- Laboratory of Functional Chemistry and Nutrition of Food, College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China.
| | - Xiao Xiao
- Laboratory of Functional Chemistry and Nutrition of Food, College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China.
| | - Qianhui Zou
- Laboratory of Functional Chemistry and Nutrition of Food, College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China.
| | - Jiarui Liang
- Laboratory of Functional Chemistry and Nutrition of Food, College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China.
| | - Yu Zhao
- Laboratory of Functional Chemistry and Nutrition of Food, College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China.
| | - Qianxu Wang
- Laboratory of Functional Chemistry and Nutrition of Food, College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China.
| | - Tian Yuan
- Northwest A&F University Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518000, China
- Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Natural Products & Chemical Biology, College of Chemistry & Pharmacy, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China
| | - Rui Guo
- Laboratory of Functional Chemistry and Nutrition of Food, College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China.
- Northwest A&F University Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518000, China
| | - Xuebo Liu
- Laboratory of Functional Chemistry and Nutrition of Food, College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China.
| | - Zhigang Liu
- Laboratory of Functional Chemistry and Nutrition of Food, College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China.
- Northwest A&F University Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518000, China
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11
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Roth JR, Rush T, Thompson SJ, Aldaher AR, Dunn TB, Mesina JS, Cochran JN, Boyle NR, Dean HB, Yang Z, Pathak V, Ruiz P, Wu M, Day JJ, Bostwick JR, Suto MJ, Augelli-Szafran CE, Roberson ED. Development of small-molecule Tau-SH3 interaction inhibitors that prevent amyloid-β toxicity and network hyperexcitability. Neurotherapeutics 2024; 21:e00291. [PMID: 38241154 PMCID: PMC10903085 DOI: 10.1016/j.neurot.2023.10.001] [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: 10/24/2023] [Accepted: 10/24/2023] [Indexed: 01/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia and lacks highly effective treatments. Tau-based therapies hold promise. Tau reduction prevents amyloid-β-induced dysfunction in preclinical models of AD and also prevents amyloid-β-independent dysfunction in diverse disease models, especially those with network hyperexcitability, suggesting that strategies exploiting the mechanisms underlying Tau reduction may extend beyond AD. Tau binds several SH3 domain-containing proteins implicated in AD via its central proline-rich domain. We previously used a peptide inhibitor to demonstrate that blocking Tau interactions with SH3 domain-containing proteins ameliorates amyloid-β-induced dysfunction. Here, we identify a top hit from high-throughput screening for small molecules that inhibit Tau-FynSH3 interactions and describe its optimization with medicinal chemistry. The resulting lead compound is a potent cell-permeable Tau-SH3 interaction inhibitor that binds Tau and prevents amyloid-β-induced dysfunction, including network hyperexcitability. These data support the potential of using small molecule Tau-SH3 interaction inhibitors as a novel therapeutic approach to AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan R Roth
- Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, Alzheimer's Disease Center, Department of Neurology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Travis Rush
- Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, Alzheimer's Disease Center, Department of Neurology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Samantha J Thompson
- Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, Alzheimer's Disease Center, Department of Neurology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Adam R Aldaher
- Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, Alzheimer's Disease Center, Department of Neurology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Trae B Dunn
- Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, Alzheimer's Disease Center, Department of Neurology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Jacob S Mesina
- Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, Alzheimer's Disease Center, Department of Neurology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - J Nicholas Cochran
- Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, Alzheimer's Disease Center, Department of Neurology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Nicholas R Boyle
- Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, Alzheimer's Disease Center, Department of Neurology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Hunter B Dean
- Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, Alzheimer's Disease Center, Department of Neurology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Zhengrong Yang
- Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Vibha Pathak
- Chemistry Department, Southern Research, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Pedro Ruiz
- Chemistry Department, Southern Research, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Mousheng Wu
- Chemistry Department, Southern Research, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Jeremy J Day
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | | | - Mark J Suto
- Chemistry Department, Southern Research, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | | | - Erik D Roberson
- Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, Alzheimer's Disease Center, Department of Neurology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
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12
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Tseng JH, Cohen TJ. The emerging nontraditional roles for tau in the brain. Cytoskeleton (Hoboken) 2024; 81:89-94. [PMID: 38063261 PMCID: PMC11068308 DOI: 10.1002/cm.21811] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2023] [Revised: 11/02/2023] [Accepted: 11/15/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2024]
Affiliation(s)
- Jui-Heng Tseng
- Arizona State University-Banner Neurodegenerative Disease Research Center at the Biodesign Institute, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
| | - Todd J. Cohen
- UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
- Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
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13
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Samra AI, Kamel AS, Abdallah DM, El Fattah MAA, Ahmed KA, El-Abhar HS. Preclinical Evidence for the Role of the Yin/Yang Angiotensin System Components in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Therapeutic Target of Astaxanthin. Biomedicines 2023; 11:3156. [PMID: 38137376 PMCID: PMC10740500 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines11123156] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2023] [Revised: 10/27/2023] [Accepted: 10/31/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) prevalence is emerging with an unclear etiology, hindering effective therapeutic interventions. Recent studies suggest potential renin-angiotensin system (RAS) alterations in different neurological pathologies. However, its implications in ASD are unexplored. This research fulfills the critical gap by investigating dual arms of RAS and their interplay with Notch signaling in ASD, using a valproic acid (VPA) model and assessing astaxanthin's (AST) modulatory impacts. Experimentally, male pups from pregnant rats receiving either saline or VPA on gestation day 12.5 were divided into control and VPA groups, with subsequent AST treatment in a subset (postnatal days 34-58). Behavioral analyses, histopathological investigations, and electron microscopy provided insights into the neurobehavioral and structural changes induced by AST. Molecular investigations of male pups' cortices revealed that AST outweighs the protective RAS elements with the inhibition of the detrimental arm. This established the neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory axes of RAS (ACE2/Ang1-7/MasR) in the ASD context. The results showed that AST's normalization of RAS components and Notch signaling underscore a novel therapeutic avenue in ASD, impacting neuronal integrity and behavioral outcomes. These findings affirm the integral role of RAS in ASD and highlight AST's potential as a promising treatment intervention, inviting further neurological research implications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ayat I. Samra
- Pharmacology and Toxicology Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University, Cairo 11562, Egypt; (A.I.S.); (D.M.A.); (M.A.A.E.F.)
| | - Ahmed S. Kamel
- Pharmacology and Toxicology Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University, Cairo 11562, Egypt; (A.I.S.); (D.M.A.); (M.A.A.E.F.)
| | - Dalaal M. Abdallah
- Pharmacology and Toxicology Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University, Cairo 11562, Egypt; (A.I.S.); (D.M.A.); (M.A.A.E.F.)
| | - Mai A. Abd El Fattah
- Pharmacology and Toxicology Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University, Cairo 11562, Egypt; (A.I.S.); (D.M.A.); (M.A.A.E.F.)
| | - Kawkab A. Ahmed
- Pathology Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo 11562, Egypt;
| | - Hanan S. El-Abhar
- Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Future University in Egypt (FUE), Cairo 11835, Egypt;
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14
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Zhao S, Jiang X, Han L, Jiang Y, Wang Y, Meng J, Zhu X, Zhang X, Luo H, Zhang YW. Tau reduction attenuates autism-like features in Fmr1 knockout mice. Mol Autism 2023; 14:42. [PMID: 37936174 PMCID: PMC10629153 DOI: 10.1186/s13229-023-00574-1] [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: 07/19/2023] [Accepted: 10/30/2023] [Indexed: 11/09/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a leading cause of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and resulted from a loss of the FMR1-encoded fragile X messenger ribonucleoprotein 1 (FMRP) protein due to large CGG repeat expansions in the promoter region of the FMR1 gene. The microtubule-associated protein Tau is a promising target for Tauopathic diseases and our preliminary study found that Tau protein levels were increased in the brain of Fmr1 knockout (KO) mice, a model of FXS. However, whether Tau reduction can prevent autism-like features in Fmr1 KO mice and become a novel strategy for FXS treatment remain unknown. METHODS Tau was genetically reduced in Fmr1 KO mice through crossing Fmr1± female mice with Mapt± male mice. The male offspring with different genotypes were subjected to various autism-related behavioral tests, RNA sequencing, and biochemical analysis. Fmr1 KO male mice were treated with Tau-targeting antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) and then subjected to behavioral tests and biochemical analysis. RESULTS Tau expression was increased in the cortex of Fmr1 KO mice. Genetically reducing Tau prevented social defects, stereotyped and repetitive behavior, and spine abnormality in Fmr1 KO mice. Tau reduction also reversed increased periodic activity and partially rescued Per1 expression reduction in Fmr1 KO mice. Moreover, Tau reduction reversed compromised P38/MAPK signaling in Fmr1 KO mice. Finally, Tau-targeting ASO also effectively alleviated autism-like phenotypes and promoted P38/MAPK signaling in Fmr1 KO mice. LIMITATIONS Our study is limited to male mice, in agreement with the higher incidence of FXS in males than females. Whether Tau reduction also exerts protection in females deserves further scrutiny. Moreover, although Tau reduction rescues impaired P38/MAPK signaling in Fmr1 KO mice, whether this is the responsible molecular mechanism requires further determination. CONCLUSION Our data indicate that Tau reduction prevents autism-like phenotypes in Fmr1 KO mice. Tau may become a new target for FXS treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shanshan Zhao
- Xiamen Key Laboratory of Brain Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University, and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Neurodegenerative Disease and Aging Research, Institute of Neuroscience, School of Medicine, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361102, Fujian, China
| | - Xiangyu Jiang
- Xiamen Key Laboratory of Brain Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University, and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Neurodegenerative Disease and Aging Research, Institute of Neuroscience, School of Medicine, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361102, Fujian, China
| | - Linkun Han
- Xiamen Key Laboratory of Brain Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University, and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Neurodegenerative Disease and Aging Research, Institute of Neuroscience, School of Medicine, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361102, Fujian, China
| | - Yiru Jiang
- Xiamen Key Laboratory of Brain Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University, and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Neurodegenerative Disease and Aging Research, Institute of Neuroscience, School of Medicine, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361102, Fujian, China
| | - Yong Wang
- Xiamen Key Laboratory of Brain Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University, and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Neurodegenerative Disease and Aging Research, Institute of Neuroscience, School of Medicine, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361102, Fujian, China
| | - Jian Meng
- Xiamen Key Laboratory of Brain Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University, and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Neurodegenerative Disease and Aging Research, Institute of Neuroscience, School of Medicine, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361102, Fujian, China
| | - Xiang Zhu
- Xiamen Key Laboratory of Brain Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University, and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Neurodegenerative Disease and Aging Research, Institute of Neuroscience, School of Medicine, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361102, Fujian, China
| | - Xian Zhang
- Xiamen Key Laboratory of Brain Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University, and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Neurodegenerative Disease and Aging Research, Institute of Neuroscience, School of Medicine, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361102, Fujian, China
| | - Hong Luo
- Xiamen Key Laboratory of Brain Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University, and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Neurodegenerative Disease and Aging Research, Institute of Neuroscience, School of Medicine, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361102, Fujian, China
| | - Yun-Wu Zhang
- Xiamen Key Laboratory of Brain Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University, and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory of Neurodegenerative Disease and Aging Research, Institute of Neuroscience, School of Medicine, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361102, Fujian, China.
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15
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Dominguez-Alonso S, Carracedo A, Rodriguez-Fontenla C. eQTL colocalization analysis highlights novel susceptibility genes in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Transl Psychiatry 2023; 13:336. [PMID: 37907504 PMCID: PMC10618232 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-023-02621-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2022] [Revised: 10/02/2023] [Accepted: 10/06/2023] [Indexed: 11/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are a group of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) characterized by difficulties in social interaction and communication, repetitive behavior, and restricted interests. ASD has proven to have a strong genetic component. However, defining causal genes is still one of the main challenges in GWAS, since the vast majority (>90%) of detected signals lie within the non-coding genome. Expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) colocalization analysis determines whether a specific variant is responsible for both a local eQTL and GWAS association and has helped leverage data and rendering gene discovery for a wide array of diseases. Here we further mine the largest ASD GWAS performed to date (18,381 cases and 27,969 controls) altogether with GWAS summary statistics from the main PGC studies (Schizophrenia, MD (Major Depression) and ADHD (Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder)), by using eQTpLot, a newly developed tool that illustrates the colocalization of GWAS and eQTL signals in a locus, and the enrichment of and correlation between the candidate gene eQTLs and trait-significant variants. This analysis points up 8 genes with a significant eQTL colocalization signal in ASD (CRHR1, KANSL1, MANBA, MAPT, MMP12, NKX2-2, PTPRE and WNT3) and one gene (SRPK2) with a marginally significant colocalization signal (r = 0.69, p < 1 × 10-6), and specifically highlights the potentially causal role of MAPT (r = 0.76, p < 1 × 10-6), NKX2-2 (r = 0.71, p-value = 2.26-02) and PTPRE (r = 0.97, p-value = 2.63-04) when restricting the analysis to brain tissue.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Dominguez-Alonso
- Grupo de Medicina Xenómica, Center for Research in Molecular Medicine and Chronic Diseases (CiMUS), Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - A Carracedo
- Grupo de Medicina Xenómica, Center for Research in Molecular Medicine and Chronic Diseases (CiMUS), Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
- Grupo de Medicina Xenómica, Fundación Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Santiago de Compostela (FIDIS), Center for Research in Molecular Medicine and Chronic Diseases (CiMUS), Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - C Rodriguez-Fontenla
- Grupo de Medicina Xenómica, Center for Research in Molecular Medicine and Chronic Diseases (CiMUS), Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
- Grupo de Medicina Xenómica, Fundación Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Santiago de Compostela (FIDIS), Center for Research in Molecular Medicine and Chronic Diseases (CiMUS), Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
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16
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Lu J, Liang F, Bai P, Liu C, Xu M, Sun Z, Tian W, Dong Y, Zhang Y, Quan Q, Khatri A, Shen Y, Marcantonio E, Crosby G, Culley D, Wang C, Yang G, Xie Z. Blood tau-PT217 contributes to the anesthesia/surgery-induced delirium-like behavior in aged mice. Alzheimers Dement 2023; 19:4110-4126. [PMID: 37249148 PMCID: PMC10524579 DOI: 10.1002/alz.13118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2023] [Revised: 04/07/2023] [Accepted: 04/11/2023] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Blood phosphorylated tau at threonine 217 (tau-PT217) is a newly established biomarker for Alzheimer's disease and postoperative delirium in patients. However, the mechanisms and consequences of acute changes in blood tau-PT217 remain largely unknown. METHODS We investigated the effects of anesthesia/surgery on blood tau-PT217 in aged mice, and evaluated the associated changes in B cell populations, neuronal excitability in anterior cingulate cortex, and delirium-like behavior using positron emission tomography imaging, nanoneedle technology, flow cytometry, electrophysiology, and behavioral tests. RESULTS Anesthesia/surgery induced acute increases in blood tau-PT217 via enhanced generation in the lungs and release from B cells. Tau-PT217 might cross the blood-brain barrier, increasing neuronal excitability and inducing delirium-like behavior. B cell transfer and WS635, a mitochondrial function enhancer, mitigated the anesthesia/surgery-induced changes. DISCUSSION Acute increases in blood tau-PT217 may contribute to brain dysfunction and postoperative delirium. Targeting B cells or mitochondrial function may have therapeutic potential for preventing or treating these conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Lu
- Department of Anesthesiology, Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences & Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610072, China
- Geriatric Anesthesia Research Unit, Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, 02129, United States
| | - Feng Liang
- Geriatric Anesthesia Research Unit, Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, 02129, United States
| | - Ping Bai
- Targeted Tracer Research and Development Laboratory, Precision Medicine Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province & Precision Medicine Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610041, China
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, 02129, United States
| | - Chenghao Liu
- Geriatric Anesthesia Research Unit, Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, 02129, United States
- Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Automation, Beijing, 100080, China
| | - Miao Xu
- Geriatric Anesthesia Research Unit, Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, 02129, United States
- Department of Anesthesiology, the First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510120, China
| | - Zhengwang Sun
- Geriatric Anesthesia Research Unit, Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, 02129, United States
| | - Wenjie Tian
- Department of Cardiology, Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences & Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610072, China
- Cardiovascular Research Center and Cardiology Division of the Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, 02129, United States
| | - Yuanlin Dong
- Geriatric Anesthesia Research Unit, Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, 02129, United States
| | - Yiying Zhang
- Geriatric Anesthesia Research Unit, Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, 02129, United States
| | - Qimin Quan
- NanoMosaic, Inc., Woburn, MA, 01801, United States
| | - Ashok Khatri
- Endocrine Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02129, United States
| | - Yuan Shen
- Geriatric Anesthesia Research Unit, Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, 02129, United States
- Anesthesia and Brain Research Institute, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200092, China
- Mental Health Center affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200092, China
| | - Edward Marcantonio
- Divisions of General Medicine and Primary Care and Gerontology, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, United States
| | - Gregory Crosby
- Department of Anesthesiology, Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, United States
| | - Deborah Culley
- Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania Health System, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, United States
| | - Changning Wang
- Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, 02129, United States
| | - Guang Yang
- Department of Anesthesiology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, 10032, United States
| | - Zhongcong Xie
- Geriatric Anesthesia Research Unit, Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, 02129, United States
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17
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Yu M, Risacher SL, Nho KT, Wen Q, Oblak AL, Unverzagt FW, Apostolova LG, Farlow MR, Brosch JR, Clark DG, Wang S, Deardorff R, Wu YC, Gao S, Sporns O, Saykin AJ. Spatial transcriptomic patterns underlying regional vulnerability to amyloid-β and tau pathologies and their relationships to cognitive dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease. MEDRXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES 2023:2023.08.12.23294017. [PMID: 37645867 PMCID: PMC10462206 DOI: 10.1101/2023.08.12.23294017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/31/2023]
Abstract
Amyloid-β (Aβ) and tau proteins accumulate within distinct neuronal systems in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although it is not clear why certain brain regions are more vulnerable to Aβ and tau pathologies than others, gene expression may play a role. We studied the association between brain-wide gene expression profiles and regional vulnerability to Aβ (gene-to-Aβ associations) and tau (gene-to-tau associations) pathologies leveraging two large independent cohorts (n = 715) of participants along the AD continuum. We identified several AD susceptibility genes and gene modules in a gene co-expression network with expression profiles related to regional vulnerability to Aβ and tau pathologies in AD. In particular, we found that the positive APOE -to-tau association was only seen in the AD cohort, whereas patients with AD and frontotemporal dementia shared similar positive MAPT -to-tau association. Some AD candidate genes showed sex-dependent negative gene-to-Aβ and gene-to-tau associations. In addition, we identified distinct biochemical pathways associated with the gene-to-Aβ and the gene-to-tau associations. Finally, we proposed a novel analytic framework, linking the identified gene-to-pathology associations to cognitive dysfunction in AD at the individual level, suggesting potential clinical implication of the gene-to-pathology associations. Taken together, our study identified distinct gene expression profiles and biochemical pathways that may explain the discordance between regional Aβ and tau pathologies, and filled the gap between gene-to-pathology associations and cognitive dysfunction in individual AD patients that may ultimately help identify novel personalized pathogenetic biomarkers and therapeutic targets. One Sentence Summary We identified replicable cognition-related associations between regional gene expression profiles and selectively regional vulnerability to amyloid-β and tau pathologies in AD.
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18
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Hurtle BT, Xie L, Donnelly CJ. Disrupting pathologic phase transitions in neurodegeneration. J Clin Invest 2023; 133:e168549. [PMID: 37395272 DOI: 10.1172/jci168549] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Solid-like protein deposits found in aged and diseased human brains have revealed a relationship between insoluble protein accumulations and the resulting deficits in neurologic function. Clinically diverse neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, frontotemporal lobar degeneration, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, exhibit unique and disease-specific biochemical protein signatures and abnormal protein depositions that often correlate with disease pathogenesis. Recent evidence indicates that many pathologic proteins assemble into liquid-like protein phases through the highly coordinated process of liquid-liquid phase separation. Over the last decade, biomolecular phase transitions have emerged as a fundamental mechanism of cellular organization. Liquid-like condensates organize functionally related biomolecules within the cell, and many neuropathology-associated proteins reside within these dynamic structures. Thus, examining biomolecular phase transitions enhances our understanding of the molecular mechanisms mediating toxicity across diverse neurodegenerative diseases. This Review explores the known mechanisms contributing to aberrant protein phase transitions in neurodegenerative diseases, focusing on tau and TDP-43 proteinopathies and outlining potential therapeutic strategies to regulate these pathologic events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bryan T Hurtle
- Center for Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate Program
- Medical Scientist Training Program, University of Pittsburgh; and
- LiveLikeLou Center for ALS Research at the University of Pittsburgh Brain Institute; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Longxin Xie
- LiveLikeLou Center for ALS Research at the University of Pittsburgh Brain Institute; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
- School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Christopher J Donnelly
- Center for Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate Program
- Medical Scientist Training Program, University of Pittsburgh; and
- LiveLikeLou Center for ALS Research at the University of Pittsburgh Brain Institute; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
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19
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Brown RB. Dysregulated phosphate metabolism in autism spectrum disorder: associations and insights for future research. Expert Rev Mol Med 2023; 25:e20. [PMID: 37309057 PMCID: PMC10407224 DOI: 10.1017/erm.2023.15] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2022] [Revised: 03/27/2023] [Accepted: 05/09/2023] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Studies of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) related to exposure to toxic levels of dietary phosphate are lacking. Phosphate toxicity from dysregulated phosphate metabolism can negatively impact almost every major organ system of the body, including the central nervous system. The present paper used a grounded theory-literature review method to synthesise associations of dysregulated phosphate metabolism with the aetiology of ASD. Cell signalling in autism has been linked to an altered balance between phosphoinositide kinases, which phosphorylate proteins, and the counteracting effect of phosphatases in neuronal membranes. Glial cell overgrowth in the developing ASD brain can lead to disturbances in neuro-circuitry, neuroinflammation and immune responses which are potentially related to excessive inorganic phosphate. The rise in ASD prevalence has been suggested to originate in changes to the gut microbiome from increasing consumption of additives in processed food, including phosphate additives. Ketogenic diets and dietary patterns that eliminate casein also reduce phosphate intake, which may account for many of the suggested benefits of these diets in children with ASD. Dysregulated phosphate metabolism is causatively linked to comorbid conditions associated with ASD such as cancer, tuberous sclerosis, mitochondrial dysfunction, diabetes, epilepsy, obesity, chronic kidney disease, tauopathy, cardiovascular disease and bone mineral disorders. Associations and proposals presented in this paper offer novel insights and directions for future research linking the aetiology of ASD with dysregulated phosphate metabolism and phosphate toxicity from excessive dietary phosphorus intake.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ronald B. Brown
- University of Waterloo, School of Public Health Sciences, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada
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20
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Medina E, Peterson S, Ford K, Singletary K, Peixoto L. Critical periods and Autism Spectrum Disorders, a role for sleep. Neurobiol Sleep Circadian Rhythms 2023; 14:100088. [PMID: 36632570 PMCID: PMC9826922 DOI: 10.1016/j.nbscr.2022.100088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2022] [Revised: 12/16/2022] [Accepted: 12/19/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Brain development relies on both experience and genetically defined programs. Time windows where certain brain circuits are particularly receptive to external stimuli, resulting in heightened plasticity, are referred to as "critical periods". Sleep is thought to be essential for normal brain development. Importantly, studies have shown that sleep enhances critical period plasticity and promotes experience-dependent synaptic pruning in the developing mammalian brain. Therefore, normal plasticity during critical periods depends on sleep. Problems falling and staying asleep occur at a higher rate in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) relative to typical development. In this review, we explore the potential link between sleep, critical period plasticity, and ASD. First, we review the importance of critical period plasticity in typical development and the role of sleep in this process. Next, we summarize the evidence linking ASD with deficits in synaptic plasticity in rodent models of high-confidence ASD gene candidates. We then show that the high-confidence rodent models of ASD that show sleep deficits also display plasticity deficits. Given how important sleep is for critical period plasticity, it is essential to understand the connections between synaptic plasticity, sleep, and brain development in ASD. However, studies investigating sleep or plasticity during critical periods in ASD mouse models are lacking. Therefore, we highlight an urgent need to consider developmental trajectory in studies of sleep and plasticity in neurodevelopmental disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth Medina
- Department of Translational Medicine and Physiology, Sleep and Performance Research Center, Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, Washington State University, Spokane, WA, United States
| | - Sarah Peterson
- Department of Translational Medicine and Physiology, Sleep and Performance Research Center, Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, Washington State University, Spokane, WA, United States
| | - Kaitlyn Ford
- Department of Translational Medicine and Physiology, Sleep and Performance Research Center, Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, Washington State University, Spokane, WA, United States
| | - Kristan Singletary
- Department of Translational Medicine and Physiology, Sleep and Performance Research Center, Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, Washington State University, Spokane, WA, United States
| | - Lucia Peixoto
- Department of Translational Medicine and Physiology, Sleep and Performance Research Center, Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, Washington State University, Spokane, WA, United States
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21
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Gąssowska-Dobrowolska M, Czapski GA, Cieślik M, Zajdel K, Frontczak-Baniewicz M, Babiec L, Adamczyk A. Microtubule Cytoskeletal Network Alterations in a Transgenic Model of Tuberous Sclerosis Complex: Relevance to Autism Spectrum Disorders. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24087303. [PMID: 37108467 PMCID: PMC10138344 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24087303] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2023] [Revised: 04/11/2023] [Accepted: 04/13/2023] [Indexed: 04/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is a rare genetic multisystem disorder caused by loss-of-function mutations in the tumour suppressors TSC1/TSC2, both of which are negative regulators of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) kinase. Importantly, mTOR hyperactivity seems to be linked with the pathobiology of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Recent studies suggest the potential involvement of microtubule (MT) network dysfunction in the neuropathology of "mTORopathies", including ASD. Cytoskeletal reorganization could be responsible for neuroplasticity disturbances in ASD individuals. Thus, the aim of this work was to study the effect of Tsc2 haploinsufficiency on the cytoskeletal pathology and disturbances in the proteostasis of the key cytoskeletal proteins in the brain of a TSC mouse model of ASD. Western-blot analysis indicated significant brain-structure-dependent abnormalities in the microtubule-associated protein Tau (MAP-Tau), and reduced MAP1B and neurofilament light (NF-L) protein level in 2-month-old male B6;129S4-Tsc2tm1Djk/J mice. Alongside, pathological irregularities in the ultrastructure of both MT and neurofilament (NFL) networks as well as swelling of the nerve endings were demonstrated. These changes in the level of key cytoskeletal proteins in the brain of the autistic-like TSC mice suggest the possible molecular mechanisms responsible for neuroplasticity alterations in the ASD brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Magdalena Gąssowska-Dobrowolska
- Department of Cellular Signalling, Mossakowski Medical Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Pawińskiego 5, 02-106 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Grzegorz A Czapski
- Department of Cellular Signalling, Mossakowski Medical Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Pawińskiego 5, 02-106 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Magdalena Cieślik
- Department of Cellular Signalling, Mossakowski Medical Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Pawińskiego 5, 02-106 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Karolina Zajdel
- Electron Microscopy Research Unit, Mossakowski Medical Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Pawińskiego 5, 02-106 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Małgorzata Frontczak-Baniewicz
- Electron Microscopy Research Unit, Mossakowski Medical Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Pawińskiego 5, 02-106 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Lidia Babiec
- Department of Cellular Signalling, Mossakowski Medical Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Pawińskiego 5, 02-106 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Agata Adamczyk
- Department of Cellular Signalling, Mossakowski Medical Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Pawińskiego 5, 02-106 Warsaw, Poland
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22
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Crawley JN. Twenty years of discoveries emerging from mouse models of autism. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 146:105053. [PMID: 36682425 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2022] [Revised: 01/12/2023] [Accepted: 01/17/2023] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
More than 100 single gene mutations and copy number variants convey risk for autism spectrum disorder. To understand the extent to which each mutation contributes to the trajectory of individual symptoms of autism, molecular genetics laboratories have introduced analogous mutations into the genomes of laboratory mice and other species. Over the past twenty years, behavioral neuroscientists discovered the consequences of mutations in many risk genes for autism in animal models, using assays with face validity to the diagnostic and associated behavioral symptoms of people with autism. Identified behavioral phenotypes complement electrophysiological, neuroanatomical, and biochemical outcome measures in mutant mouse models of autism. This review describes the history of phenotyping assays in genetic mouse models, to evaluate social and repetitive behaviors relevant to the primary diagnostic criteria for autism. Robust phenotypes are currently employed in translational investigations to discover effective therapeutic interventions, representing the future direction of an intensely challenging research field.
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23
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Thomas SD, Jha NK, Ojha S, Sadek B. mTOR Signaling Disruption and Its Association with the Development of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Molecules 2023; 28:molecules28041889. [PMID: 36838876 PMCID: PMC9964164 DOI: 10.3390/molecules28041889] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2022] [Revised: 01/31/2023] [Accepted: 02/04/2023] [Indexed: 02/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impairments in social interaction and communication along with repetitive stereotypic behaviors. Currently, there are no specific biomarkers for diagnostic screening or treatments available for autistic patients. Numerous genetic disorders are associated with high prevalence of ASD, including tuberous sclerosis complex, phosphatase and tensin homolog, and fragile X syndrome. Preclinical investigations in animal models of these diseases have revealed irregularities in the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway as well as ASD-related behavioral defects. Reversal of the downstream molecular irregularities, associated with mTOR hyperactivation, improved the behavioral deficits observed in the preclinical investigations. Plant bioactive molecules have shown beneficial pre-clinical evidence in ASD treatment by modulating the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway. In this review, we summarize the involvement of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway as well as the genetic alterations of the pathway components and its critical impact on the development of the autism spectrum disorder. Mutations in negative regulators of mTORC1, such as TSC1, TSC2, and PTEN, result in ASD-like phenotypes through the disruption of the mTORC1-mediated signaling. We further discuss the various naturally occurring phytoconstituents that have been identified to be bioactive and modulate the pathway to prevent its disruption and contribute to beneficial therapeutic effects in ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shilu Deepa Thomas
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain P.O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates
- Zayed Bin Sultan Center for Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain P.O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates
| | - Niraj Kumar Jha
- Department of Biotechnology, School of Engineering and Technology (SET), Sharda University, Greater Noida 201310, India
- School of Bioengineering & Biosciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara 144411, India
- Department of Biotechnology, School of Applied & Life Sciences (SALS), Uttaranchal University, Dehradun 248007, India
| | - Shreesh Ojha
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain P.O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates
- Zayed Bin Sultan Center for Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain P.O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates
| | - Bassem Sadek
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain P.O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates
- Zayed Bin Sultan Center for Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain P.O. Box 15551, United Arab Emirates
- Correspondence:
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24
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Huang M, Qi Q, Xu T. Targeting Shank3 deficiency and paresthesia in autism spectrum disorder: A brief review. Front Mol Neurosci 2023; 16:1128974. [PMID: 36846568 PMCID: PMC9948097 DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2023.1128974] [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: 12/21/2022] [Accepted: 01/18/2023] [Indexed: 02/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) includes a group of multifactorial neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by impaired social communication, social interaction, and repetitive behaviors. Several studies have shown an association between cases of ASD and mutations in the genes of SH3 and multiple ankyrin repeat domain protein 3 (SHANK3). These genes encode many cell adhesion molecules, scaffold proteins, and proteins involved in synaptic transcription, protein synthesis, and degradation. They have a profound impact on all aspects of synaptic transmission and plasticity, including synapse formation and degeneration, suggesting that the pathogenesis of ASD may be partially attributable to synaptic dysfunction. In this review, we summarize the mechanism of synapses related to Shank3 in ASD. We also discuss the molecular, cellular, and functional studies of experimental models of ASD and current autism treatment methods targeting related proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Min Huang
- Department of Anesthesiology, Sixth People’s Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China,Department of Anesthesiology, Suzhou Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Suzhou, China
| | - Qi Qi
- Department of Anesthesiology, Sixth People’s Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China,Department of Anesthesiology, Suzhou Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Suzhou, China
| | - Tao Xu
- Department of Anesthesiology, Sixth People’s Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China,Department of Anesthesiology, Suzhou Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Suzhou, China,*Correspondence: Tao Xu,
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25
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Ahmed NY, Knowles R, Liu L, Yan Y, Li X, Schumann U, Wang Y, Sontani Y, Reynolds N, Natoli R, Wen J, Del Pino I, Mi D, Dehorter N. Developmental deficits of MGE-derived interneurons in the Cntnap2 knockout mouse model of autism spectrum disorder. Front Cell Dev Biol 2023; 11:1112062. [PMID: 36819097 PMCID: PMC9930104 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2023.1112062] [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: 11/30/2022] [Accepted: 01/17/2023] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Interneurons are fundamental cells for maintaining the excitation-inhibition balance in the brain in health and disease. While interneurons have been shown to play a key role in the pathophysiology of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in adult mice, little is known about how their maturation is altered in the developing striatum in ASD. Here, we aimed to track striatal developing interneurons and elucidate the molecular and physiological alterations in the Cntnap2 knockout mouse model. Using Stereo-seq and single-cell RNA sequencing data, we first characterized the pattern of expression of Cntnap2 in the adult brain and at embryonic stages in the medial ganglionic eminence (MGE), a transitory structure producing most cortical and striatal interneurons. We found that Cntnap2 is enriched in the striatum, compared to the cortex, particularly in the developing striatal cholinergic interneurons. We then revealed enhanced MGE-derived cell proliferation, followed by increased cell loss during the canonical window of developmental cell death in the Cntnap2 knockout mice. We uncovered specific cellular and molecular alterations in the developing Lhx6-expressing cholinergic interneurons of the striatum, which impacts interneuron firing properties during the first postnatal week. Overall, our work unveils some of the mechanisms underlying the shift in the developmental trajectory of striatal interneurons which greatly contribute to the ASD pathogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noorya Yasmin Ahmed
- The Australian National University, The John Curtin School of Medical Research, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Rhys Knowles
- The Australian National University, The John Curtin School of Medical Research, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Lixinyu Liu
- The Australian National University, The John Curtin School of Medical Research, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Yiming Yan
- Tsinghua-Peking Center for Life Sciences, IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Xiaohan Li
- Tsinghua-Peking Center for Life Sciences, IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Ulrike Schumann
- The Australian National University, The John Curtin School of Medical Research, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Yumeng Wang
- The Australian National University, The John Curtin School of Medical Research, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Yovina Sontani
- The Australian National University, The John Curtin School of Medical Research, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Nathan Reynolds
- The Australian National University, The John Curtin School of Medical Research, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Riccardo Natoli
- The Australian National University, The John Curtin School of Medical Research, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Jiayu Wen
- The Australian National University, The John Curtin School of Medical Research, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Isabel Del Pino
- Institute of Neurosciences, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Sant Joan d’Alacant, Spain
| | - Da Mi
- Tsinghua-Peking Center for Life Sciences, IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Nathalie Dehorter
- The Australian National University, The John Curtin School of Medical Research, Canberra, ACT, Australia,*Correspondence: Nathalie Dehorter,
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26
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Xiao L, Jiang S, Wang Y, Gao C, Liu C, Huo X, Li W, Guo B, Wang C, Sun Y, Wang A, Feng Y, Wang F, Sun T. Continuous high-frequency deep brain stimulation of the anterior insula modulates autism-like behavior in a valproic acid-induced rat model. J Transl Med 2022; 20:570. [PMID: 36474209 PMCID: PMC9724311 DOI: 10.1186/s12967-022-03787-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2022] [Accepted: 11/23/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Until now, the treatment of patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) remain a difficult problem. The insula is involved in empathy and sensorimotor integration, which are often impaired in individuals with ASD. Deep brain stimulation, modulating neuronal activity in specific brain circuits, has recently been considered as a promising intervention for neuropsychiatric disorders. Valproic acid (VPA) is a potential teratogenic agent, and prenatal exposure can cause autism-like symptoms including repetitive behaviors and defective sociability. Herein, we investigated the effects of continuous high-frequency deep brain stimulation in the anterior insula of rats exposed to VPA and explored cognitive functions, behavior, and molecular proteins connected to autism spectrum disorder. METHODS VPA-exposed offspring were bilaterally implanted with electrodes in the anterior insula (Day 0) with a recovery period of 1 week. (Day 0-7). High-frequency deep brain stimulation was applied from days 11 to 29. Three behavioral tests, including three-chamber social interaction test, were performed on days 7, 13, 18, 25 and 36, and several rats were used for analysis of immediate early genes and proteomic after deep brain stimulation intervention. Meanwhile, animals were subjected to a 20 day spatial learning and cognitive rigidity test using IntelliCage on day 11. RESULTS Deep brain stimulation improved the sociability and social novelty preference at day 18 prior to those at day 13, and the improvement has reached the upper limit compared to day 25. As for repetitive/stereotypic-like behavior, self- grooming time were reduced at day 18 and reached the upper limit, and the numbers of burried marbles were reduced at day 13 prior to those at day 18 and day 25. The improvements of sociability and social novelty preference were persistent after the stimulation had ceased. Spatial learning ability and cognitive rigidity were unaffected. We identified 35 proteins in the anterior insula, some of which were intimately linked to autism, and their expression levels were reversed upon administration of deep brain stimulation. CONCLUSIONS Autism-like behavior was ameliorated and autism-related proteins were reversed in the insula by deep brain stimulation intervention, these findings reveal that the insula may be a potential target for DBS in the treatment of autism, which provide a theoretical basis for its clinical application., although future studies are still warranted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lifei Xiao
- grid.412194.b0000 0004 1761 9803Ningxia Key Laboratory of Cerebrocranial Disease, Incubation Base of National Key Laboratory, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, 750000 China ,grid.413385.80000 0004 1799 1445Department of Neurosurgery, General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, 750000 China
| | - Shucai Jiang
- grid.416966.a0000 0004 1758 1470Department of Neurosurgery, Weifang People’s Hospital, Weifang, 261000 China
| | - Yangyang Wang
- grid.412194.b0000 0004 1761 9803Ningxia Key Laboratory of Cerebrocranial Disease, Incubation Base of National Key Laboratory, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, 750000 China
| | - Caibin Gao
- grid.413385.80000 0004 1799 1445Department of Neurosurgery, General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, 750000 China
| | - Cuicui Liu
- grid.477991.5Department of Otolaryngology and Head Surgery, The First People’s Hospital of Yinchuan, Yinchuan, 750000 China
| | - Xianhao Huo
- grid.412194.b0000 0004 1761 9803Ningxia Key Laboratory of Cerebrocranial Disease, Incubation Base of National Key Laboratory, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, 750000 China ,grid.413385.80000 0004 1799 1445Department of Neurosurgery, General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, 750000 China
| | - Wenchao Li
- grid.412194.b0000 0004 1761 9803Ningxia Key Laboratory of Cerebrocranial Disease, Incubation Base of National Key Laboratory, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, 750000 China
| | - Baorui Guo
- grid.440288.20000 0004 1758 0451Department of Neurosurgery, Shaanxi Provincial People’s Hospital, Xi’an, 710000 China
| | - Chaofan Wang
- grid.412194.b0000 0004 1761 9803Ningxia Key Laboratory of Cerebrocranial Disease, Incubation Base of National Key Laboratory, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, 750000 China
| | - Yu Sun
- grid.412194.b0000 0004 1761 9803Ningxia Key Laboratory of Cerebrocranial Disease, Incubation Base of National Key Laboratory, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, 750000 China
| | - Anni Wang
- grid.412194.b0000 0004 1761 9803Ningxia Key Laboratory of Cerebrocranial Disease, Incubation Base of National Key Laboratory, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, 750000 China
| | - Yan Feng
- grid.412194.b0000 0004 1761 9803Ningxia Key Laboratory of Cerebrocranial Disease, Incubation Base of National Key Laboratory, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, 750000 China
| | - Feng Wang
- grid.13402.340000 0004 1759 700XDepartment of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310000 China
| | - Tao Sun
- grid.412194.b0000 0004 1761 9803Ningxia Key Laboratory of Cerebrocranial Disease, Incubation Base of National Key Laboratory, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, 750000 China ,grid.413385.80000 0004 1799 1445Department of Neurosurgery, General Hospital of Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, 750000 China
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Morey N, Przybyla M, van der Hoven J, Ke YD, Delerue F, van Eersel J, Ittner LM. Treatment of epilepsy using a targeted p38γ kinase gene therapy. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2022; 8:eadd2577. [PMID: 36459557 PMCID: PMC10936047 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.add2577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2022] [Accepted: 10/19/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Hyperphosphorylated microtubule-associated protein tau has been implicated in dementia, epilepsy, and other neurological disorders. In contrast, site-specific phosphorylation of tau at threonine 205 (T205) by the kinase p38γ was shown to disengage tau from toxic pathways, serving a neuroprotective function in Alzheimer's disease. Using a viral-mediated gene delivery approach in different mouse models of epilepsy, we show that p38γ activity-enhancing treatment reduces seizure susceptibility, restores neuronal firing patterns, reduces behavioral deficits, and ameliorates epilepsy-induced deaths. Furthermore, we show that p38γ-mediated phosphorylation of tau at T205 is essential for this protection in epilepsy, as a lack of this critical interaction reinstates pathological features and accelerates epilepsy in vivo. Hence, our work provides a scope to harness p38γ as a future therapy applicable to acute neurological conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolle Morey
- Dementia Research Centre, Macquarie Medical School, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| | - Magdalena Przybyla
- Dementia Research Centre, Macquarie Medical School, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| | - Julia van der Hoven
- Dementia Research Centre, Macquarie Medical School, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| | - Yazi D. Ke
- Dementia Research Centre, Macquarie Medical School, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| | - Fabien Delerue
- Dementia Research Centre, Macquarie Medical School, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
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Alterations in Cerebellar Microtubule Cytoskeletal Network in a ValproicAcid-Induced Rat Model of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Biomedicines 2022; 10:biomedicines10123031. [PMID: 36551785 PMCID: PMC9776106 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines10123031] [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: 10/13/2022] [Revised: 11/15/2022] [Accepted: 11/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are neurodevelopmental diseases characterised by deficits in social communication, restricted interests, and repetitive behaviours. The growing body of evidence points to a role for cerebellar changes in ASD pathology. Some of the findings suggest that not only motor problems but also social deficits, repetitive behaviours, and mental inflexibility associated with ASD are connected with damage to the cerebellum. However, the understanding of this brain structure's functions in ASD pathology needs future investigations. Therefore, in this study, we generated a rodent model of ASD through a single prenatal administration of valproic acid (VPA) into pregnant rats, followed by cerebellar morphological studies of the offspring, focusing on the alterations of key cytoskeletal elements. The expression (Western blot) of α/β-tubulin and the major neuronal MT-associated proteins (MAP) such as MAP-Tau and MAP1B, MAP2, MAP6 (STOP) along with actin-crosslinking αII-spectrin and neurofilament light polypeptide (NF-L) was investigated. We found that maternal exposure to VPA induces a significant decrease in the protein levels of α/β-tubulin, MAP-Tau, MAP1B, MAP2, and αII-spectrin. Moreover, excessive MAP-Tau phosphorylation at (Ser396) along with key Tau-kinases activation was indicated. Immunohistochemical staining showed chromatolysis in the cerebellum of autistic-like rats and loss of Purkinje cells shedding light on one of the possible molecular mechanisms underpinning neuroplasticity alterations in the ASD brain.
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Maffei B, Lignani G. One to Rule Them All: A Unique TAU Therapy for Neurodevelopmental Encephalopathies. Epilepsy Curr 2022; 22:390-391. [PMID: 36426176 PMCID: PMC9661608 DOI: 10.1177/15357597221126332] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
TAU Ablation in Excitatory Neurons and Postnatal TAU Knockdown Reduce Epilepsy, SUDEP, and Autism Behaviors in a Dravet Syndrome Model Shao E, Chang C-W, Li Z, Yu X, Ho K, Zhang M, Wang X, Simms J, Lo I, Speckart J, Holtzman J, Yu G-Q, Roberson ED, Mucke L. Sci Transl Med. 2022;14(642):eabm5527. doi:10.1126/scitranslmed.abm5527 Intracellular accumulation of TAU aggregates is a hallmark of several neurodegenerative diseases. However, global genetic reduction of TAU is beneficial also in models of other brain disorders that lack such TAU pathology, suggesting a pathogenic role of nonaggregated TAU. Here, conditional ablation of TAU in excitatory, but not inhibitory, neurons reduced epilepsy, sudden unexpected death in epilepsy, overactivation of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase-AKT-mammalian target of rapamycin pathway, brain overgrowth (megalencephaly), and autism-like behaviors in a mouse model of Dravet syndrome, a severe epileptic encephalopathy of early childhood. Furthermore, treatment with a TAU-lowering antisense oligonucleotide, initiated on postnatal day 10, had similar therapeutic effects in this mouse model. Our findings suggest that excitatory neurons are the critical cell type in which TAU has to be reduced to counteract brain dysfunctions associated with Dravet syndrome and that overall cerebral TAU reduction could have similar benefits, even when initiated postnatally.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benito Maffei
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy, Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, United Kingdom
| | - Gabriele Lignani
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Epilepsy, Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, United Kingdom
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Rhodus EK, Barber J, Kryscio RJ, Abner EL, Bahrani AA, Lewis KES, Carey B, Nelson PT, Van Eldik LJ, Jicha GA. Frontotemporal neurofibrillary tangles and cerebrovascular lesions are associated with autism spectrum behaviors in late-life dementia. J Neurol 2022; 269:5105-5113. [PMID: 35596794 PMCID: PMC9644295 DOI: 10.1007/s00415-022-11167-y] [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: 10/13/2021] [Revised: 04/29/2022] [Accepted: 05/01/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES The pathologic substrates or neuroanatomic regions responsible for similarities in behavioral features seen in autism spectrum disorder and late-life dementia remain unknown. The present study examined the neuropathologic features of late-life dementia in research volunteers with and without antemortem behaviors characteristic of autism spectrum disorders. METHODS Antemortem cross-sectional assessment of autistic spectrum behaviors proximal to death in persons with diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment or dementia was completed using the Gilliam Autism Rating Scale, 2nd edition (GARS-2), followed by postmortem quantitative and semiquantitative neuropathologic assessment. All individuals who completed the GARS-2 prior to autopsy were included (n = 56) and we note that no participants had known diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. The GARS-2 was used as an antemortem screening tool to stratify participants into two groups: "Autism Possible/Very Likely" or "Autism Unlikely." Data were analyzed using nonparametric statistics comparing location and scale to evaluate between-group differences in pathologic features. RESULTS Neurofibrillary tangles (NFT; p = 0.028) density and tau burden (p = 0.032) in the frontal region, the NFT density (p = 0.048) and neuritic plaque burden (p = 0.042), and the tau burden (p = 0.032) of the temporal region, were significantly different in scale between groups. For measures with significant group differences, the medians of the Autism Possible/Very Likely group were roughly equal to the 75th percentile of the Autism Unlikely group (i.e., the distributions were shifted to the right). DISCUSSION This study links behaviors characteristic of autism to increased pathologic tau burden in the frontal and temporal lobes in persons with late-life dementia. Additional studies are needed to determine causal factors and treatment options for behaviors characteristic of autism behaviors in late-life dementias.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth K Rhodus
- Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, University of Kentucky, 1030 S. Broadway, Ste 5, Lexington, KY, 40536, USA.
- Department of Behavioral Science, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA.
| | - Justin Barber
- Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, University of Kentucky, 1030 S. Broadway, Ste 5, Lexington, KY, 40536, USA
| | - Richard J Kryscio
- Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, University of Kentucky, 1030 S. Broadway, Ste 5, Lexington, KY, 40536, USA
- Department of Statistics, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA
- Department of Biostatistics, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA
| | - Erin L Abner
- Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, University of Kentucky, 1030 S. Broadway, Ste 5, Lexington, KY, 40536, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA
- Department of Biostatistics, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA
| | - Ahmed A Bahrani
- Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, University of Kentucky, 1030 S. Broadway, Ste 5, Lexington, KY, 40536, USA
| | - Kristine E Shady Lewis
- Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, University of Kentucky, 1030 S. Broadway, Ste 5, Lexington, KY, 40536, USA
| | - Brandi Carey
- Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, University of Kentucky, 1030 S. Broadway, Ste 5, Lexington, KY, 40536, USA
| | - Peter T Nelson
- Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, University of Kentucky, 1030 S. Broadway, Ste 5, Lexington, KY, 40536, USA
- Department of Pathology and Division of Neuropathology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA
| | - Linda J Van Eldik
- Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, University of Kentucky, 1030 S. Broadway, Ste 5, Lexington, KY, 40536, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA
| | - Gregory A Jicha
- Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, University of Kentucky, 1030 S. Broadway, Ste 5, Lexington, KY, 40536, USA
- Department of Behavioral Science, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA
- Department of Neurology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA
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31
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Hwang K, Vaknalli RN, Addo-Osafo K, Vicente M, Vossel K. Tauopathy and Epilepsy Comorbidities and Underlying Mechanisms. Front Aging Neurosci 2022; 14:903973. [PMID: 35923547 PMCID: PMC9340804 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2022.903973] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2022] [Accepted: 06/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Tau is a microtubule-associated protein known to bind and promote assembly of microtubules in neurons under physiological conditions. However, under pathological conditions, aggregation of hyperphosphorylated tau causes neuronal toxicity, neurodegeneration, and resulting tauopathies like Alzheimer's disease (AD). Clinically, patients with tauopathies present with either dementia, movement disorders, or a combination of both. The deposition of hyperphosphorylated tau in the brain is also associated with epilepsy and network hyperexcitability in a variety of neurological diseases. Furthermore, pharmacological and genetic targeting of tau-based mechanisms can have anti-seizure effects. Suppressing tau phosphorylation decreases seizure activity in acquired epilepsy models while reducing or ablating tau attenuates network hyperexcitability in both Alzheimer's and epilepsy models. However, it remains unclear whether tauopathy and epilepsy comorbidities are mediated by convergent mechanisms occurring upstream of epileptogenesis and tau aggregation, by feedforward mechanisms between the two, or simply by coincident processes. In this review, we investigate the relationship between tauopathies and seizure disorders, including temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), post-traumatic epilepsy (PTE), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), Dravet syndrome, Nodding syndrome, Niemann-Pick type C disease (NPC), Lafora disease, focal cortical dysplasia, and tuberous sclerosis complex. We also explore potential mechanisms implicating the role of tau kinases and phosphatases as well as the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) in the promotion of co-pathology. Understanding the role of these co-pathologies could lead to new insights and therapies targeting both epileptogenic mechanisms and cognitive decline.
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32
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Bahrami S, Nordengen K, Shadrin AA, Frei O, van der Meer D, Dale AM, Westlye LT, Andreassen OA, Kaufmann T. Distributed genetic architecture across the hippocampal formation implies common neuropathology across brain disorders. Nat Commun 2022; 13:3436. [PMID: 35705537 PMCID: PMC9200849 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31086-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2021] [Accepted: 06/01/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite its major role in complex human functions across the lifespan, most notably navigation, learning and memory, much of the genetic architecture of the hippocampal formation is currently unexplored. Here, through multivariate genome-wide association analysis in volumetric data from 35,411 white British individuals, we reveal 177 unique genetic loci with distributed associations across the hippocampal formation. We identify genetic overlap with eight brain disorders with typical onset at different stages of life, where common genes suggest partly age- and disorder-independent mechanisms underlying hippocampal pathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shahram Bahrami
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
| | - Kaja Nordengen
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Neurology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Alexey A Shadrin
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- KG Jebsen Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Oleksandr Frei
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Informatics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Dennis van der Meer
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Anders M Dale
- Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Center for Multimodal Imaging and Genetics, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Lars T Westlye
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- KG Jebsen Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Ole A Andreassen
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- KG Jebsen Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Tobias Kaufmann
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital & Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Tübingen Center for Mental Health, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
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33
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Shao E, Chang CW, Li Z, Yu X, Ho K, Zhang M, Wang X, Simms J, Lo I, Speckart J, Holtzman J, Yu GQ, Roberson ED, Mucke L. TAU ablation in excitatory neurons and postnatal TAU knockdown reduce epilepsy, SUDEP, and autism behaviors in a Dravet syndrome model. Sci Transl Med 2022; 14:eabm5527. [PMID: 35476595 DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abm5527] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Intracellular accumulation of TAU aggregates is a hallmark of several neurodegenerative diseases. However, global genetic reduction of TAU is beneficial also in models of other brain disorders that lack such TAU pathology, suggesting a pathogenic role of nonaggregated TAU. Here, conditional ablation of TAU in excitatory, but not inhibitory, neurons reduced epilepsy, sudden unexpected death in epilepsy, overactivation of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase-AKT-mammalian target of rapamycin pathway, brain overgrowth (megalencephaly), and autism-like behaviors in a mouse model of Dravet syndrome, a severe epileptic encephalopathy of early childhood. Furthermore, treatment with a TAU-lowering antisense oligonucleotide, initiated on postnatal day 10, had similar therapeutic effects in this mouse model. Our findings suggest that excitatory neurons are the critical cell type in which TAU has to be reduced to counteract brain dysfunctions associated with Dravet syndrome and that overall cerebral TAU reduction could have similar benefits, even when initiated postnatally.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric Shao
- Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Che-Wei Chang
- Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Zhiyong Li
- Alzheimer's Disease Center, Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, Department of Neurology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Xinxing Yu
- Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Kaitlyn Ho
- Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Michelle Zhang
- Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Xin Wang
- Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Jeffrey Simms
- Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Iris Lo
- Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Jessica Speckart
- Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Julia Holtzman
- Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Gui-Qiu Yu
- Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Erik D Roberson
- Alzheimer's Disease Center, Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, Department of Neurology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Lennart Mucke
- Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA.,Department of Neurology and Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
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34
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Liang SY, Wang ZT, Tan L, Yu JT. Tau Toxicity in Neurodegeneration. Mol Neurobiol 2022; 59:3617-3634. [PMID: 35359226 DOI: 10.1007/s12035-022-02809-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2021] [Accepted: 03/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Tau is a microtubule-associated protein widely distributed in the central nervous system (CNS). The main function of tau is to promote the assembly of microtubules and stabilize their structure. After a long period of research on neurodegenerative diseases, the function and dysfunction of the microtubule-associated protein tau in neurodegenerative diseases and tau neurotoxicity have attracted increasing attention. Tauopathies are a series of progressive neurodegenerative diseases caused by pathological changes in tau, such as abnormal phosphorylation. The pathological features of tauopathies are the deposition of abnormally phosphorylated tau proteins and the aggregation of tau proteins in neurons. This article first describes the normal physiological function and dysfunction of tau proteins and then discusses the enzymes and proteins involved in tau phosphorylation and dephosphorylation, the role of tau in cell dysfunction, and the relationships between tau and several neurodegenerative diseases. The study of tau neurotoxicity provides new directions for the treatment of tauopathies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shu-Yu Liang
- Department of Neurology, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, Qingdao University, No.5 Donghai Middle Road, Qingdao, China
| | - Zuo-Teng Wang
- Department of Neurology, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, College of Medicine and Pharmaceutics, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China
| | - Lan Tan
- Department of Neurology, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, Qingdao University, No.5 Donghai Middle Road, Qingdao, China. .,Department of Neurology, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, College of Medicine and Pharmaceutics, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China.
| | - Jin-Tai Yu
- Department of Neurology and Institute of Neurology, Huashan Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, 12th Wulumuqi Zhong Road, Shanghai, 200040, China.
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35
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Soliman A, Bakota L, Brandt R. Microtubule-modulating Agents in the Fight Against Neurodegeneration: Will it ever Work? Curr Neuropharmacol 2022; 20:782-798. [PMID: 34852744 PMCID: PMC9878958 DOI: 10.2174/1570159x19666211201101020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2021] [Revised: 11/15/2021] [Accepted: 11/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The microtubule skeleton plays an essential role in nerve cells as the most important structural determinant of morphology and as a highway for axonal transport processes. Many neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by changes in the structure and organization of microtubules and microtubule-regulating proteins such as the microtubule-associated protein tau, which exhibits characteristic changes in a whole class of diseases collectively referred to as tauopathies. Changes in the dynamics of microtubules appear to occur early under neurodegenerative conditions and are also likely to contribute to age-related dysfunction of neurons. Thus, modulating microtubule dynamics and correcting impaired microtubule stability can be a useful neuroprotective strategy to counteract the disruption of the microtubule system in disease and aging. In this article, we review current microtubule- directed approaches for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases with microtubules as a drug target, tau as a drug target, and post-translational modifications as potential modifiers of the microtubule system. We discuss limitations of the approaches that can be traced back to the rather unspecific mechanism of action, which causes undesirable side effects in non-neuronal cell types or which are due to the disruption of non-microtubule-related interactions. We also develop some thoughts on how the specificity of the approaches can be improved and what further targets could be used for modulating substances.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ahmed Soliman
- Department of Neurobiology, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, Germany
| | - Lidia Bakota
- Department of Neurobiology, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, Germany
| | - Roland Brandt
- Department of Neurobiology, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, Germany;,Center for Cellular Nanoanalytics, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, Germany;,Institute of Cognitive Science, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, Germany,Address correspondence to this author at the Department of Neurobiology, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, Germany; Tel: +49 541 969 2338; E-mail:
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36
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Rhodus EK, Barber J, Abner EL, Bardach SH, Gibson A, Jicha GA. Comparison of behaviors characteristic of autism spectrum disorder behaviors and behavioral and psychiatric symptoms of dementia. Aging Ment Health 2022; 26:586-594. [PMID: 33222510 PMCID: PMC8212388 DOI: 10.1080/13607863.2020.1849025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Similarities exist in behavioral expression of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). The purpose of this study was to assess presence of behavioral and psychiatric symptoms of dementia (BPSD) and ASD-like behaviors in adults with ADRD. METHODS Using a cross-sectional design, data from University of Kentucky Alzheimer's Disease Center participant cohort were used. Hierarchical linear regression was used to assess (1) the relationship between ASD-like behaviors (measured by the Gilliam Autism Rating Scale-Second Edition, GARS-2) and BPSD measured by the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI), and (2) the relationship between ASD-like behaviors and dementia severity (measured by the Clinical Dementia Rating [CDR] sum of boxes), when controlling for BPSD. RESULTS Complete data were available for 142 participants. Using α of 0.05, analyses identified ASD behaviors were significantly associated with BPSD severity ratings (r = 0.47; p < 0.001) and dementia severity (r = 0.46; p < 0.001). GARS-2 explained 6.1% (p < 0.001) of variance in CDR sum of boxes when controlling for NPI and other covariates. DISCUSSION There is significant overlap in behaviors characteristic of ASD and BPSD as assessed by the NPI and GARS-2, despite the use of these instruments in disparate developmental vs. aging settings. ASD behaviors appear to not be solely present in early childhood as a manifestation of ASD but are also present in older adults with neurodegenerative cognitive impairment. Such associations warrant additional research into causation, assessment, and behavioral interventions to further enable new therapeutic approaches targeting ASD behaviors across the lifespan.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Justin Barber
- Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
| | - Erin L. Abner
- Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY,Department of Epidemiology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
| | - Shoshana H. Bardach
- Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY,Graduate Center for Gerontology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
| | - Allison Gibson
- Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY,College of Social Work, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
| | - Gregory A. Jicha
- Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY,Department of Behavioral Science, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY,Department of Neurology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
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37
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Beretta S, Gritti L, Ponzoni L, Scalmani P, Mantegazza M, Sala M, Verpelli C, Sala C. Rescuing epileptic and behavioral alterations in a Dravet syndrome mouse model by inhibiting eukaryotic elongation factor 2 kinase (eEF2K). Mol Autism 2022; 13:1. [PMID: 34980259 PMCID: PMC8722032 DOI: 10.1186/s13229-021-00484-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2021] [Accepted: 12/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Dravet Syndrome is a severe childhood pharmaco-resistant epileptic disorder mainly caused by mutations in the SCN1A gene, which encodes for the α1 subunit of the type I voltage-gated sodium channel (NaV1.1), that causes imbalance between excitation and inhibition in the brain. We recently found that eEF2K knock out mice displayed enhanced GABAergic transmission and tonic inhibition and were less susceptible to epileptic seizures. Thus, we investigated the effect of inhibition of eEF2K on the epileptic and behavioral phenotype of Scn1a ± mice, a murine model of Dravet Syndrome. Methods To elucidate the role of eEF2K pathway in the etiopathology of Dravet syndrome we generated a new mouse model deleting the eEF2K gene in Scn1a ± mice. By crossing Scn1a ± mice with eEF2K−/− mice we obtained the three main genotypes needed for our studies, Scn1a+/+ eEF2K+/+ (WT mice), Scn1a ± eEF2K+/+ mice (Scn1a ± mice) and Scn1a ± eEF2K−/− mice, that were fully characterized for EEG and behavioral phenotype. Furthermore, we tested the ability of a pharmacological inhibitor of eEF2K in rescuing EEG alterations of the Scn1a ± mice. Results We showed that the activity of eEF2K/eEF2 pathway was enhanced in Scn1a ± mice. Then, we demonstrated that both genetic deletion and pharmacological inhibition of eEF2K were sufficient to ameliorate the epileptic phenotype of Scn1a ± mice. Interestingly we also found that motor coordination defect, memory impairments, and stereotyped behavior of the Scn1a ± mice were reverted by eEF2K deletion. The analysis of spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic currents (sIPSCs) suggested that the rescue of the pathological phenotype was driven by the potentiation of GABAergic synapses. Limitations Even if we found that eEF2K deletion was able to increase inhibitory synapses function, the molecular mechanism underlining the inhibition of eEF2K/eEF2 pathway in rescuing epileptic and behavioral alterations in the Scn1a ± needs further investigations. Conclusions Our data indicate that pharmacological inhibition of eEF2K could represent a novel therapeutic intervention for treating epilepsy and related comorbidities in the Dravet syndrome. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13229-021-00484-0.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefania Beretta
- CNR Neuroscience Institute, Milan, and NeuroMi Milan Center for Neuroscience, Via Raoul Follereau 3, 20854, Vedano al Lambro, MB, Italy
| | - Laura Gritti
- CNR Neuroscience Institute, Milan, and NeuroMi Milan Center for Neuroscience, Via Raoul Follereau 3, 20854, Vedano al Lambro, MB, Italy
| | - Luisa Ponzoni
- CNR Neuroscience Institute, Milan, and NeuroMi Milan Center for Neuroscience, Via Raoul Follereau 3, 20854, Vedano al Lambro, MB, Italy
| | - Paolo Scalmani
- L'Unità Operativa Complessa di Epilettologia Clinica e Sperimentale, Foundation Istituto di Ricerca e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS), Neurological Institute Carlo Besta, 20133, Milan, Italy
| | - Massimo Mantegazza
- CNRS UMR 7275, Institut National de La Santé Et de La Recherche Médicale, LabEx ICST, Institute of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology (IPMC), Université Côte d'Azur (UCA), 06560, Valbonne-Sophia Antipolis, France
| | - Mariaelvina Sala
- CNR Neuroscience Institute, Milan, and NeuroMi Milan Center for Neuroscience, Via Raoul Follereau 3, 20854, Vedano al Lambro, MB, Italy
| | - Chiara Verpelli
- CNR Neuroscience Institute, Milan, and NeuroMi Milan Center for Neuroscience, Via Raoul Follereau 3, 20854, Vedano al Lambro, MB, Italy.
| | - Carlo Sala
- CNR Neuroscience Institute, Milan, and NeuroMi Milan Center for Neuroscience, Via Raoul Follereau 3, 20854, Vedano al Lambro, MB, Italy.
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38
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Conze C, Rierola M, Trushina NI, Peters M, Janning D, Holzer M, Heinisch JJ, Arendt T, Bakota L, Brandt R. Caspase-cleaved tau is senescence-associated and induces a toxic gain of function by putting a brake on axonal transport. Mol Psychiatry 2022; 27:3010-3023. [PMID: 35393558 PMCID: PMC9205779 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-022-01538-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2021] [Revised: 03/15/2022] [Accepted: 03/21/2022] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
The microtubule-associated protein tau plays a central role in tauopathies such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). The exact molecular mechanisms underlying tau toxicity are unclear, but aging is irrefutably the biggest risk factor. This raises the question of how cellular senescence affects the function of tau as a microtubule regulator. Here we report that the proportion of tau that is proteolytically cleaved at the caspase-3 site (TauC3) doubles in the hippocampus of senescent mice. TauC3 is also elevated in AD patients. Through quantitative live-cell imaging, we show that TauC3 has a drastically reduced dynamics of its microtubule interaction. Single-molecule tracking of tau confirmed that TauC3 has a longer residence time on axonal microtubules. The reduced dynamics of the TauC3-microtubule interaction correlated with a decreased transport of mitochondria, a reduced processivity of APP-vesicle transport and an induction of region-specific dendritic atrophy in CA1 neurons of the hippocampus. The microtubule-targeting drug Epothilone D normalized the interaction of TauC3 with microtubules and modulated the transport of APP-vesicles dependent on the presence of overexpressed human tau. The results indicate a novel toxic gain of function, in which a post-translational modification of tau changes the dynamics of the tau-microtubule interaction and thus leads to axonal transport defects and neuronal degeneration. The data also introduce microtubule-targeting drugs as pharmacological modifiers of the tau-microtubule interaction with the potential to restore the physiological interaction of pathologically altered tau with microtubules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Conze
- grid.10854.380000 0001 0672 4366Department of Neurobiology, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, Germany
| | - Marina Rierola
- grid.10854.380000 0001 0672 4366Department of Neurobiology, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, Germany
| | - Nataliya I. Trushina
- grid.10854.380000 0001 0672 4366Department of Neurobiology, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, Germany
| | - Michael Peters
- grid.10854.380000 0001 0672 4366Department of Neurobiology, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, Germany
| | - Dennis Janning
- grid.10854.380000 0001 0672 4366Department of Neurobiology, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, Germany ,grid.10854.380000 0001 0672 4366Center for Cellular Nanoanalytics, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, Germany
| | - Max Holzer
- grid.9647.c0000 0004 7669 9786Center for Neuropathology and Brain Research, Paul Flechsig Institute of Brain Research, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Jürgen J. Heinisch
- grid.10854.380000 0001 0672 4366Department of Genetics, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, Germany
| | - Thomas Arendt
- grid.9647.c0000 0004 7669 9786Center for Neuropathology and Brain Research, Paul Flechsig Institute of Brain Research, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Lidia Bakota
- grid.10854.380000 0001 0672 4366Department of Neurobiology, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, Germany
| | - Roland Brandt
- Department of Neurobiology, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, Germany. .,Center for Cellular Nanoanalytics, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, Germany. .,Institute of Cognitive Science, Osnabrück University, Osnabrück, Germany.
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39
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Chang CW, Evans MD, Yu X, Yu GQ, Mucke L. Tau reduction affects excitatory and inhibitory neurons differently, reduces excitation/inhibition ratios, and counteracts network hypersynchrony. Cell Rep 2021; 37:109855. [PMID: 34686344 PMCID: PMC8648275 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109855] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2021] [Revised: 08/04/2021] [Accepted: 09/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
The protein tau has been implicated in many brain disorders. In animal models, tau reduction suppresses epileptogenesis of diverse causes and ameliorates synaptic and behavioral abnormalities in various conditions associated with excessive excitation-inhibition (E/I) ratios. However, the underlying mechanisms are unknown. Global genetic ablation of tau in mice reduces the action potential (AP) firing and E/I ratio of pyramidal cells in acute cortical slices without affecting the excitability of these cells. Tau ablation reduces the excitatory inputs to inhibitory neurons, increases the excitability of these cells, and structurally alters their axon initial segments (AISs). In primary neuronal cultures subjected to prolonged overstimulation, tau ablation diminishes the homeostatic response of AISs in inhibitory neurons, promotes inhibition, and suppresses hypersynchrony. Together, these differential alterations in excitatory and inhibitory neurons help explain how tau reduction prevents network hypersynchrony and counteracts brain disorders causing abnormally increased E/I ratios.
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Affiliation(s)
- Che-Wei Chang
- Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Mark D Evans
- Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Xinxing Yu
- Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Gui-Qiu Yu
- Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Lennart Mucke
- Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA; Department of Neurology and Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA.
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40
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Mencer S, Kartawy M, Lendenfeld F, Soluh H, Tripathi MK, Khaliulin I, Amal H. Proteomics of autism and Alzheimer's mouse models reveal common alterations in mTOR signaling pathway. Transl Psychiatry 2021; 11:480. [PMID: 34535637 PMCID: PMC8448888 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-021-01578-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2021] [Revised: 08/03/2021] [Accepted: 08/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) are two different neurological disorders that share common clinical features, such as language impairment, executive functions, and motor problems. A genetic convergence has been proposed as well. However, the molecular mechanisms of these pathologies are still not well understood. Protein S-nitrosylation (SNO), the nitric oxide (NO)-mediated posttranslational modification, targets key proteins implicated in synaptic and neuronal functions. Previously, we have shown that NO and SNO are involved in the InsG3680(+/+) ASD and P301S AD mouse models. Here, we performed large-scale computational biology analysis of the SNO-proteome followed by biochemical validation to decipher the shared mechanisms between the pathologies. This analysis pointed to the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) signaling pathway as one of the shared molecular mechanisms. Activation of mTOR in the cortex of both mouse models was confirmed by western blots that showed increased phosphorylation of RPS6, a major substrate of mTORC1. Other molecular alterations affected by SNO and shared between the two mouse models, such as synaptic-associated processes, PKA signaling, and cytoskeleton-related processes were also detected. This is the first study to decipher the SNO-related shared mechanisms between SHANK3 and MAPT mutations. Understanding the involvement of SNO in neurological disorders and its intersection between ASD and AD might help developing an effective novel therapy for both neuropathologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shira Mencer
- Institute for Drug Research, School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Maryam Kartawy
- Institute for Drug Research, School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Felix Lendenfeld
- Institute for Drug Research, School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Huda Soluh
- Institute for Drug Research, School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Manish Kumar Tripathi
- Institute for Drug Research, School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Igor Khaliulin
- Institute for Drug Research, School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Haitham Amal
- Institute for Drug Research, School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
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41
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Synaptic Alterations in a Transgenic Model of Tuberous Sclerosis Complex: Relevance to Autism Spectrum Disorders. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:ijms221810058. [PMID: 34576223 PMCID: PMC8466868 DOI: 10.3390/ijms221810058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2021] [Revised: 09/08/2021] [Accepted: 09/14/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is a rare, multi-system genetic disease with serious neurological and mental symptoms, including autism. Mutations in the TSC1/TSC2 genes lead to the overactivation of mTOR signalling, which is also linked to nonsyndromic autism. Our aim was to analyse synaptic pathology in a transgenic model of TSC: two-month-old male B6;129S4-Tsc2tm1Djk/J mice with Tsc2 haploinsufficiency. Significant brain-region-dependent alterations in the expression of several synaptic proteins were identified. The most prominent changes were observed in the immunoreactivity of presynaptic VAMP1/2 (ca. 50% increase) and phospho-synapsin-1 (Ser62/67) (ca. 80% increase). Transmission electron microscopy demonstrated serious ultrastructural abnormalities in synapses such as a blurred structure of synaptic density and a significantly increased number of synaptic vesicles. The impairment of synaptic mitochondrial ultrastructure was represented by excessive elongation, swelling, and blurred crista contours. Polyribosomes in the cytoplasm and swollen Golgi apparatus suggest possible impairment of protein metabolism. Moreover, the delamination of myelin and the presence of vacuolar structures in the cell nucleus were observed. We also report that Tsc2+/- mice displayed increased brain weights and sizes. The behavioural analysis demonstrated the impairment of memory function, as established in the novel object recognition test. To summarise, our data indicate serious synaptic impairment in the brains of male Tsc2+/- mice.
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42
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Annadurai N, De Sanctis JB, Hajdúch M, Das V. Tau secretion and propagation: Perspectives for potential preventive interventions in Alzheimer's disease and other tauopathies. Exp Neurol 2021; 343:113756. [PMID: 33989658 DOI: 10.1016/j.expneurol.2021.113756] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2021] [Revised: 04/26/2021] [Accepted: 05/10/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterised by the accumulation of intracytoplasmic aggregates of tau protein, which are suggested to spread in a prion-like manner between interconnected brain regions. This spreading is mediated by the secretion and uptake of tau from the extracellular space or direct cell-to-cell transmission through cellular protrusions. The prion-like tau then converts the endogenous, normal tau into pathological forms, resulting in neurodegeneration. The endoplasmic reticulum/Golgi-independent tau secretion through unconventional secretory pathways involves delivering misfolded and aggregated tau to the plasma membrane and its release into the extracellular space by non-vesicular and vesicular mechanisms. Although cytoplasmic tau was thought to be released only from degenerating cells, studies now show that cells constitutively secrete tau at low levels under physiological conditions. The mechanisms of secretion of tau under physiological and pathological conditions remain unclear. Therefore, a better understanding of these pathways is essential for developing therapeutic approaches that can target prion-like tau forms to prevent neurodegeneration progression in AD. This review focuses on unconventional secretion pathways involved in the spread of tau pathology in AD and presents these pathways as prospective areas for future AD drug discovery and development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Narendran Annadurai
- Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacký University, Hněvotínská 5, 77900 Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Juan B De Sanctis
- Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacký University, Hněvotínská 5, 77900 Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Marián Hajdúch
- Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacký University, Hněvotínská 5, 77900 Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Viswanath Das
- Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacký University, Hněvotínská 5, 77900 Olomouc, Czech Republic.
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43
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Tseng JH, Ajit A, Tabassum Z, Patel N, Tian X, Chen Y, Prevatte AW, Ling K, Rigo F, Meeker RB, Herring LE, Cohen TJ. Tau seeds are subject to aberrant modifications resulting in distinct signatures. Cell Rep 2021; 35:109037. [PMID: 33910013 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2020] [Revised: 01/05/2021] [Accepted: 04/05/2021] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The prion-like spread of tau pathology could underlie a spectrum of clinical syndromes including Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although evidence indicates that tau is transmissible, it is unclear how pathogenic tau seeds are processed in neurons. Here, we analyze fibrillar wild-type and disease-associated P301L tau seeds by using in vitro and neuronal assays. We show that P301L seeds are uniquely modified by post-translational modifications (PTMs) within the microtubule-binding region (MTBR). Although these modifications do not alter tau seed trafficking or localization, acetylated tau variants show accelerated tau aggregation, enhanced tau PTM priming, and prion-like templating. To explain the enhanced tau seed acetylation, we demonstrate that P301L seeds undergo auto-acetylation. Moreover, tau acts generally to inhibit HDAC6 deacetylase activity by preventing HDAC6 phosphorylation, leading to increased substrate acetylation. Our study highlights complex post-translational regulation of transmissible tau seeds and provides insight into the biological properties of tau strains in AD and other tauopathies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jui-Heng Tseng
- Department of Neurology and the UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Aditi Ajit
- Department of Neurology and the UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Zarin Tabassum
- Department of Neurology and the UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Niyati Patel
- Department of Neurology and the UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Xu Tian
- Department of Neurology and the UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Youjun Chen
- Department of Neurology and the UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Alex W Prevatte
- UNC Proteomics Core Facility, Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Karen Ling
- Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Carlsbad, CA 92008, USA
| | - Frank Rigo
- Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Carlsbad, CA 92008, USA
| | - Rick B Meeker
- Department of Neurology and the UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Laura E Herring
- UNC Proteomics Core Facility, Department of Pharmacology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Todd J Cohen
- Department of Neurology and the UNC Neuroscience Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA; Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA.
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44
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Alterations in Tau Protein Level and Phosphorylation State in the Brain of the Autistic-Like Rats Induced by Prenatal Exposure to Valproic Acid. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:ijms22063209. [PMID: 33809910 PMCID: PMC8004207 DOI: 10.3390/ijms22063209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2021] [Revised: 03/17/2021] [Accepted: 03/18/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by deficient social interaction and communication besides repetitive, stereotyped behaviours. A characteristic feature of ASD is altered dendritic spine density and morphology associated with synaptic plasticity disturbances. Since microtubules (MTs) regulate dendritic spine morphology and play an important role in spine development and plasticity the aim of the present study was to investigate the alterations in the content of neuronal α/β-tubulin and Tau protein level as well as phosphorylation state in the valproic acid (VPA)-induced rat model of autism. Our results indicated that maternal exposure to VPA induces: (1) decrease the level of α/β-tubulin along with Tau accumulation in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex; (2) excessive Tau phosphorylation and activation of Tau-kinases: CDK5, ERK1/2, and p70S6K in the cerebral cortex; (3) up-regulation of mTOR kinase-dependent signalling in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex of adolescent rat offspring. Moreover, immunohistochemical staining showed histopathological changes in neurons (chromatolysis) in both analysed brain structures of rats prenatally exposed to VPA. The observed changes in Tau protein together with an excessive decrease in α/β-tubulin level may suggest destabilization and thus dysfunction of the MT cytoskeleton network, which in consequence may lead to the disturbance in synaptic plasticity and the development of autistic-like behaviours.
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45
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Mueller RL, Combs B, Alhadidy MM, Brady ST, Morfini GA, Kanaan NM. Tau: A Signaling Hub Protein. Front Mol Neurosci 2021; 14:647054. [PMID: 33815057 PMCID: PMC8017207 DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2021.647054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2020] [Accepted: 02/23/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Over four decades ago, in vitro experiments showed that tau protein interacts with and stabilizes microtubules in a phosphorylation-dependent manner. This observation fueled the widespread hypotheses that these properties extend to living neurons and that reduced stability of microtubules represents a major disease-driving event induced by pathological forms of tau in Alzheimer’s disease and other tauopathies. Accordingly, most research efforts to date have addressed this protein as a substrate, focusing on evaluating how specific mutations, phosphorylation, and other post-translational modifications impact its microtubule-binding and stabilizing properties. In contrast, fewer efforts were made to illuminate potential mechanisms linking physiological and disease-related forms of tau to the normal and pathological regulation of kinases and phosphatases. Here, we discuss published work indicating that, through interactions with various kinases and phosphatases, tau may normally act as a scaffolding protein to regulate phosphorylation-based signaling pathways. Expanding on this concept, we also review experimental evidence linking disease-related tau species to the misregulation of these pathways. Collectively, the available evidence supports the participation of tau in multiple cellular processes sustaining neuronal and glial function through various mechanisms involving the scaffolding and regulation of selected kinases and phosphatases at discrete subcellular compartments. The notion that the repertoire of tau functions includes a role as a signaling hub should widen our interpretation of experimental results and increase our understanding of tau biology in normal and disease conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca L Mueller
- Department of Translational Neuroscience, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, MI, United States.,Neuroscience Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States
| | - Benjamin Combs
- Department of Translational Neuroscience, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, MI, United States
| | - Mohammed M Alhadidy
- Department of Translational Neuroscience, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, MI, United States.,Neuroscience Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States
| | - Scott T Brady
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, The University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States.,Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA, United States
| | - Gerardo A Morfini
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, The University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States.,Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA, United States
| | - Nicholas M Kanaan
- Department of Translational Neuroscience, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, MI, United States.,Neuroscience Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States.,Hauenstein Neuroscience Center, Mercy Health Saint Mary's, Grand Rapids, MI, United States
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46
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Chang CW, Shao E, Mucke L. Tau: Enabler of diverse brain disorders and target of rapidly evolving therapeutic strategies. Science 2021; 371:371/6532/eabb8255. [PMID: 33632820 DOI: 10.1126/science.abb8255] [Citation(s) in RCA: 111] [Impact Index Per Article: 37.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Several lines of evidence implicate the protein tau in the pathogenesis of multiple brain disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, other neurodegenerative conditions, autism, and epilepsy. Tau is abundant in neurons and interacts with microtubules, but its main functions in the brain remain to be defined. These functions may involve the regulation of signaling pathways relevant to diverse biological processes. Informative disease models have revealed a plethora of abnormal tau species and mechanisms that might contribute to neuronal dysfunction and loss, but the relative importance of their respective contributions is uncertain. This knowledge gap poses major obstacles to the development of truly impactful therapeutic strategies. The current expansion and intensification of efforts to translate mechanistic insights into tau-related therapeutics should address this issue and could deliver better treatments for a host of devastating conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Che-Wei Chang
- Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Eric Shao
- Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Lennart Mucke
- Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA. .,Department of Neurology and Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
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47
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Loss CM, Teodoro L, Rodrigues GD, Moreira LR, Peres FF, Zuardi AW, Crippa JA, Hallak JEC, Abílio VC. Is Cannabidiol During Neurodevelopment a Promising Therapy for Schizophrenia and Autism Spectrum Disorders? Front Pharmacol 2021; 11:635763. [PMID: 33613289 PMCID: PMC7890086 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2020.635763] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2020] [Accepted: 12/24/2020] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are psychiatric neurodevelopmental disorders that cause high levels of functional disabilities. Also, the currently available therapies for these disorders are limited. Therefore, the search for treatments that could be beneficial for the altered course of the neurodevelopment associated with these disorders is paramount. Preclinical and clinical evidence points to cannabidiol (CBD) as a promising strategy. In this review, we discuss clinical and preclinical studies on schizophrenia and ASD investigating the behavioral, molecular, and functional effects of chronic treatment with CBD (and with cannabidivarin for ASD) during neurodevelopment. In summary, the results point to CBD's beneficial potential for the progression of these disorders supporting further investigations to strengthen its use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cássio Morais Loss
- Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Laboratory, Departamento de Farmacologia, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.,National Institute for Translational Medicine (INCT-TM), National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq/CAPES/FAPESP), Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
| | - Lucas Teodoro
- Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Laboratory, Departamento de Farmacologia, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Gabriela Doná Rodrigues
- Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Laboratory, Departamento de Farmacologia, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Lucas Roberto Moreira
- Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Laboratory, Departamento de Farmacologia, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Fernanda Fiel Peres
- Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Laboratory, Departamento de Farmacologia, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.,National Institute for Translational Medicine (INCT-TM), National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq/CAPES/FAPESP), Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
| | - Antonio Waldo Zuardi
- National Institute for Translational Medicine (INCT-TM), National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq/CAPES/FAPESP), Ribeirão Preto, Brazil.,Department of Neuroscience and Behavior, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
| | - José Alexandre Crippa
- National Institute for Translational Medicine (INCT-TM), National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq/CAPES/FAPESP), Ribeirão Preto, Brazil.,Department of Neuroscience and Behavior, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
| | - Jaime Eduardo Cecilio Hallak
- National Institute for Translational Medicine (INCT-TM), National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq/CAPES/FAPESP), Ribeirão Preto, Brazil.,Department of Neuroscience and Behavior, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
| | - Vanessa Costhek Abílio
- Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Laboratory, Departamento de Farmacologia, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.,National Institute for Translational Medicine (INCT-TM), National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq/CAPES/FAPESP), Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
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48
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Zhang Z, Yao Z, Wu K, Zhang T, Xing C, Xing XL. Resveratrol rescued the pain related hypersensitivity for Cntnap2-deficient mice. Eur J Pharmacol 2021; 891:173704. [PMID: 33137333 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejphar.2020.173704] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2020] [Revised: 10/27/2020] [Accepted: 10/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Contactin-associated protein-like 2 (CNTNAP2 or CASPR2) is a neuronal transmembrane protein of the neurexin superfamily which is correlated with pain related hypersensitivity. Recent results indicated that the hyperactive phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway may be a promising therapeutic target for pain-related hypersensitivity in patients with dysfunction of CNTNAP2. Resveratrol is one of the most widely studied polyphenols with several beneficial properties. In the present study, we investigated the effects of resveratrol on the pain related hypersensitivity. And we found that the up-regulated phosphorylation of S6 could be suppressed by resveratrol. The nocifensive behavior duration time to heat and chemical algogens stimulation in Cntnap2-deficiency (Cntnap2-/-) mice could be attenuated by resveratrol. Our results indicated that resveratrol could rescue the pain related hypersensitivity for Cntnap2-/- mice may be via mTOR signaling pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zaiqi Zhang
- Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory for Dong Medicine, Hunan University of Medicine, Huaihua 418000, Hunan, PR China
| | - Zhiyong Yao
- Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory for Synthetic Biology of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hunan University of Medicine, Huaihua 418000, Hunan, PR China
| | - Kunyang Wu
- Zhejiang Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou 310000, Zhejiang, PR China
| | - Ti Zhang
- Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory for Synthetic Biology of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hunan University of Medicine, Huaihua 418000, Hunan, PR China
| | - Chaoqun Xing
- The First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan University of Medicine, Huaihua 418000, Hunan, PR China.
| | - Xiao-Liang Xing
- Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory for Dong Medicine, Hunan University of Medicine, Huaihua 418000, Hunan, PR China; Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory for Synthetic Biology of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hunan University of Medicine, Huaihua 418000, Hunan, PR China.
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49
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Brandt R, Trushina NI, Bakota L. Much More Than a Cytoskeletal Protein: Physiological and Pathological Functions of the Non-microtubule Binding Region of Tau. Front Neurol 2020; 11:590059. [PMID: 33193056 PMCID: PMC7604284 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2020.590059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2020] [Accepted: 09/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Tau protein (MAPT) is classified as a microtubule-associated protein (MAP) and is believed to regulate the axonal microtubule arrangement. It belongs to the tau/MAP2/MAP4 family of MAPs that have a similar microtubule binding region at their carboxy-terminal half. In tauopathies, such as Alzheimer's disease, tau is distributed more in the somatodendritic compartment, where it aggregates into filamentous structures, the formation of which correlates with cognitive impairments in patients. While microtubules are the dominant interaction partners of tau under physiological conditions, tau has many additional interaction partners that can contribute to its physiological and pathological role. In particular, the amino-terminal non-microtubule binding domain (N-terminal projection region, NTR) of tau interacts with many partners that are involved in membrane organization. The NTR contains intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) that show a strong evolutionary increase in the disorder and may have been the basis for the development of new, tau-specific interactions. In this review we discuss the functional organization of the tau protein and the special features of the tau non-microtubule binding region also in the connection with the results of Tau KO models. We consider possible physiological and pathological functions of tau's non-microtubule interactions, which could indicate that interactions mediated by tau's NTR and regulated by far-reaching functional interactions of the PRR and the extreme C-terminus of tau contribute to the pathological processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roland Brandt
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany.,Center for Cellular Nanoanalytics, University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany.,Institute of Cognitive Science, University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany
| | | | - Lidia Bakota
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany
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50
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Kent SA, Spires-Jones TL, Durrant CS. The physiological roles of tau and Aβ: implications for Alzheimer's disease pathology and therapeutics. Acta Neuropathol 2020; 140:417-447. [PMID: 32728795 PMCID: PMC7498448 DOI: 10.1007/s00401-020-02196-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 197] [Impact Index Per Article: 49.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2020] [Revised: 07/20/2020] [Accepted: 07/20/2020] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Tau and amyloid beta (Aβ) are the prime suspects for driving pathology in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and, as such, have become the focus of therapeutic development. Recent research, however, shows that these proteins have been highly conserved throughout evolution and may have crucial, physiological roles. Such functions may be lost during AD progression or be unintentionally disrupted by tau- or Aβ-targeting therapies. Tau has been revealed to be more than a simple stabiliser of microtubules, reported to play a role in a range of biological processes including myelination, glucose metabolism, axonal transport, microtubule dynamics, iron homeostasis, neurogenesis, motor function, learning and memory, neuronal excitability, and DNA protection. Aβ is similarly multifunctional, and is proposed to regulate learning and memory, angiogenesis, neurogenesis, repair leaks in the blood-brain barrier, promote recovery from injury, and act as an antimicrobial peptide and tumour suppressor. This review will discuss potential physiological roles of tau and Aβ, highlighting how changes to these functions may contribute to pathology, as well as the implications for therapeutic development. We propose that a balanced consideration of both the physiological and pathological roles of tau and Aβ will be essential for the design of safe and effective therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah A. Kent
- Translational Neuroscience PhD Programme, Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences and the UK Dementia Research Institute, The University of Edinburgh, 1 George Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9JZ Scotland, UK
| | - Tara L. Spires-Jones
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences and the UK Dementia Research Institute, The University of Edinburgh, 1 George Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9JZ Scotland, UK
| | - Claire S. Durrant
- Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences and the UK Dementia Research Institute, The University of Edinburgh, 1 George Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9JZ Scotland, UK
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