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Nishida I, Yamada K, Sakamoto A, Wakabayashi T, Iwatsubo T. Chronic Neuronal Hyperexcitation Exacerbates Tau Propagation in a Mouse Model of Tauopathy. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:9004. [PMID: 39201689 PMCID: PMC11354494 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25169004] [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: 07/18/2024] [Revised: 08/10/2024] [Accepted: 08/14/2024] [Indexed: 09/03/2024] Open
Abstract
The intracerebral spread of tau is a critical mechanism associated with functional decline in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other tauopathies. Recently, a hypothesis has emerged suggesting that tau propagation is linked to functional neuronal connections, specifically driven by neuronal hyperactivity. However, experimental validation of this hypothesis remains limited. In this study, we investigated how tau propagation from the entorhinal cortex to the hippocampus, the neuronal circuit most susceptible to tau pathology in AD, is affected by the selective stimulation of neuronal activity along this circuit. Using a mouse model of seed-induced propagation combined with optogenetics, we found that the chronic stimulation of this neuronal connection over a 4-week period resulted in a significant increase in insoluble tau accumulation in both the entorhinal cortex and hippocampus. Importantly, the ratio of tau accumulation in the hippocampus relative to that in the entorhinal cortex, serving as an indicator of transcellular spreading, was significantly higher in mice subjected to chronic stimulation. These results support the notion that abnormal neuronal activity promotes tau propagation, thereby implicating it in the progression of tauopathy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Itaru Nishida
- Department of Neuropathology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 1130033, Japan; (I.N.); (A.S.); (T.W.)
| | - Kaoru Yamada
- Department of Neuropathology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 1130033, Japan; (I.N.); (A.S.); (T.W.)
| | - Asami Sakamoto
- Department of Neuropathology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 1130033, Japan; (I.N.); (A.S.); (T.W.)
| | - Tomoko Wakabayashi
- Department of Neuropathology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo 1130033, Japan; (I.N.); (A.S.); (T.W.)
- Department of Pathophysiology, Meiji Pharmaceutical University, Tokyo 2040004, Japan
| | - Takeshi Iwatsubo
- National Institute of Neuroscience, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo 1878551, Japan;
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Kouli A, Spindler LRB, Fryer TD, Hong YT, Malpetti M, Aigbirhio FI, White SR, Camacho M, O’Brien JT, Williams-Gray CH. Neuroinflammation is linked to dementia risk in Parkinson's disease. Brain 2024; 147:923-935. [PMID: 37757857 PMCID: PMC10907093 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awad322] [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: 04/20/2023] [Revised: 08/09/2023] [Accepted: 09/07/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The development of dementia is a devastating aspect of Parkinson's disease (PD), affecting nearly half of patients within 10 years post-diagnosis. For effective therapies to prevent and slow progression to PD dementia (PDD), the key mechanisms that determine why some people with PD develop early dementia, while others remain cognitively unaffected, need to be understood. Neuroinflammation and tau protein accumulation have been demonstrated in post-mortem PD brains, and in many other neurodegenerative disorders leading to dementia. However, whether these processes mediate dementia risk early on in the PD disease course is not established. To this end, we used PET neuroimaging with 11C-PK11195 to index neuroinflammation and 18F-AV-1451 for misfolded tau in early PD patients, stratified according to dementia risk in our 'Neuroinflammation and Tau Accumulation in Parkinson's Disease Dementia' (NET-PDD) study. The NET-PDD study longitudinally assesses newly-diagnosed PD patients in two subgroups at low and high dementia risk (stratified based on pentagon copying, semantic fluency, MAPT genotype), with comparison to age- and sex-matched controls. Non-displaceable binding potential (BPND) in 43 brain regions (Hammers' parcellation) was compared between groups (pairwise t-tests), and associations between BPND of the tracers tested (linear-mixed-effect models). We hypothesized that people with higher dementia risk have greater inflammation and/or tau accumulation in advance of significant cognitive decline. We found significantly elevated neuroinflammation (11C-PK11195 BPND) in multiple subcortical and restricted cortical regions in the high dementia risk group compared with controls, while in the low-risk group this was limited to two cortical areas. The high dementia risk group also showed significantly greater neuroinflammation than the low-risk group concentrated on subcortical and basal ganglia regions. Neuroinflammation in most of these regions was associated with worse cognitive performance (Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination-III score). Overall neuroinflammation burden also correlated with serum levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines. In contrast, increases in 18F-AV-1451 (tau) BPND in PD versus controls were restricted to subcortical regions where off-target binding is typically seen, with no relationship to cognition found. Whole-brain 18F-AV-1451 burden correlated with serum phosphorylated tau181 levels. Although there was minimal regional tau accumulation in PD, regional neuroinflammation and tau burden correlated in PD participants, with the strongest association in the high dementia risk group, suggesting possible co-localization of these pathologies. In conclusion, our findings suggest that significant regional neuroinflammation in early PD might underpin higher risk for PDD development, indicating neuroinflammation as a putative early modifiable aetiopathological disease factor to prevent or slow dementia development using immunomodulatory strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonina Kouli
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0PY, UK
| | - Lennart R B Spindler
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0PY, UK
| | - Tim D Fryer
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0PY, UK
- Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Young T Hong
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0PY, UK
- Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Maura Malpetti
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0PY, UK
| | - Franklin I Aigbirhio
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0PY, UK
- Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK
| | - Simon R White
- Medical Research Council Biostatistics Unit, Cambridge Institute of Public Health, Cambridge, CB2 0SL, UK
| | - Marta Camacho
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0PY, UK
| | - John T O’Brien
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0SZ, UK
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Kawles A, Keszycki R, Minogue G, Zouridakis A, Ayala I, Gill N, Macomber A, Lubbat V, Coventry C, Rogalski E, Weintraub S, Mao Q, Flanagan ME, Zhang H, Castellani R, Bigio EH, Mesulam MM, Geula C, Gefen T. Phenotypically concordant distribution of pick bodies in aphasic versus behavioral dementias. Acta Neuropathol Commun 2024; 12:31. [PMID: 38389095 PMCID: PMC10885488 DOI: 10.1186/s40478-024-01738-7] [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: 02/02/2024] [Accepted: 02/04/2024] [Indexed: 02/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Pick's disease (PiD) is a subtype of the tauopathy form of frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD-tau) characterized by intraneuronal 3R-tau inclusions. PiD can underly various dementia syndromes, including primary progressive aphasia (PPA), characterized by an isolated and progressive impairment of language and left-predominant atrophy, and behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), characterized by progressive dysfunction in personality and bilateral frontotemporal atrophy. In this study, we investigated the neocortical and hippocampal distributions of Pick bodies in bvFTD and PPA to establish clinicopathologic concordance between PiD and the salience of the aphasic versus behavioral phenotype. Eighteen right-handed cases with PiD as the primary pathologic diagnosis were identified from the Northwestern University Alzheimer's Disease Research Center brain bank (bvFTD, N = 9; PPA, N = 9). Paraffin-embedded sections were stained immunohistochemically with AT8 to visualize Pick bodies, and unbiased stereological analysis was performed in up to six regions bilaterally [middle frontal gyrus (MFG), superior temporal gyrus (STG), inferior parietal lobule (IPL), anterior temporal lobe (ATL), dentate gyrus (DG) and CA1 of the hippocampus], and unilateral occipital cortex (OCC). In bvFTD, peak neocortical densities of Pick bodies were in the MFG, while the ATL was the most affected in PPA. Both the IPL and STG had greater leftward pathology in PPA, with the latter reaching significance (p < 0.01). In bvFTD, Pick body densities were significantly right-asymmetric in the STG (p < 0.05). Hippocampal burden was not clinicopathologically concordant, as both bvFTD and PPA cases demonstrated significant hippocampal pathology compared to neocortical densities (p < 0.0001). Inclusion-to-neuron analyses in a subset of PPA cases confirmed that neurons in the DG are disproportionately burdened with inclusions compared to neocortical areas. Overall, stereological quantitation suggests that the distribution of neocortical Pick body pathology is concordant with salient clinical features unique to PPA vs. bvFTD while raising intriguing questions about the selective vulnerability of the hippocampus to 3R-tauopathies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Allegra Kawles
- Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Rachel Keszycki
- Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Grace Minogue
- Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Antonia Zouridakis
- Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Ivan Ayala
- Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Nathan Gill
- Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
- Department of Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Alyssa Macomber
- Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Vivienne Lubbat
- Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Christina Coventry
- Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Emily Rogalski
- Department of Neurology, University of Chicago School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Sandra Weintraub
- Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Qinwen Mao
- Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
- Department of Pathology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Margaret E Flanagan
- Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
- Department of Pathology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Hui Zhang
- Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
- Department of Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Rudolph Castellani
- Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
- Department of Pathology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Eileen H Bigio
- Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
- Department of Pathology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - M-Marsel Mesulam
- Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
- Department of Neurology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Changiz Geula
- Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, USA
| | - Tamar Gefen
- Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
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Li X, Zhao Y, Kong H, Song C, Liu J, Xia J. Identification of region-specific splicing QTLs in human hippocampal tissue and its distinctive role in brain disorders. iScience 2023; 26:107958. [PMID: 37810239 PMCID: PMC10558811 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107958] [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: 05/07/2023] [Revised: 06/28/2023] [Accepted: 09/14/2023] [Indexed: 10/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Alternative splicing (AS) regulation has an essential role in complex diseases. However, the AS profiles in the hippocampal (HIPPO) region of human brain are underexplored. Here, we investigated cis-acting sQTLs of HIPPO region in 264 samples and identified thousands of significant sQTLs. By enrichment analysis and functional characterization of these sQTLs, we found that the HIPPO sQTLs were enriched among histone-marked regions, transcription factors binding sites, RNA binding proteins sites, and brain disorders-associated loci. Comparative analyses with the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex revealed the importance of AS regulation in HIPPO (rg = 0.87). Furthermore, we performed a transcriptome-wide association study of Alzheimer's disease and identified 16 significant genes whose genetically regulated splicing levels may have a causal role in Alzheimer. Overall, our study improves our knowledge of the transcriptome gene regulation in the HIPPO region and provides novel insights into elucidating the pathogenesis of potential genes associated with brain disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoyan Li
- Information Materials and Intelligent Sensing Laboratory of Anhui Province and Key Laboratory of Intelligent Computing and Signal Processing of Ministry of Education, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, China
| | - Yiran Zhao
- Information Materials and Intelligent Sensing Laboratory of Anhui Province and Key Laboratory of Intelligent Computing and Signal Processing of Ministry of Education, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, China
| | - Hui Kong
- Information Materials and Intelligent Sensing Laboratory of Anhui Province and Key Laboratory of Intelligent Computing and Signal Processing of Ministry of Education, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, China
| | - Chengcheng Song
- Information Materials and Intelligent Sensing Laboratory of Anhui Province and Key Laboratory of Intelligent Computing and Signal Processing of Ministry of Education, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, China
| | - Jie Liu
- Information Materials and Intelligent Sensing Laboratory of Anhui Province and Key Laboratory of Intelligent Computing and Signal Processing of Ministry of Education, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, China
| | - Junfeng Xia
- Information Materials and Intelligent Sensing Laboratory of Anhui Province and Key Laboratory of Intelligent Computing and Signal Processing of Ministry of Education, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, China
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Kovalska M, Hnilicova P, Kalenska D, Adamkov M, Kovalska L, Lehotsky J. Alzheimer's Disease-like Pathological Features in the Dorsal Hippocampus of Wild-Type Rats Subjected to Methionine-Diet-Evoked Mild Hyperhomocysteinaemia. Cells 2023; 12:2087. [PMID: 37626897 PMCID: PMC10453870 DOI: 10.3390/cells12162087] [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: 06/16/2023] [Revised: 07/27/2023] [Accepted: 08/16/2023] [Indexed: 08/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Multifactorial interactions, including nutritional state, likely participate in neurodegeneration's pathogenesis and evolution. Dysregulation in methionine (Met) metabolism could lead to the development of hyperhomocysteinaemia (hHcy), playing an important role in neuronal dysfunction, which could potentially lead to the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD)-like pathological features. This study combines proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS) with immunohistochemical analysis to examine changes in the metabolic ratio and histomorphological alterations in the dorsal rat hippocampus (dentate gyrus-DG) subjected to a high Met diet. Male Wistar rats (420-480 g) underwent hHcy evoked by a Met-enriched diet (2 g/kg of weight/day) lasting four weeks. Changes in the metabolic ratio profile and significant histomorphological alterations have been found in the DG of hHcy rats. We have detected increased morphologically changed neurons and glial cells with increased neurogenic markers and apolipoprotein E positivity parallel with a diminished immunosignal for the N-Methyl-D-Aspartate receptor 1 in hHcy animals. A Met diet induced hHcy, likely via direct Hcy neurotoxicity, an interference with one carbon unit metabolism, and/or epigenetic regulation. These conditions lead to the progression of neurodegeneration and the promotion of AD-like pathological features in the less vulnerable hippocampal DG, which presents a plausible therapeutic target.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Kovalska
- Department of Histology and Embryology, Jessenius Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University in Bratislava, 03601 Martin, Slovakia; (M.K.); (M.A.)
| | - Petra Hnilicova
- Biomedical Center Martin, Jessenius Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University in Bratislava, 03601 Martin, Slovakia;
| | - Dagmar Kalenska
- Department of Anatomy, Jessenius Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University in Bratislava, 03601 Martin, Slovakia;
| | - Marian Adamkov
- Department of Histology and Embryology, Jessenius Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University in Bratislava, 03601 Martin, Slovakia; (M.K.); (M.A.)
| | - Libusa Kovalska
- Clinic of Stomatology and Maxillofacial Surgery, Jessenius Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University in Bratislava, 03601 Martin, Slovakia;
| | - Jan Lehotsky
- Biomedical Center Martin, Jessenius Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University in Bratislava, 03601 Martin, Slovakia;
- Department of Medical Biochemistry, Jessenius Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University in Bratislava, 03601 Martin, Slovakia
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