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Leventoux N, Morimoto S, Ishikawa M, Nakamura S, Ozawa F, Kobayashi R, Watanabe H, Supakul S, Okamoto S, Zhou Z, Kobayashi H, Kato C, Hirokawa Y, Aiba I, Takahashi S, Shibata S, Takao M, Yoshida M, Endo F, Yamanaka K, Kokubo Y, Okano H. Aberrant CHCHD2-associated mitochondriopathy in Kii ALS/PDC astrocytes. Acta Neuropathol 2024; 147:84. [PMID: 38750212 DOI: 10.1007/s00401-024-02734-w] [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: 10/13/2023] [Revised: 02/28/2024] [Accepted: 04/15/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024]
Abstract
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis/Parkinsonism-Dementia Complex (ALS/PDC), a rare and complex neurological disorder, is predominantly observed in the Western Pacific islands, including regions of Japan, Guam, and Papua. This enigmatic condition continues to capture medical attention due to affected patients displaying symptoms that parallel those seen in either classical amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Parkinson's disease (PD). Distinctly, postmortem examinations of the brains of affected individuals have shown the presence of α-synuclein aggregates and TDP-43, which are hallmarks of PD and classical ALS, respectively. These observations are further complicated by the detection of phosphorylated tau, accentuating the multifaceted proteinopathic nature of ALS/PDC. The etiological foundations of this disease remain undetermined, and genetic investigations have yet to provide conclusive answers. However, emerging evidence has implicated the contribution of astrocytes, pivotal cells for maintaining brain health, to neurodegenerative onset, and likely to play a significant role in the pathogenesis of ALS/PDC. Leveraging advanced induced pluripotent stem cell technology, our team cultivated multiple astrocyte lines to further investigate the Japanese variant of ALS/PDC (Kii ALS/PDC). CHCHD2 emerged as a significantly dysregulated gene when disease astrocytes were compared to healthy controls. Our analyses also revealed imbalances in the activation of specific pathways: those associated with astrocytic cilium dysfunction, known to be involved in neurodegeneration, and those related to major neurological disorders, including classical ALS and PD. Further in-depth examinations revealed abnormalities in the mitochondrial morphology and metabolic processes of the affected astrocytes. A particularly striking observation was the reduced expression of CHCHD2 in the spinal cord, motor cortex, and oculomotor nuclei of patients with Kii ALS/PDC. In summary, our findings suggest a potential reduction in the support Kii ALS/PDC astrocytes provide to neurons, emphasizing the need to explore the role of CHCHD2 in maintaining mitochondrial health and its implications for the disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolas Leventoux
- Department of Physiology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Satoru Morimoto
- Department of Physiology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
- Keio Regenerative Medicine Research Centre, Keio University, Kanagawa, Japan
- Division of Neurodegenerative Disease Research, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Tokyo, Japan
- Department of Oncologic Pathology, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Mie, Japan
| | - Mitsuru Ishikawa
- Department of Physiology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Shiho Nakamura
- Department of Physiology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
- Keio Regenerative Medicine Research Centre, Keio University, Kanagawa, Japan
- Division of Neurodegenerative Disease Research, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Fumiko Ozawa
- Department of Physiology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
- Keio Regenerative Medicine Research Centre, Keio University, Kanagawa, Japan
- Division of Neurodegenerative Disease Research, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Reona Kobayashi
- Department of Physiology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Hirotaka Watanabe
- Department of Physiology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
- Keio Regenerative Medicine Research Centre, Keio University, Kanagawa, Japan
| | - Sopak Supakul
- Department of Physiology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Satoshi Okamoto
- Department of Physiology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Zhi Zhou
- Department of Physiology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Hiroya Kobayashi
- Department of Physiology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
- Keio Regenerative Medicine Research Centre, Keio University, Kanagawa, Japan
- Division of Neurodegenerative Disease Research, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Chris Kato
- Department of Physiology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
- Keio Regenerative Medicine Research Centre, Keio University, Kanagawa, Japan
- Division of Neurodegenerative Disease Research, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Yoshifumi Hirokawa
- Department of Oncologic Pathology, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine, Mie, Japan
| | - Ikuko Aiba
- Department of Neurology, NHO, Higashinagoya National Hospital, Aichi, Japan
| | - Shinichi Takahashi
- Department of Physiology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
- Keio Regenerative Medicine Research Centre, Keio University, Kanagawa, Japan
- Department of Neurology and Stroke, International Medical Centre, Saitama Medical University, Saitama, Japan
| | - Shinsuke Shibata
- Department of Physiology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
- Division of Microscopic Anatomy, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata University, Niigata, Japan
| | - Masaki Takao
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, National Centre of Neurology and Psychiatry (NCNP), Tokyo, Japan
| | - Mari Yoshida
- Department of Neuropathology, Institute for Medical Science of Aging, Aichi Medical University, Aichi, Japan
| | - Fumito Endo
- Department of Neuroscience and Pathobiology, Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, Nagoya University, Aichi, Japan
| | - Koji Yamanaka
- Department of Neuroscience and Pathobiology, Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, Nagoya University, Aichi, Japan
| | - Yasumasa Kokubo
- Kii ALS/PDC Research Centre, Mie University Graduate School of Regional Innovation Studies, Mie, Japan.
| | - Hideyuki Okano
- Department of Physiology, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
- Keio Regenerative Medicine Research Centre, Keio University, Kanagawa, Japan.
- Division of Neurodegenerative Disease Research, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Tokyo, Japan.
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Yoshida S. Therapeutic Strategies and Metal-Induced Oxidative Stress: Application of Synchrotron Radiation Microbeam to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in the Kii Peninsula of Japan. Front Neurol 2022; 13:884439. [PMID: 35837234 PMCID: PMC9273737 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2022.884439] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2022] [Accepted: 04/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
A series of extensive gene-environment studies on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Parkinsonism–dementia complex (PDC) in Guam Island, USA, and the Kii Peninsula of Japan, including Auyu Jakai, West New Guinea, have led us to hypothesize that a prolonged low calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) intake, especially over generation, may cause oxidative stress to motor and nigral neurons by an increased uptake of environment metallic elements, i.e., aluminum (Al), manganese (Mn), and iron (Fe). Otherwise, 5–10% of total ALS cases are familial ALS (fALS), of which 20% of the fALS cases linked to a point mutation of Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1). In the vicinity of the Kii Peninsula, about 7% of the ALS cases are also linked to the SOD1 mutation. Using synchrotron radiation (SR) microbeam, conglomerate inclusion (SOD1 aggregates) within a spinal motor neuron of the fALS case in the vicinity revealed a loss of copper (Cu) in contrast to extremely high contents of Zinc (Zn) and Ca. That means an exceptionally low Cu/Zn ratio with an increased Ca content, indicating the abnormalities of the active site of SOD1 protein of the fALS. Furthermore, sALS in the southernmost high incidence areas of the Kii Peninsula showed a low Cu/Zn ratio within a motor neuron, suggesting a fragility of SOD1 proteins. From the perspective of gene–environment interactions, the above two research trends may show a common oxidative stress underlying the neuronal degenerative process of ALS/PDC in the Kii Peninsula of Japan. Therefore, it is a crucial point for the prospect of therapeutic strategy to clarify a role of transition metals in the oxidative process in both ALS/PDC, including ALS elsewhere in the world. This paper reviews a history of the genetic epidemiological studies, especially from the aspect of gene–environment interaction, on ALS/PDC in the Kii and Guam high incidence foci and the results of a series of analytical research on trace metallic elements within neurons of both sALS and fALS cases, especially using a synchrotron radiation (SR) microbeam of Spring-8 and Photon Factory of Japan. The SR microbeam is an ideal X-ray source, which supplies an extremely high brilliance (high-intensity photon) and tunability (energy variability) to investigate trace metallic elements contained in biological specimens at the cellular level, even more without any damages. This research will provide a valuable information about the mechanism of oxidative stress involved in neuronal cell death in ALS and related neurodegenerative disorders. To elucidate the physicochemical mechanism of the oxidative process in neuronal degeneration, it will shed a new light on the therapeutic strategies for ALS/PDC in near future.
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Western Pacific ALS-PDC: Evidence implicating cycad genotoxins. J Neurol Sci 2020; 419:117185. [PMID: 33190068 DOI: 10.1016/j.jns.2020.117185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2020] [Revised: 09/20/2020] [Accepted: 09/29/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Parkinsonism-Dementia Complex (ALS-PDC) is a disappearing neurodegenerative disorder of apparent environmental origin formerly hyperendemic among Chamorros of Guam-USA, Japanese residents of the Kii Peninsula, Honshu Island, Japan and Auyu-Jakai linguistic groups of Papua-Indonesia on the island of New Guinea. The most plausible etiology is exposure to genotoxins in seed of neurotoxic cycad plants formerly used for food and/or medicine. Primary suspicion falls on methylazoxymethanol (MAM), the aglycone of cycasin and on the non-protein amino acid β-N-methylamino-L-alanine, both of which are metabolized to formaldehyde. Human and animal studies suggest: (a) exposures occurred early in life and sometimes during late fetal brain development, (b) clinical expression of neurodegenerative disease appeared years or decades later, and (c) pathological changes in various tissues indicate the disease was not confined to the CNS. Experimental evidence points to toxic molecular mechanisms involving DNA damage, epigenetic changes, transcriptional mutagenesis, neuronal cell-cycle reactivation and perturbation of the ubiquitin-proteasome system that led to polyproteinopathy and culminated in neuronal degeneration. Lessons learned from research on ALS-PDC include: (a) familial disease may reflect common toxic exposures across generations, (b) primary disease prevention follows cessation of exposure to culpable environmental triggers; and (c) disease latency provides a prolonged period during which to intervene therapeutically. Exposure to genotoxic chemicals ("slow toxins") in the early stages of life should be considered in the search for the etiology of ALS-PDC-related neurodegenerative disorders, including sporadic forms of ALS, progressive supranuclear palsy and Alzheimer's disease.
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Brain Transcriptome Analysis Links Deficiencies of Stress-Responsive Proteins to the Pathomechanism of Kii ALS/PDC. Antioxidants (Basel) 2020; 9:antiox9050423. [PMID: 32422904 PMCID: PMC7278732 DOI: 10.3390/antiox9050423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2020] [Revised: 05/07/2020] [Accepted: 05/11/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Parkinsonism-dementia complex (ALS/PDC) is a unique endemic neurodegenerative disease, with high-incidence foci in Kii Peninsula, Japan. To gather new insights into the pathological mechanisms underlying Kii ALS/PDC, we performed transcriptome analyses of patient brains. We prepared frozen brains from three individuals without neurodegenerative diseases, three patients with Alzheimer's disease, and 21 patients with Kii ALS/PDC, and then acquired microarray data from cerebral gray and white matter tissues. Microarray results revealed that expression levels of genes associated with heat shock proteins, DNA binding/damage, and senescence were significantly altered in patients with ALS/PDC compared with healthy individuals. The RNA expression pattern observed for ALS-type brains was similar to that of PDC-type brains. Additionally, pathway and network analyses indicated that the molecular mechanism underlying ALS/PDC may be associated with oxidative phosphorylation of mitochondria, ribosomes, and the synaptic vesicle cycle; in particular, upstream regulators of these mechanisms may be found in synapses and during synaptic trafficking. Furthermore, phenotypic differences between ALS-type and PDC-type were observed, based on HLA haplotypes. In conclusion, determining the relationship between stress-responsive proteins, synaptic dysfunction, and the pathogenesis of ALS/PDC in the Kii peninsula may provide new understanding of this mysterious disease.
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