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Schwabenlander MD, Bartz JC, Carstensen M, Fameli A, Glaser L, Larsen RJ, Li M, Shoemaker RL, Rowden G, Stone S, Walter WD, Wolf TM, Larsen PA. Prion forensics: a multidisciplinary approach to investigate CWD at an illegal deer carcass disposal site. Prion 2024; 18:72-86. [PMID: 38676289 PMCID: PMC11057675 DOI: 10.1080/19336896.2024.2343298] [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: 01/15/2024] [Accepted: 04/10/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Infectious prions are resistant to degradation and remain infectious in the environment for several years. Chronic wasting disease (CWD) has been detected in cervids inhabiting North America, the Nordic countries, and South Korea. CWD-prion spread is partially attributed to carcass transport and disposal. We employed a forensic approach to investigate an illegal carcass dump site connected with a CWD-positive herd. We integrated anatomic, genetic, and prion amplification methods to discover CWD-positive remains from six white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and, using microsatellite markers, confirmed a portion originated from the CWD-infected herd. This approach provides a foundation for future studies of carcass prion transmission risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marc D. Schwabenlander
- Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
- Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
| | - Jason C. Bartz
- Minnesota Center for Prion Research and Outreach, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
- Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
| | - Michelle Carstensen
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, Creighton University, Omaha, NE, USA
| | - Alberto Fameli
- Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife Health Program, Forest Lake, MN, USA
| | - Linda Glaser
- Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Roxanne J. Larsen
- Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
- Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
| | - Manci Li
- Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
- Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
| | - Rachel L. Shoemaker
- Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
- Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
| | - Gage Rowden
- Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
- Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
| | - Suzanne Stone
- Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
- Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
| | - W. David Walter
- Minnesota Board of Animal Health, Farmed Cervidae Program, St. Paul, MN, USA
| | - Tiffany M. Wolf
- U.S. Geological Survey, Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
- Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
| | - Peter A. Larsen
- Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
- Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA
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Hermann P, Zerr I. Unmet needs of biochemical biomarkers for human prion diseases. Prion 2024; 18:89-93. [PMID: 38734978 DOI: 10.1080/19336896.2024.2349017] [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: 01/10/2024] [Accepted: 04/24/2024] [Indexed: 05/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Although the development of aggregation assays has noticeably improved the accuracy of the clinical diagnosis of prion diseases, research on biomarkers remains vital. The major challenges to overcome are non-invasive sampling and the exploration of new biomarkers that may predict the onset or reflect disease progression. This will become extremely important in the near future, when new therapeutics are clinically evaluated and eventually become available for treatment. This article aims to provide an overview of the achievements of biomarker research in human prion diseases, addresses unmet needs in the field, and points out future perspectives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Hermann
- Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Inga Zerr
- Department of Neurology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Göttingen, Germany
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3
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Rezaei H, Martin D, Herzog L, Reine F, Marín Moreno A, Moudjou M, Aron N, Igel A, Klute H, Youssafi S, Moog JB, Sibille P, Andréoletti O, Torrent J, Béringue V. Species barrier as molecular basis for adaptation of synthetic prions with N-terminally truncated PrP. FEBS J 2024. [PMID: 39396118 DOI: 10.1111/febs.17291] [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: 02/26/2024] [Revised: 07/04/2024] [Accepted: 09/24/2024] [Indexed: 10/14/2024]
Abstract
Mammalian prions are neurotropic pathogens formed from PrPSc assemblies, a misfolded variant of the host-encoded prion protein PrPC. Multiple PrPSc conformations or strains self-propagate in host populations or mouse models of prion diseases, exhibiting distinct biological and biochemical phenotypes. Constrained interactions between PrPSc and PrPC conformations confer species specificity and regulate cross-species transmission. The pathogenicity of fibrillar assemblies derived from bacterially expressed recombinant PrP (rPrP) has been instrumental in demonstrating the protein-only nature of prions. Yet, their ability to encode different strains and transmit between species remains poorly studied, hampering their use in exploring structure-to-strain relationships. Fibrillar assemblies from rPrP with hamster, mouse, human, and bovine primary structures were generated and tested for transmission and adaptation in tg7 transgenic mice expressing hamster PrPC. All assemblies, except the bovine ones, were fully pathogenic on the primary passage, causing clinical disease, PrPSc brain deposition, and spongiform degeneration. They exhibited divergent adaptation processes and strain properties upon subsequent passage. Assemblies of hamster origin propagated without apparent need for adaptation, those of mouse origin adapted abruptly, and those of human origin required serial passages for optimal fitness. Molecular analyses revealed the presence of endogenously truncated PrPSc species in the resulting synthetic strains that lack the 90-140 amino acid region considered crucial for infectivity. In conclusion, rPrP assemblies provide a facile means of generating novel prion strains with adaptative/evolutive properties mimicking genuine prions. The PrP amino acid backbone is sufficient to encode different strains with specific adaptative properties, offering insights into prion transmission and strain diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Human Rezaei
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, UVSQ, VIM, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Davy Martin
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, UVSQ, VIM, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Laetitia Herzog
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, UVSQ, VIM, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Fabienne Reine
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, UVSQ, VIM, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | | | - Mohammed Moudjou
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, UVSQ, VIM, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | | | - Angélique Igel
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, UVSQ, VIM, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Hannah Klute
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, UVSQ, VIM, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | - Stella Youssafi
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, UVSQ, VIM, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | | | - Pierre Sibille
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, UVSQ, VIM, Jouy-en-Josas, France
| | | | - Joan Torrent
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, UVSQ, VIM, Jouy-en-Josas, France
- INM, Univ Montpellier, INSERM, CNRS, France
| | - Vincent Béringue
- Université Paris-Saclay, INRAE, UVSQ, VIM, Jouy-en-Josas, France
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Gojanovich AD, Le NTT, Mercer RCC, Park S, Wu B, Anane A, Vultaggio JS, Mostoslavsky G, Harris DA. Abnormal synaptic architecture in iPSC-derived neurons from a multi-generational family with genetic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Stem Cell Reports 2024; 19:1474-1488. [PMID: 39332406 DOI: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2024.08.010] [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: 11/08/2022] [Revised: 08/28/2024] [Accepted: 08/29/2024] [Indexed: 09/29/2024] Open
Abstract
Genetic prion diseases are caused by mutations in PRNP, which encodes the prion protein (PrPC). Why these mutations are pathogenic, and how they alter the properties of PrPC are poorly understood. We have consented and accessed 22 individuals of a multi-generational Israeli family harboring the highly penetrant E200K PRNP mutation and generated a library of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) representing nine carriers and four non-carriers. iPSC-derived neurons from E200K carriers display abnormal synaptic architecture characterized by misalignment of postsynaptic NMDA receptors with the cytoplasmic scaffolding protein PSD95. Differentiated neurons from mutation carriers do not produce PrPSc, the aggregated and infectious conformer of PrP, suggesting that loss of a physiological function of PrPC may contribute to the disease phenotype. Our study shows that iPSC-derived neurons can provide important mechanistic insights into the pathogenesis of genetic prion diseases and can offer a powerful platform for testing candidate therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aldana D Gojanovich
- Center for Regenerative Medicine of Boston University and Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Nhat T T Le
- Department of Biochemistry & Cell Biology, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Robert C C Mercer
- Department of Biochemistry & Cell Biology, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Seonmi Park
- Center for Regenerative Medicine of Boston University and Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Bei Wu
- Department of Biochemistry & Cell Biology, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Alice Anane
- Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Foundation, Pardes Hanna-Karkur, Israel
| | - Janelle S Vultaggio
- Department of Biochemistry & Cell Biology, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Gustavo Mostoslavsky
- Center for Regenerative Medicine of Boston University and Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Microbiology, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Medicine, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - David A Harris
- Department of Biochemistry & Cell Biology, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
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Denkers ND, McNulty EE, Kraft CN, Nalls AV, Westrich JA, Hoover EA, Mathiason CK. Temporal Characterization of Prion Shedding in Secreta of White-Tailed Deer in Longitudinal Study of Chronic Wasting Disease, United States. Emerg Infect Dis 2024; 30:2118-2127. [PMID: 39320164 PMCID: PMC11431932 DOI: 10.3201/eid3010.240159] [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] [Indexed: 09/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) affects cervids in North America, Asia, and Scandinavia. CWD is unique in its efficient spread, partially because of contact with infectious prions shed in secreta. To assess temporal profiles of CWD prion shedding, we collected saliva, urine, and feces from white-tailed deer for 66 months after exposure to low oral doses of CWD-positive brain tissue or saliva. We analyzed prion seeding activity by using modified amyloid amplification assays incorporating iron oxide bead extraction, which improved CWD detection and reduced false positives. CWD prions were detected in feces, urine, and saliva as early as 6 months postinfection. More frequent and consistent shedding was observed in deer homozygous for glycine at prion protein gene codon 96 than in deer expressing alternate genotypes. Our findings demonstrate that improved amplification methods can be used to identify early antemortem CWD prion shedding, which might aid in disease surveillance of cervids.
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Simmons SM, Payne VL, Hrdlicka JG, Taylor J, Larsen PA, Wolf TM, Schwabenlander MD, Yuan Q, Bartz JC. Rapid and sensitive determination of residual prion infectivity from prion-decontaminated surfaces. mSphere 2024; 9:e0050424. [PMID: 39189773 PMCID: PMC11423590 DOI: 10.1128/msphere.00504-24] [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: 06/12/2024] [Accepted: 07/21/2024] [Indexed: 08/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Prion diseases are untreatable fatal transmissible neurodegenerative diseases that affect a wide range of mammals, including humans, and are caused by PrPSc, the infectious self-templating conformation of the host-encoded protein, PrPC. Prion diseases can be transmitted via surfaces (e.g., forceps, EEG electrodes) in laboratory and clinical settings. Here, we use a combination of surface swabbing and real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) to test for residual surface-associated prions following prion disinfection. We found that treatment of several prion-contaminated laboratory and clinically relevant surfaces with either water or 70% EtOH resulted in robust detection of surface-associated prions. In contrast, treatment of surfaces with sodium hypochlorite resulted in a failure to detect surface-associated prions. RT-QuIC analysis of prion-contaminated stainless steel wires paralleled the findings of the surface swab studies. Importantly, animal bioassay and RT-QuIC analysis of the same swab extracts are in agreement. We report on conditions that may interfere with the assay that need to be taken into consideration before using this technique. Overall, this method can be used to survey laboratory and clinical surfaces for prion infectivity following prion decontamination protocols.IMPORTANCEPrion diseases can be accidentally transmitted in clinical and occupational settings. While effective means of prion decontamination exist, methods for determining the effectiveness are only beginning to be described. Here, we analyze surface swab extracts using real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) to test for residual prions following prion disinfection of relevant clinical and laboratory surfaces. We found that this method can rapidly determine the efficacy of surface prion decontamination. Importantly, examination of surface extracts with RT-QuIC and animal bioassay produced similar findings, suggesting that this method can accurately assess the reduction in prion titer. We identified surface contaminants that interfere with the assay, which may be found in clinical and laboratory settings. Overall, this method can enhance clinical and laboratory prion safety measures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara M. Simmons
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska, USA
| | | | - Jay G. Hrdlicka
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska, USA
| | - Jack Taylor
- Biostatistical Core Facility, Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska, USA
| | - Peter A. Larsen
- Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
- Minnesota Center for Prion Research and Outreach, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
| | - Tiffany M. Wolf
- Minnesota Center for Prion Research and Outreach, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
- Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
| | - Marc D. Schwabenlander
- Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
- Minnesota Center for Prion Research and Outreach, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
| | - Qi Yuan
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska, USA
| | - Jason C. Bartz
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska, USA
- Minnesota Center for Prion Research and Outreach, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
- Prion Research Center, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
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7
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Jurcau MC, Jurcau A, Diaconu RG, Hogea VO, Nunkoo VS. A Systematic Review of Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease: Pathogenesis, Diagnosis, and Therapeutic Attempts. Neurol Int 2024; 16:1039-1065. [PMID: 39311352 PMCID: PMC11417857 DOI: 10.3390/neurolint16050079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2024] [Revised: 09/09/2024] [Accepted: 09/14/2024] [Indexed: 09/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is a rare neurodegenerative and invariably fatal disease with a fulminant course once the first clinical symptoms emerge. Its incidence appears to be rising, although the increasing figures may be related to the improved diagnostic tools. Due to the highly variable clinical picture at onset, many specialty physicians should be aware of this disease and refer the patient to a neurologist for complete evaluation. The diagnostic criteria have been changed based on the considerable progress made in research on the pathogenesis and on the identification of reliable biomarkers. Moreover, accumulated knowledge on pathogenesis led to the identification of a series of possible therapeutic targets, although, given the low incidence and very rapid course, the evaluation of safety and efficacy of these therapeutic strategies is challenging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Carolina Jurcau
- Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Oradea, 410087 Oradea, Romania; (M.C.J.)
| | - Anamaria Jurcau
- Department of Psycho-Neurosciences and Rehabilitation, University of Oradea, 410087 Oradea, Romania
| | - Razvan Gabriel Diaconu
- Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Oradea, 410087 Oradea, Romania; (M.C.J.)
| | - Vlad Octavian Hogea
- Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, University of Oradea, 410087 Oradea, Romania; (M.C.J.)
| | - Vharoon Sharma Nunkoo
- Neurorehabilitation Ward, Clinical Emergency County Hospital Bihor, 410169 Oradea, Romania
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8
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Bentivenga GM, Baiardi S, Mastrangelo A, Ruggeri E, Mammana A, Ticca A, Rossi M, Capellari S, Parchi P. Clinical, neuropathological, and molecular characteristics of rapidly progressive dementia with Lewy bodies: a distinct clinicopathological entity? Alzheimers Res Ther 2024; 16:201. [PMID: 39256877 PMCID: PMC11384710 DOI: 10.1186/s13195-024-01565-x] [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: 06/10/2024] [Accepted: 08/21/2024] [Indexed: 09/12/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The term rapidly progressive dementia (RPD) with Lewy bodies (rpDLB) is used for DLB patients who develop a rapidly progressive neurological syndrome and have reduced survival. Here, we characterise the clinical, neuropathological, and molecular characteristics of a large rpDLB neuropathological series. METHODS We included all RPD patients with a disease duration < 4 years submitted to our prion disease referral centre between 2003 and 2022 who showed Lewy body pathology (LBP) in limbic or neocortical stages as primary neuropathological diagnosis, had no systemic condition justifying the rapid deterioration and were previously neurologically unimpaired. Clinical features were retrieved and compared with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and rapidly progressive Alzheimer's disease (rpAD) cohorts. Neuropathological and genetic (whole exome sequencing, APOE genotyping, and C9orf72 repeat expansion analysis) characteristics of rpDLB patients were systematically investigated. We scored semi-quantitatively the LBP load and performed a α-synuclein (αSyn) RT-QuIC seeding amplification assay (SAA) on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and tenfold serially diluted brain homogenates from different brain areas in rpDLB patients and typical long-lasting Lewy body disease (LBD) with dementia patients as control group. RESULTS RpDLB patients were older (p = 0.047) and presented more cognitive fluctuations (p = 0.005), visual hallucinations (p = 0.020), neuropsychiatric symptoms (p = 0.006) and seizures (p = 0.032), and fewer cerebellar (p < 0.001) and visual (p = 0.004) signs than CJD ones. Delirium onset was more common than in both CJD (p < 0.001) and rpAD (p = 0.008). Atypical LBD signs (pyramidal, myoclonus, akinetic mutism) were common. All tested patients were positive by CSF αSyn SAA. Concomitant pathologies were common, with only four cases showing relatively "pure" LBP. LBP load and αSyn seeding activity measured through αSyn RT-QuIC SAA were not significantly different between rpDLB patients and typical LBD. We found a likely pathogenic variant in GBA in one patient. CONCLUSIONS Our results indicate that: 1) rpDLB exhibits a distinct clinical signature (2) CSF αSyn SAA is a reliable diagnostic test; 3) rpDLB is a heterogeneous neuropathological entity that can be underlain by both widespread pure LBP, or multiple copathologies 4) rpDLB is likely not sustained by distinct αSyn conformational strains; 5) genetic defects may, at least occasionally, contribute to the poor prognosis in these patients.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Simone Baiardi
- Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences (DiBiNeM), University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
- IRCCS, Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Programma Neuropatologia delle Malattie Neurodegenerative, Ospedale Bellaria, Via Altura 1/8, Bologna, 40139, Italy
| | - Andrea Mastrangelo
- Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences (DiBiNeM), University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Edoardo Ruggeri
- IRCCS, Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Programma Neuropatologia delle Malattie Neurodegenerative, Ospedale Bellaria, Via Altura 1/8, Bologna, 40139, Italy
| | - Angela Mammana
- IRCCS, Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Programma Neuropatologia delle Malattie Neurodegenerative, Ospedale Bellaria, Via Altura 1/8, Bologna, 40139, Italy
| | - Alice Ticca
- Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences (DiBiNeM), University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Marcello Rossi
- IRCCS, Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Programma Neuropatologia delle Malattie Neurodegenerative, Ospedale Bellaria, Via Altura 1/8, Bologna, 40139, Italy
| | - Sabina Capellari
- Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences (DiBiNeM), University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
- IRCCS, Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Programma Neuropatologia delle Malattie Neurodegenerative, Ospedale Bellaria, Via Altura 1/8, Bologna, 40139, Italy
| | - Piero Parchi
- Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences (DiBiNeM), University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
- IRCCS, Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Programma Neuropatologia delle Malattie Neurodegenerative, Ospedale Bellaria, Via Altura 1/8, Bologna, 40139, Italy.
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Caredio D, Koderman M, Frontzek KJ, Sorce S, Nuvolone M, Bremer J, Mariutti G, Schwarz P, Madrigal L, Mitrovic M, Sellitto S, Streichenberger N, Scheckel C, Aguzzi A. Prion diseases disrupt glutamate/glutamine metabolism in skeletal muscle. PLoS Pathog 2024; 20:e1012552. [PMID: 39259763 PMCID: PMC11419395 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1012552] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2024] [Revised: 09/23/2024] [Accepted: 09/02/2024] [Indexed: 09/13/2024] Open
Abstract
In prion diseases (PrDs), aggregates of misfolded prion protein (PrPSc) accumulate not only in the brain but also in extraneural organs. This raises the question whether prion-specific pathologies arise also extraneurally. Here we sequenced mRNA transcripts in skeletal muscle, spleen and blood of prion-inoculated mice at eight timepoints during disease progression. We detected gene-expression changes in all three organs, with skeletal muscle showing the most consistent alterations. The glutamate-ammonia ligase (GLUL) gene exhibited uniform upregulation in skeletal muscles of mice infected with three distinct scrapie prion strains (RML, ME7, and 22L) and in victims of human sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. GLUL dysregulation was accompanied by changes in glutamate/glutamine metabolism, leading to reduced glutamate levels in skeletal muscle. None of these changes were observed in skeletal muscle of humans with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, or dementia with Lewy bodies, suggesting that they are specific to prion diseases. These findings reveal an unexpected metabolic dimension of prion infections and point to a potential role for GLUL dysregulation in the glutamate/glutamine metabolism in prion-affected skeletal muscle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Davide Caredio
- Institute of Neuropathology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Maruša Koderman
- Institute of Neuropathology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Karl J. Frontzek
- Institute of Neuropathology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Molecular Neuroscience, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Silvia Sorce
- Institute of Neuropathology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Mario Nuvolone
- Institute of Neuropathology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Juliane Bremer
- Institute of Neuropathology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Giovanni Mariutti
- Institute of Neuropathology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Petra Schwarz
- Institute of Neuropathology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Lidia Madrigal
- Institute of Neuropathology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Marija Mitrovic
- Institute of Neuropathology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Stefano Sellitto
- Institute of Neuropathology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | | | - Claudia Scheckel
- Institute of Neuropathology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Adriano Aguzzi
- Institute of Neuropathology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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10
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Srivastava A, Wang Q, Orrù CD, Fernandez M, Compta Y, Ghetti B, Zanusso G, Zou WQ, Caughey B, Beauchemin CAA. Enhanced quantitation of pathological α-synuclein in patient biospecimens by RT-QuIC seed amplification assays. PLoS Pathog 2024; 20:e1012554. [PMID: 39302978 PMCID: PMC11451978 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1012554] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2024] [Revised: 10/04/2024] [Accepted: 08/30/2024] [Indexed: 09/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Disease associated pathological aggregates of alpha-synuclein (αSynD) exhibit prion-like spreading in synucleinopathies such as Parkinson's disease (PD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). Seed amplification assays (SAAs) such as real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) have shown high diagnostic sensitivity and specificity for detecting proteopathic αSynD seeds in a variety of biospecimens from PD and DLB patients. However, the extent to which relative proteopathic seed concentrations are useful as indices of a patient's disease stage or prognosis remains unresolved. One feature of current SAAs that complicates attempts to correlate SAA results with patients' clinical and other laboratory findings is their quantitative imprecision, which has typically been limited to discriminating large differences (e.g. 5-10 fold) in seed concentration. We used end-point dilution (ED) RT-QuIC assays to determine αSynD seed concentrations in patient biospecimens and tested the influence of various assay variables such as serial dilution factor, replicate number and data processing methods. The use of 2-fold versus 10-fold dilution factors and 12 versus 4 replicate reactions per dilution reduced ED-RT-QuIC assay error by as much as 70%. This enhanced assay format discriminated as little as 2-fold differences in αSynD seed concentration besides detecting ~2-16-fold seed reductions caused by inactivation treatments. In some scenarios, analysis of the data using Poisson and midSIN algorithms provided more consistent and statistically significant discrimination of different seed concentrations. We applied our improved assay strategies to multiple diagnostically relevant PD and DLB antemortem patient biospecimens, including cerebrospinal fluid, skin, and brushings of the olfactory mucosa. Using ED αSyn RT-QuIC as a model SAA, we show how to markedly improve the inter-assay reproducibility and quantitative accuracy. Enhanced quantitative SAA accuracy should facilitate assessments of pathological seeding activities as biomarkers in proteinopathy diagnostics and prognostics, as well as in patient cohort selection and assessments of pharmacodynamics and target engagement in drug trials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ankit Srivastava
- Laboratory of Neurological Infections and Immunity, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Hamilton, Montana, United States of America
| | - Qinlu Wang
- Bioinformatics and Computational Biosciences Branch, National Institute of Allergy, and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Christina D. Orrù
- Laboratory of Neurological Infections and Immunity, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Hamilton, Montana, United States of America
| | - Manel Fernandez
- Parkinson’s Disease & Movement Disorders Unit, Neurology Service, Hospital Clínic I Universitari de Barcelona; IDIBAPS, CIBERNED (CB06/05/0018-ISCIII), ERN- RND, Institut Clínic de Neurociències (Maria de Maeztu Excellence Centre), Universitat de Barcelona. Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Yaroslau Compta
- Parkinson’s Disease & Movement Disorders Unit, Neurology Service, Hospital Clínic I Universitari de Barcelona; IDIBAPS, CIBERNED (CB06/05/0018-ISCIII), ERN- RND, Institut Clínic de Neurociències (Maria de Maeztu Excellence Centre), Universitat de Barcelona. Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Bernardino Ghetti
- Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America
| | - Gianluigi Zanusso
- Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | - Wen-Quan Zou
- Departments of Pathology and Neurology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio, United States of America
- Institute of Neurology, Jiangxi Academy of Clinical Medical Sciences, The First Affiliated Hospital, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China
| | - Byron Caughey
- Laboratory of Neurological Infections and Immunity, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Hamilton, Montana, United States of America
| | - Catherine A. A. Beauchemin
- Department of Physics, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Canada
- Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences (iTHEMS) at RIKEN, Wako, Japan
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11
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Huang B, Shafiian N, Masi PJ, Gordon ML, Franceschi AM, Giliberto L. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease presenting as psychiatric disorder: case presentation and systematic review. Front Neurol 2024; 15:1428021. [PMID: 39268068 PMCID: PMC11390469 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2024.1428021] [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: 05/05/2024] [Accepted: 08/13/2024] [Indexed: 09/15/2024] Open
Abstract
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a spongiform encephalopathy caused by misfolded human prion proteins (PrP)s. Due to variability in presentation, the diagnosis may be missed in lieu of various psychiatric disorders. Our study reports on a prototypical case and psychiatric mimic for CJD, and the workup used to establish the correct diagnosis. A 54-year-old male with a past medical history of traumatic brain injury and major depressive disorder presented with chest pain. During the hospital stay, he was found to be increasingly aggressive, and behaved out of character. Further review of clinical history revealed that the patient was diagnosed with cognitive impairment and depression one year prior. The patient was agitated, poorly redirectable, and had unstable gait on neurological examination. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain demonstrated restricted diffusion (DWI) along the parietooccipital and temporal regions (L > R) and in the subcortical structures, including the basal ganglia and thalami, with accompanying subtle fluid attenuation inversion recovery (FLAIR) hyperintense signal abnormality in these regions, deemed as artifactual at the time. Repeat MRI brain two months later demonstrated progression of the DWI signal with ADC correlate and FLAIR findings. Cerebrospinal fluid 14-3-3 and RT-QuIC samples were positive. Upon passing a few months later, brain autopsy and Western Blot confirmed the CJD diagnosis. Literature review was conducted on PubMed to identify CJD cases initially diagnosed as psychiatric disorder. Search terms included "CJD" or "Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease" with three common psychiatric diagnoses, "Depression," "Psychosis," and "Mania." Positive EEG, MRI, PET, and CSF (including protein 14-3-3 and tau) findings for CJD were found in 66.7, 81.1, 50, and 72.7% of cases, respectively. Overall, CJD can present as a psychiatric mimic. In suspicious cases, EEG, imaging, and CSF studies should be promptly utilized to arrive at the correct diagnosis. Repeated MRI imaging is often required to help in the diagnostic process. Brain biopsy should be considered in selected cases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brendan Huang
- Department of Neurology, Northwell, New Hyde Park, NY, United States
| | - Neeva Shafiian
- Department of Neurology, Northwell, New Hyde Park, NY, United States
- Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Hempstead, NY, United States
| | - Paul Joseph Masi
- Department of Psychiatry, Northwell, New Hyde Park, NY, United States
| | - Marc L Gordon
- Department of Neurology, Northwell, New Hyde Park, NY, United States
- Departments of Neurology and Psychiatry, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Hempstead, NY, United States
- Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, Northwell Health, Manhasset, NY, United States
| | - Ana M Franceschi
- Department of Radiology, Northwell, New Hyde Park, NY, United States
| | - Luca Giliberto
- Department of Neurology, Northwell, New Hyde Park, NY, United States
- Departments of Neurology and Psychiatry, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Hempstead, NY, United States
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12
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Fremuntova Z, Hanusova ZB, Soukup J, Mosko T, Matej R, Holada K. Simple 3D spheroid cell culture model for studies of prion infection. Eur J Neurosci 2024; 60:4437-4452. [PMID: 38887188 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.16444] [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: 08/28/2023] [Revised: 05/15/2024] [Accepted: 06/03/2024] [Indexed: 06/20/2024]
Abstract
Mouse neuronal CAD 5 cell line effectively propagates various strains of prions. Previously, we have shown that it can also be differentiated into the cells morphologically resembling neurons. Here, we demonstrate that CAD 5 cells chronically infected with prions undergo differentiation under the same conditions. To make our model more realistic, we triggered the differentiation in the 3D culture created by gentle rocking of CAD 5 cell suspension. Spheroids formed within 1 week and were fully developed in less than 3 weeks of culture. The mature spheroids had a median size of ~300 μm and could be cultured for up to 12 weeks. Increased expression of differentiation markers GAP 43, tyrosine hydroxylase, β-III-tubulin and SNAP 25 supported the differentiated status of the spheroid cells. The majority of them were found in the G0/G1 phase of the cell cycle, which is typical for differentiated cells. Moreover, half of the PrPC on the cell membrane was N-terminally truncated, similarly as in differentiated CAD 5 adherent cells. Finally, we demonstrated that spheroids could be created from prion-infected CAD 5 cells. The presence of prions was verified by immunohistochemistry, western blot and seed amplification assay. We also confirmed that the spheroids can be infected with the prions de novo. Our 3D culture model of differentiated CAD 5 cells is low cost, easy to produce and cultivable for weeks. We foresee its possible use in the testing of anti-prion compounds and future studies of prion formation dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zuzana Fremuntova
- Institute of Immunology and Microbiology, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Zdenka Backovska Hanusova
- Institute of Immunology and Microbiology, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Jakub Soukup
- Institute of Immunology and Microbiology, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Tibor Mosko
- Institute of Immunology and Microbiology, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Radoslav Matej
- Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and Thomayer University Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Karel Holada
- Institute of Immunology and Microbiology, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
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13
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Eid S, Lee S, Verkuyl CE, Almanza D, Hanna J, Shenouda S, Belotserkovsky A, Zhao W, Watts JC. The importance of prion research. Biochem Cell Biol 2024. [PMID: 38996387 DOI: 10.1139/bcb-2024-0018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Over the past four decades, prion diseases have received considerable research attention owing to their potential to be transmitted within and across species as well as their consequences for human and animal health. The unprecedented nature of prions has led to the discovery of a paradigm of templated protein misfolding that underlies a diverse range of both disease-related and normal biological processes. Indeed, the "prion-like" misfolding and propagation of protein aggregates is now recognized as a common underlying disease mechanism in human neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, and the prion principle has led to the development of novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for these illnesses. Despite these advances, research into the fundamental biology of prion diseases has declined, likely due to their rarity and the absence of an acute human health crisis. Given the past translational influence, continued research on the etiology, pathogenesis, and transmission of prion disease should remain a priority. In this review, we highlight several important "unsolved mysteries" in the prion disease research field and how solving them may be crucial for the development of effective therapeutics, preventing future outbreaks of prion disease, and understanding the pathobiology of more common human neurodegenerative disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shehab Eid
- Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Seojin Lee
- Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Claire E Verkuyl
- Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Dustin Almanza
- Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Joseph Hanna
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Sunnybrook Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Sandra Shenouda
- Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Ari Belotserkovsky
- Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Wenda Zhao
- Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Joel C Watts
- Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
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14
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Woerman AL, Bartz JC. Effect of host and strain factors on α-synuclein prion pathogenesis. Trends Neurosci 2024; 47:538-550. [PMID: 38806297 PMCID: PMC11236502 DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2024.05.004] [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: 02/27/2024] [Revised: 04/19/2024] [Accepted: 05/04/2024] [Indexed: 05/30/2024]
Abstract
Prion diseases are a group of neurodegenerative disorders caused by misfolding of proteins into pathogenic conformations that self-template to spread disease. Although this mechanism is largely associated with the prion protein (PrP) in classical prion diseases, a growing literature indicates that other proteins, including α-synuclein, rely on a similar disease mechanism. Notably, α-synuclein misfolds into distinct conformations, or strains, that cause discrete clinical disorders including multiple system atrophy (MSA) and Parkinson's disease (PD). Because the recognized similarities between PrP and α-synuclein are increasing, this review article draws from research on PrP to identify the host and strain factors that impact disease pathogenesis, predominantly in rodent models, and focuses on key considerations for future research on α-synuclein prions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanda L Woerman
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, Prion Research Center, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
| | - Jason C Bartz
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, Prion Research Center, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA; Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, Creighton University, Omaha, NE, USA.
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15
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Mielke JK, Klingeborn M, Schultz EP, Markham EL, Reese ED, Alam P, Mackenzie IR, Ly CV, Caughey B, Cashman NR, Leavens MJ. Seeding activity of human superoxide dismutase 1 aggregates in familial and sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis postmortem neural tissues by real-time quaking-induced conversion. Acta Neuropathol 2024; 147:100. [PMID: 38884646 PMCID: PMC11182821 DOI: 10.1007/s00401-024-02752-8] [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: 02/01/2024] [Revised: 06/06/2024] [Accepted: 06/07/2024] [Indexed: 06/18/2024]
Abstract
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rapidly progressive neurodegenerative disease with average lifespan of 2-5 years after diagnosis. The identification of novel prognostic and pharmacodynamic biomarkers are needed to facilitate therapeutic development. Metalloprotein human superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) is known to accumulate and form aggregates in patient neural tissue with familial ALS linked to mutations in their SOD1 gene. Aggregates of SOD1 have also been detected in other forms of ALS, including the sporadic form and the most common familial form linked to abnormal hexanucleotide repeat expansions in the Chromosome 9 open reading frame 72 (C9ORF72) gene. Here, we report the development of a real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) seed amplification assay using a recombinant human SOD1 substrate to measure SOD1 seeding activity in postmortem spinal cord and motor cortex tissue from persons with different ALS etiologies. Our SOD1 RT-QuIC assay detected SOD1 seeds in motor cortex and spinal cord dilutions down to 10-5. Importantly, we detected SOD1 seeding activity in specimens from both sporadic and familial ALS cases, with the latter having mutations in either their SOD1 or C9ORF72 genes. Analyses of RT-QuIC parameters indicated similar lag phases in spinal cords of sporadic and familial ALS patients, but higher ThT fluorescence maxima by SOD1 familial ALS specimens and sporadic ALS thoracic cord specimens. For a subset of sporadic ALS patients, motor cortex and spinal cords were examined, with seeding activity in both anatomical regions. Our results suggest SOD1 seeds are in ALS patient neural tissues not linked to SOD1 mutation, suggesting that SOD1 seeding activity may be a promising biomarker, particularly in sporadic ALS cases for whom genetic testing is uninformative.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justin K Mielke
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, McLaughlin Research Institute, 1520 23rd St. South, Great Falls, MT, 59405, USA
| | - Mikael Klingeborn
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, McLaughlin Research Institute, 1520 23rd St. South, Great Falls, MT, 59405, USA
| | - Eric P Schultz
- Center for Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics, University of Montana, 32 Campus Drive ISB #106, Missoula, MT, USA
| | - Erin L Markham
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, McLaughlin Research Institute, 1520 23rd St. South, Great Falls, MT, 59405, USA
| | - Emily D Reese
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, McLaughlin Research Institute, 1520 23rd St. South, Great Falls, MT, 59405, USA
| | - Parvez Alam
- Laboratory of Neurological Infections and Immunity, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 903 S. 4th St., Hamilton, MT, 59840, USA
| | - Ian R Mackenzie
- Departments of Pathology and Medicine, University of British Columbia, 2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 2B5, Canada
| | - Cindy V Ly
- Department of Neurology, Washington University, 660 S. Euclid Ave, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
| | - Byron Caughey
- Laboratory of Neurological Infections and Immunity, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 903 S. 4th St., Hamilton, MT, 59840, USA
| | - Neil R Cashman
- Departments of Pathology and Medicine, University of British Columbia, 2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 2B5, Canada
| | - Moses J Leavens
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, McLaughlin Research Institute, 1520 23rd St. South, Great Falls, MT, 59405, USA.
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16
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Piel RB, Veneziano SE, Nicholson EM, Walsh DP, Lomax AD, Nichols TA, Seabury CM, Schneider DA. Validation of a real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) assay protocol to detect chronic wasting disease using rectal mucosa of naturally infected, pre-clinical white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). PLoS One 2024; 19:e0303037. [PMID: 38870153 PMCID: PMC11175469 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0303037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2023] [Accepted: 04/18/2024] [Indexed: 06/15/2024] Open
Abstract
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal prion disease of cervids spreading across North America. More effective mitigation efforts may require expansion of the available toolkit to include new methods that provide earlier antemortem detection, higher throughput, and less expense than current immunohistochemistry (IHC) methods. The rectal mucosa near the rectoanal junction is a site of early accumulation of CWD prions and is safely sampled in living animals by pinch biopsy. A fluorescence-based, 96-well format, protein-aggregation assay-the real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) assay-is capable of ultra-sensitive detection of CWD prions. Notably, the recombinant protein substrate is crucial to the assay's performance and is now commercially available. In this blinded independent study, the preclinical diagnostic performance of a standardized RT-QuIC protocol using a commercially sourced substrate (MNPROtein) and a laboratory-produced substrate was studied using mock biopsy samples of the rectal mucosa from 284 white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). The samples were from a frozen archive of intact rectoanal junctions collected at depopulations of farmed herds positive for CWD in the United States. All deer were pre-clinical at the time of depopulation and infection status was established from the regulatory record, which evaluated the medial retropharyngeal lymph nodes (MRPLNs) and obex by CWD-IHC. A pre-analytic sample precipitation step was found to enhance the protocol's detection limit. Performance metrics were influenced by the choice of RT-QuIC diagnostic cut points (minimum number of positive wells and assay time) and by deer attributes (preclinical infection stage and prion protein genotype). The peak overall diagnostic sensitivities of the protocol were similar for both substrates (MNPROtein, 76.8%; laboratory-produced, 73.2%), though each was achieved at different cut points. Preclinical infection stage and prion protein genotype at codon 96 (G = glycine, S = serine) were primary predictors of sensitivity. The diagnostic sensitivities in late preclinical infections (CWD-IHC positive MPRLNs and obex) were similar, ranging from 96% in GG96 deer to 80% in xS96 deer (x = G or S). In early preclinical infections (CWD-IHC positive MRPLNs only), the diagnostic sensitivity was 64-71% in GG96 deer but only 25% in xS96 deer. These results demonstrate that this standardized RT-QuIC protocol for rectal biopsy samples using a commercial source of substrate produced stratified diagnostic sensitivities similar to or greater than those reported for CWD-IHC but in less than 30 hours of assay time and in a 96-well format. Notably, the RT-QuIC protocol used herein represents a standardization of protocols from several previous studies. Alignment of the sensitivities across these studies suggests the diagnostic performance of the assay is robust given quality reagents, optimized diagnostic criteria, and experienced staff.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert B. Piel
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Animal Disease Research Unit, Pullman, Washington, United States of America
- Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, United States of America
| | - Susan E. Veneziano
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, National Animal Disease Center, Virus and Prion Research Unit, Ames, Iowa, United States of America
| | - Eric M. Nicholson
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, National Animal Disease Center, Virus and Prion Research Unit, Ames, Iowa, United States of America
| | - Daniel P. Walsh
- U.S. Geological Survey, Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, Missoula, Montana, United States of America
- Wildlife Biology Program, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, United States of America
| | - Aaron D. Lomax
- Department of Soil Science, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
| | - Tracy A. Nichols
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, Veterinary Services, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States of America
| | - Christopher M. Seabury
- Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, United States of America
| | - David A. Schneider
- U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Animal Disease Research Unit, Pullman, Washington, United States of America
- Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, United States of America
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17
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Heinzer D, Avar M, Pfammatter M, Moos R, Schwarz P, Buhmann MT, Kuhn B, Mauerhofer S, Rosenberg U, Aguzzi A, Hornemann S. Advancing surgical instrument safety: A screen of oxidative and alkaline prion decontaminants using real-time quaking-induced conversion with prion-coated steel beads as surgical instrument mimetic. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0304603. [PMID: 38870196 PMCID: PMC11175539 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0304603] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2023] [Accepted: 05/14/2024] [Indexed: 06/15/2024] Open
Abstract
Iatrogenic transmission of prions, the infectious agents of fatal Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, through inefficiently decontaminated medical instruments remains a critical issue. Harsh chemical treatments are effective, but not suited for routine reprocessing of reusable surgical instruments in medical cleaning and disinfection processes due to material incompatibilities. The identification of mild detergents with activity against prions is therefore of high interest but laborious due to the low throughput of traditional assays measuring prion infectivity. Here, we report the establishment of TESSA (sTainlESs steel-bead Seed Amplification assay), a modified real-time quaking induced cyclic amplification (RT-QuIC) assay that explores the propagation activity of prions with stainless steel beads. TESSA was applied for the screening of about 70 different commercially available and novel formulations and conditions for their prion inactivation efficacy. One hypochlorite-based formulation, two commercially available alkaline formulations and a manual alkaline pre-cleaner were found to be highly effective in inactivating prions under conditions simulating automated washer-disinfector cleaning processes. The efficacy of these formulations was confirmed in vivo in a murine prion infectivity bioassay, yielding a reduction of the prion titer for bead surface adsorbed prions below detectability. Our data suggest that TESSA represents an effective method for a rapid screening of prion-inactivating detergents, and that alkaline and oxidative formulations are promising in reducing the risk of potential iatrogenic prion transmission through insufficiently decontaminated instrument surfaces.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Heinzer
- Institute of Neuropathology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Merve Avar
- Institute of Neuropathology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | | | - Rita Moos
- Institute of Neuropathology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Petra Schwarz
- Institute of Neuropathology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | | | | | | | | | - Adriano Aguzzi
- Institute of Neuropathology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Simone Hornemann
- Institute of Neuropathology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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18
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Mercer RCC, Le NTT, Fraser DG, Houser MCQ, Beeler AB, Harris DA. Sigma Receptor Ligands Are Potent Antiprion Compounds that Act Independently of Sigma Receptor Binding. ACS Chem Neurosci 2024; 15:2265-2282. [PMID: 38743607 DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.4c00095] [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] [Indexed: 05/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Prion diseases are invariably fatal neurodegenerative diseases of humans and other animals for which there are no effective treatment options. Previous work from our laboratory identified phenethylpiperidines as a novel class of anti-prion compounds. While working to identify the molecular target(s) of these molecules, we unexpectedly discovered ten novel antiprion compounds based on their known ability to bind to the sigma receptors, σ1R and σ2R, which are currently being tested as therapeutic or diagnostic targets for cancer and neuropsychiatric disorders. Surprisingly, however, knockout of the respective genes encoding σ1R and σ2R (Sigmar1 and Tmem97) in prion-infected N2a cells did not alter the antiprion activity of these compounds, demonstrating that these receptors are not the direct targets responsible for the antiprion effects of their ligands. Further investigation of the most potent molecules established that they are efficacious against multiple prion strains and protect against downstream prion-mediated synaptotoxicity. While the precise details of the mechanism of action of these molecules remain to be determined, the present work forms the basis for further investigation of these compounds in preclinical studies. Given the therapeutic utility of several of the tested compounds, including rimcazole and haloperidol for neuropsychiatric conditions, (+)-pentazocine for neuropathic pain, and the ongoing clinical trials of SA 4503 and ANAVEX2-73 for ischemic stroke and Alzheimer's disease, respectively, this work has immediate implications for the treatment of human prion disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert C C Mercer
- Department of Biochemistry & Cell Biology, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02118, United States
| | - Nhat T T Le
- Department of Biochemistry & Cell Biology, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02118, United States
| | - Douglas G Fraser
- Department of Chemistry, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States
| | - Mei C Q Houser
- Department of Biochemistry & Cell Biology, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02118, United States
| | - Aaron B Beeler
- Department of Chemistry, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States
| | - David A Harris
- Department of Biochemistry & Cell Biology, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02118, United States
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19
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Paspaltsis I, Kanata E, Sotiriadis S, Correia SS, Schmitz M, Zerr I, Dafou D, Xanthopoulos K, Sklaviadis T. A Comparison of RML Prion Inactivation Efficiency by Heterogeneous and Homogeneous Photocatalysis. Pathogens 2024; 13:420. [PMID: 38787272 PMCID: PMC11124347 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens13050420] [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: 04/03/2024] [Revised: 05/10/2024] [Accepted: 05/11/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Prions are proteinaceous pathogens responsible for a variety of devastating diseases in mammals, including scrapie in sheep and goats, chronic wasting disease in cervids, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans. They are characterized by their exceptional persistence to common inactivation procedures. This applies to all possible sources of prion contamination as prions may be present in the tissues and biological fluids of infected individuals. Hence, efficient prion inactivation procedures are still being sought to minimize the risk of intra- or inter-species transmission. In the past, photocatalytic treatment has been proven to be capable of efficiently oxidizing and inactivating prions. In the present study, the efficacy of homogeneous photo-Fenton-based photocatalysis as well as heterogeneous photocatalysis with TiO2 in reducing RML mouse scrapie infectivity was evaluated. Prion inactivation was assessed by means of a bioassay, and the results were confirmed by in vitro experiments. While the prion infectivity of the RML mouse scrapie was reduced after treatment with the photo-Fenton reagent, the heterogeneous photocatalytic treatment of the same prion strain completely eliminated prion infectivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ioannis Paspaltsis
- Laboratory of Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece; (I.P.); (E.K.); (S.S.)
| | - Eirini Kanata
- Laboratory of Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece; (I.P.); (E.K.); (S.S.)
| | - Sotirios Sotiriadis
- Laboratory of Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece; (I.P.); (E.K.); (S.S.)
| | - Susana Silva Correia
- Department of Neurology, University Medicine Goettingen, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), 37075 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Matthias Schmitz
- Department of Neurology, University Medicine Goettingen, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), 37075 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Inga Zerr
- Department of Neurology, University Medicine Goettingen, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), 37075 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Dimitra Dafou
- Department of Genetics, Development and Molecular Biology, School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Konstantinos Xanthopoulos
- Laboratory of Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece; (I.P.); (E.K.); (S.S.)
- Centre for Research and Technology Hellas, Institute of Applied Biosciences, 57001 Thermi, Greece
| | - Theodoros Sklaviadis
- Laboratory of Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece; (I.P.); (E.K.); (S.S.)
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20
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Horne RI, Andrzejewska EA, Alam P, Brotzakis ZF, Srivastava A, Aubert A, Nowinska M, Gregory RC, Staats R, Possenti A, Chia S, Sormanni P, Ghetti B, Caughey B, Knowles TPJ, Vendruscolo M. Discovery of potent inhibitors of α-synuclein aggregation using structure-based iterative learning. Nat Chem Biol 2024; 20:634-645. [PMID: 38632492 PMCID: PMC11062903 DOI: 10.1038/s41589-024-01580-x] [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: 01/17/2023] [Accepted: 02/12/2024] [Indexed: 04/19/2024]
Abstract
Machine learning methods hold the promise to reduce the costs and the failure rates of conventional drug discovery pipelines. This issue is especially pressing for neurodegenerative diseases, where the development of disease-modifying drugs has been particularly challenging. To address this problem, we describe here a machine learning approach to identify small molecule inhibitors of α-synuclein aggregation, a process implicated in Parkinson's disease and other synucleinopathies. Because the proliferation of α-synuclein aggregates takes place through autocatalytic secondary nucleation, we aim to identify compounds that bind the catalytic sites on the surface of the aggregates. To achieve this goal, we use structure-based machine learning in an iterative manner to first identify and then progressively optimize secondary nucleation inhibitors. Our results demonstrate that this approach leads to the facile identification of compounds two orders of magnitude more potent than previously reported ones.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert I Horne
- Centre for Misfolding Diseases, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Ewa A Andrzejewska
- Centre for Misfolding Diseases, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Parvez Alam
- Laboratory of Neurological Infections and Immunity, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT, USA
| | - Z Faidon Brotzakis
- Centre for Misfolding Diseases, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Ankit Srivastava
- Laboratory of Neurological Infections and Immunity, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT, USA
| | - Alice Aubert
- Centre for Misfolding Diseases, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Magdalena Nowinska
- Centre for Misfolding Diseases, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Rebecca C Gregory
- Centre for Misfolding Diseases, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Roxine Staats
- Centre for Misfolding Diseases, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Andrea Possenti
- Centre for Misfolding Diseases, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Sean Chia
- Centre for Misfolding Diseases, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Bioprocessing Technology Institute, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, Singapore
| | - Pietro Sormanni
- Centre for Misfolding Diseases, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Bernardino Ghetti
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA
| | - Byron Caughey
- Laboratory of Neurological Infections and Immunity, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT, USA
| | - Tuomas P J Knowles
- Centre for Misfolding Diseases, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Michele Vendruscolo
- Centre for Misfolding Diseases, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
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21
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Orrú CD, Groveman BR, Hughson AG, Barrio T, Isiofia K, Race B, Ferreira NC, Gambetti P, Schneider DA, Masujin K, Miyazawa K, Ghetti B, Zanusso G, Caughey B. Sensitive detection of pathological seeds of α-synuclein, tau and prion protein on solid surfaces. PLoS Pathog 2024; 20:e1012175. [PMID: 38640117 PMCID: PMC11062561 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1012175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2024] [Revised: 05/01/2024] [Accepted: 04/06/2024] [Indexed: 04/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Prions or prion-like aggregates such as those composed of PrP, α-synuclein, and tau are key features of proteinopathies such as prion, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, respectively. Their presence on solid surfaces may be biohazardous under some circumstances. PrP prions bound to solids are detectable by ultrasensitive real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) assays if the solids can be immersed in assay wells or the prions transferred to pads. Here we show that prion-like seeds can remain detectable on steel wires for at least a year, or even after enzymatic cleaning and sterilization. We also show that contamination of larger objects with pathological seeds of α-synuclein, tau, and PrP can be detected by simply assaying a sampling medium that has been transiently applied to the surface. Human α-synuclein seeds in dementia with Lewy bodies brain tissue were detected by α-synuclein RT-QuIC after drying of tissue dilutions with concentrations as low as 10-6 onto stainless steel. Tau RT-QuIC detected tau seeding activity on steel exposed to Alzheimer's disease brain tissue diluted as much as a billion fold. Prion RT-QuIC assays detected seeding activity on plates exposed to brain dilutions as extreme as 10-5-10-8 from prion-affected humans, sheep, cattle and cervids. Sampling medium collected from surgical instruments used in necropsies of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease-infected transgenic mice was positive down to 10-6 dilution. Sensitivity for prion detection was not sacrificed by omitting the recombinant PrP substrate from the sampling medium during its application to a surface and subsequent storage as long as the substrate was added prior to performing the assay reaction. Our findings demonstrate practical prototypic surface RT-QuIC protocols for the highly sensitive detection of pathologic seeds of α-synuclein, tau, and PrP on solid objects.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christina D. Orrú
- Laboratory of Neurological Infections and Immunity (LNII), Rocky Mountain Laboratories, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Montana, United States of America
| | - Bradley R. Groveman
- Laboratory of Neurological Infections and Immunity (LNII), Rocky Mountain Laboratories, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Montana, United States of America
| | - Andrew G. Hughson
- Laboratory of Neurological Infections and Immunity (LNII), Rocky Mountain Laboratories, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Montana, United States of America
| | - Tomás Barrio
- UMR INRAE ENVT 1225, Interactions Hôtes-Agents Pathogènes, École Nationale Vétérinaire de Toulouse, France
| | - Kachi Isiofia
- Laboratory of Neurological Infections and Immunity (LNII), Rocky Mountain Laboratories, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Montana, United States of America
| | - Brent Race
- Laboratory of Neurological Infections and Immunity (LNII), Rocky Mountain Laboratories, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Montana, United States of America
| | - Natalia C. Ferreira
- Laboratory of Neurological Infections and Immunity (LNII), Rocky Mountain Laboratories, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Montana, United States of America
| | - Pierluigi Gambetti
- Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, United States of America
| | - David A. Schneider
- Animal Disease Research Unit, USDA-ARS, Pullman, Washington, United States of America
| | - Kentaro Masujin
- National Institute of Animal Health (NIAH), National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Kohtaro Miyazawa
- National Institute of Animal Health (NIAH), National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Bernardino Ghetti
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Indiana University, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America
| | - Gianluigi Zanusso
- Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy
| | - Byron Caughey
- Laboratory of Neurological Infections and Immunity (LNII), Rocky Mountain Laboratories, Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Montana, United States of America
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22
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Baranová S, Moško T, Brůžová M, Haldiman T, Kim C, Safar JG, Matěj R, Holada K. Detection of prions in matching post-mortem skin and cerebrospinal fluid samples using second-generation real-time quaking-induced conversion assay. Sci Rep 2024; 14:6294. [PMID: 38491063 PMCID: PMC10943125 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-56789-6] [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: 08/04/2023] [Accepted: 03/11/2024] [Indexed: 03/18/2024] Open
Abstract
Real-time quaking-induced conversion assay (RT-QuIC) exploits templating activity of pathogenic prion protein for ultrasensitive detection of prions. We have utilized second generation RT-QuIC assay to analyze matching post-mortem cerebrospinal fluid and skin samples of 38 prion disease patients and of 30 deceased neurological controls. The analysis of cerebrospinal fluid samples led to 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity, but some samples had to be diluted before the analysis to alleviate the effect of present RT-QuIC inhibitors. The analysis of the corresponding skin samples provided 89.5% sensitivity and 100% specificity. The median seeding dose present in the skin was one order of magnitude higher than in the cerebrospinal fluid, despite the overall fluorescent signal of the skin samples was comparatively lower. Our data support the use of post-mortem cerebrospinal fluid for confirmation of prion disease diagnosis and encourage further studies of the potential of skin biopsy samples for intra-vitam prion diseases´ diagnostics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Soňa Baranová
- Institute of Immunology and Microbiology, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Tibor Moško
- Institute of Immunology and Microbiology, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Magdalena Brůžová
- Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and Thomayer University Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Tracy Haldiman
- Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
- Department Neurology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
| | - Chae Kim
- Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
- Department Neurology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
| | - Jiri G Safar
- Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
- Department Neurology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
| | - Radoslav Matěj
- Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and Thomayer University Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic
- Department of Pathology, Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and University Hospital Kralovske Vinohrady, Prague, Czech Republic
- Department of Pathology, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and General University Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Karel Holada
- Institute of Immunology and Microbiology, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.
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23
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Peden AH, Libori A, Ritchie DL, Yull H, Smith C, Kanguru L, Molesworth A, Knight R, Barria MA. Enhanced Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease surveillance in the older population: Assessment of a protocol for screening brain tissue donations for prion disease. Brain Pathol 2024; 34:e13214. [PMID: 37771100 PMCID: PMC10901620 DOI: 10.1111/bpa.13214] [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: 08/16/2023] [Accepted: 09/18/2023] [Indexed: 09/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Human prion diseases, including Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), occur in sporadic, genetic, and acquired forms. Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) first reported in 1996 in the United Kingdom (UK), resulted from contamination of food with bovine spongiform encephalopathy. There is a concern that UK national surveillance mechanisms might miss some CJD cases (including vCJD), particularly in the older population where other neurodegenerative disorders are more prevalent. We developed a highly sensitive protocol for analysing autopsy brain tissue for the misfolded prion protein (PrPSc ) associated with prion disease, which could be used to screen for prion disease in the elderly. Brain tissue samples from 331 donors to the Edinburgh Brain and Tissue Bank (EBTB), from 2005 to 2022, were analysed, using immunohistochemical analysis on fixed tissue, and five biochemical tests on frozen specimens from six brain regions, based on different principles for detecting PrPSc . An algorithm was established for classifying the biochemical results. To test the effectiveness of the protocol, several neuropathologically confirmed prion disease controls, including vCJD, were included and blinded in the study cohort. On unblinding, all the positive control cases had been correctly identified. No other cases tested positive; our analysis uncovered no overlooked prion disease cases. Our algorithm for classifying cases was effective for handling anomalous biochemical results. An overall analysis suggested that a reduced biochemical protocol employing only three of the five tests on only two brain tissue regions gave sufficient sensitivity and specificity. We conclude that this protocol may be useful as a UK-wide screening programme for human prion disease in selected brains from autopsies in the elderly. Further improvements to the protocol were suggested by enhancements of the in vitro conversion assays made during the course of this study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander H. Peden
- National CJD Research & Surveillance Unit (NCJDRSU), Centre for Clinical Brain SciencesThe University of EdinburghEdinburghUnited Kingdom
| | - Adriana Libori
- National CJD Research & Surveillance Unit (NCJDRSU), Centre for Clinical Brain SciencesThe University of EdinburghEdinburghUnited Kingdom
| | - Diane L. Ritchie
- National CJD Research & Surveillance Unit (NCJDRSU), Centre for Clinical Brain SciencesThe University of EdinburghEdinburghUnited Kingdom
| | - Helen Yull
- National CJD Research & Surveillance Unit (NCJDRSU), Centre for Clinical Brain SciencesThe University of EdinburghEdinburghUnited Kingdom
| | - Colin Smith
- National CJD Research & Surveillance Unit (NCJDRSU), Centre for Clinical Brain SciencesThe University of EdinburghEdinburghUnited Kingdom
- Edinburgh Brain Bank (EBB), Centre for Clinical Brain SciencesUniversity of EdinburghEdinburghUnited Kingdom
| | - Lovney Kanguru
- National CJD Research & Surveillance Unit (NCJDRSU), Centre for Clinical Brain SciencesThe University of EdinburghEdinburghUnited Kingdom
| | - Anna Molesworth
- National CJD Research & Surveillance Unit (NCJDRSU), Centre for Clinical Brain SciencesThe University of EdinburghEdinburghUnited Kingdom
| | - Richard Knight
- National CJD Research & Surveillance Unit (NCJDRSU), Centre for Clinical Brain SciencesThe University of EdinburghEdinburghUnited Kingdom
| | - Marcelo A. Barria
- National CJD Research & Surveillance Unit (NCJDRSU), Centre for Clinical Brain SciencesThe University of EdinburghEdinburghUnited Kingdom
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24
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Baldaccini M, Gaucherand L, Chane-Woon-Ming B, Messmer M, Gucciardi F, Pfeffer S. The helicase domain of human Dicer prevents RNAi-independent activation of antiviral and inflammatory pathways. EMBO J 2024; 43:806-835. [PMID: 38287188 PMCID: PMC10907635 DOI: 10.1038/s44318-024-00035-2] [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: 12/19/2023] [Accepted: 01/08/2024] [Indexed: 01/31/2024] Open
Abstract
In mammalian somatic cells, the relative contribution of RNAi and the type I interferon response during viral infection is unclear. The apparent inefficiency of antiviral RNAi might be due to self-limiting properties and mitigating co-factors of the key enzyme Dicer. In particular, the helicase domain of human Dicer appears to be an important restriction factor of its activity. Here, we study the involvement of several helicase-truncated mutants of human Dicer in the antiviral response. All deletion mutants display a PKR-dependent antiviral phenotype against certain viruses, and one of them, Dicer N1, acts in a completely RNAi-independent manner. Transcriptomic analyses show that many genes from the interferon and inflammatory response pathways are upregulated in Dicer N1 expressing cells. We show that some of these genes are controlled by NF-kB and that blocking this pathway abrogates the antiviral phenotype of Dicer N1. Our findings highlight the crosstalk between Dicer, PKR, and the NF-kB pathway, and suggest that human Dicer may have repurposed its helicase domain to prevent basal activation of antiviral and inflammatory pathways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morgane Baldaccini
- Université de Strasbourg, Architecture et Réactivité de l'ARN, Institut de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire du CNRS, 67000, Strasbourg, France
| | - Léa Gaucherand
- Université de Strasbourg, Architecture et Réactivité de l'ARN, Institut de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire du CNRS, 67000, Strasbourg, France
| | - Béatrice Chane-Woon-Ming
- Université de Strasbourg, Architecture et Réactivité de l'ARN, Institut de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire du CNRS, 67000, Strasbourg, France
| | - Mélanie Messmer
- Université de Strasbourg, Architecture et Réactivité de l'ARN, Institut de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire du CNRS, 67000, Strasbourg, France
| | - Floriane Gucciardi
- Université de Strasbourg, Architecture et Réactivité de l'ARN, Institut de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire du CNRS, 67000, Strasbourg, France
| | - Sébastien Pfeffer
- Université de Strasbourg, Architecture et Réactivité de l'ARN, Institut de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire du CNRS, 67000, Strasbourg, France.
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25
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Huang J, Yuan X, Chen L, Hu B, Wang H, Wang Y, Huang W. Pathological α-synuclein detected by real-time quaking-induced conversion in synucleinopathies. Exp Gerontol 2024; 187:112366. [PMID: 38280659 DOI: 10.1016/j.exger.2024.112366] [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: 10/15/2023] [Revised: 01/10/2024] [Accepted: 01/21/2024] [Indexed: 01/29/2024]
Abstract
synucleinopathies are diseases characterized by the aggregation of α-synuclein (α-syn), which forms fibrils through misfolding and accumulates in a prion-like manner. To detect the presence of these α-syn aggregates in clinical samples, seed amplification assays (SAAs) have been developed. These SAAs are capable of amplifying the α-syn seeds, allowing for their detection. αSyn-SAAs have been reported under the names 'protein misfolding cyclic amplification' (αSyn-PMCA) and 'real-time quaking-induced conversion'α-Syn-RT-QuIC. The α-Syn RT-QuIC, in particular, has been adapted to amplify and detect α-syn aggregates in various biospecimens, including cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), skin, nasal brushing, serum and saliva. The α-syn RT-QuIC assay has demonstrated good sensitivity and specificity in detecting pathological α-syn, particularly in Parkinson's disease (PD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) cases, with an accuracy rate of up to 80 %. Additionally, differential diagnosis between DLB and PD, as well as PD and multiple system atrophy (MSA), can be achieved by utilizing certain kinetic thioflavin T (ThT) parameters and other parameters. Moreover, the positive detection of α-syn in the prodromal stage of synucleinopathies provides an opportunity for early intervention and management. In summary, the development of the α-syn RT-QuIC assay has greatly contributed to the field of synucleinopathies. Therefore, we review the development of α-syn RT-QuIC assay and describe in detail the recent advancements of α-syn RT-QuIC assay for detecting pathological α-syn in synucleinopathies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan Huang
- Department of Neurology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, China
| | - Xingxing Yuan
- Department of Anesthesiology, Hunan Provincial People's Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan Normal University, China
| | - Lin Chen
- Department of Neurology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, China
| | - Binbin Hu
- Department of Neurology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, China
| | - Hui Wang
- Department of Neurology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, China
| | - Ye Wang
- Department of Neurology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, China.
| | - Wei Huang
- Department of Neurology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, China.
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26
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Inzalaco HN, Brandell EE, Wilson SP, Hunsaker M, Stahler DR, Woelfel K, Walsh DP, Nordeen T, Storm DJ, Lichtenberg SS, Turner WC. Detection of prions from spiked and free-ranging carnivore feces. Sci Rep 2024; 14:3804. [PMID: 38360908 PMCID: PMC10869337 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-44167-7] [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: 06/06/2023] [Accepted: 10/04/2023] [Indexed: 02/17/2024] Open
Abstract
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a highly contagious, fatal neurodegenerative disease caused by infectious prions (PrPCWD) affecting wild and captive cervids. Although experimental feeding studies have demonstrated prions in feces of crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos), coyotes (Canis latrans), and cougars (Puma concolor), the role of scavengers and predators in CWD epidemiology remains poorly understood. Here we applied the real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) assay to detect PrPCWD in feces from cervid consumers, to advance surveillance approaches, which could be used to improve disease research and adaptive management of CWD. We assessed recovery and detection of PrPCWD by experimental spiking of PrPCWD into carnivore feces from 9 species sourced from CWD-free populations or captive facilities. We then applied this technique to detect PrPCWD from feces of predators and scavengers in free-ranging populations. Our results demonstrate that spiked PrPCWD is detectable from feces of free-ranging mammalian and avian carnivores using RT-QuIC. Results show that PrPCWD acquired in natural settings is detectable in feces from free-ranging carnivores, and that PrPCWD rates of detection in carnivore feces reflect relative prevalence estimates observed in the corresponding cervid populations. This study adapts an important diagnostic tool for CWD, allowing investigation of the epidemiology of CWD at the community-level.
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Affiliation(s)
- H N Inzalaco
- Wisconsin Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA.
| | - E E Brandell
- Wisconsin Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
| | - S P Wilson
- Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, 2200 N 33rd St., P.O. Box 30370, Lincoln, NE, 68503, USA
| | - M Hunsaker
- Wisconsin Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
| | - D R Stahler
- Yellowstone Center for Resources, Yellowstone National Park, WY, 82190, USA
| | - K Woelfel
- Wild and Free Wildlife Rehabilitation Program, 27264 MN-18, Garrison, MN, 56450, USA
| | - D P Walsh
- U.S. Geological Survey, Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA
| | - T Nordeen
- Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, 2200 N 33rd St., P.O. Box 30370, Lincoln, NE, 68503, USA
| | - D J Storm
- Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Eau Claire, WI, 54701, USA
| | - S S Lichtenberg
- Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, 55108, USA
| | - W C Turner
- U.S. Geological Survey, Wisconsin Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
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27
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Bartz JC, Benavente R, Caughey B, Christensen S, Herbst A, Hoover EA, Mathiason CK, McKenzie D, Morales R, Schwabenlander MD, Walsh DP. Chronic Wasting Disease: State of the Science. Pathogens 2024; 13:138. [PMID: 38392876 PMCID: PMC10892334 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens13020138] [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: 12/18/2023] [Revised: 01/29/2024] [Accepted: 01/29/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a prion disease affecting cervid species, both free-ranging and captive populations. As the geographic range continues to expand and disease prevalence continues to increase, CWD will have an impact on cervid populations, local economies, and ecosystem health. Mitigation of this "wicked" disease will require input from many different stakeholders including hunters, landowners, research biologists, wildlife managers, and others, working together. The NC1209 (North American interdisciplinary chronic wasting disease research consortium) is composed of scientists from different disciplines involved with investigating and managing CWD. Leveraging this broad breadth of expertise, the Consortium has created a state-of-the-science review of five key aspects of CWD, including current diagnostic capabilities for detecting prions, requirements for validating these diagnostics, the role of environmental transmission in CWD dynamics, and potential zoonotic risks associated with CWD. The goal of this review is to increase stakeholders', managers', and decision-makers' understanding of this disease informed by current scientific knowledge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason C. Bartz
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Creighton University, Omaha, NE 68178, USA;
| | - Rebeca Benavente
- Department of Neurology, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (R.B.); (R.M.)
| | - Byron Caughey
- Laboratory of Neurological Infections and Immunity, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT 59840, USA;
| | - Sonja Christensen
- Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA;
| | - Allen Herbst
- U.S. Geological Survey, National Wildlife Health Center, Madison, WI 53711, USA;
| | - Edward A. Hoover
- Prion Research Center, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA; (E.A.H.); (C.K.M.)
| | - Candace K. Mathiason
- Prion Research Center, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA; (E.A.H.); (C.K.M.)
| | - Debbie McKenzie
- Department of Biological Sciences, Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2M9, Canada;
| | - Rodrigo Morales
- Department of Neurology, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (R.B.); (R.M.)
- Centro Integrativo de Biologia y Quimica Aplicada (CIBQA), Universidad Bernardo O’Higgins, Santiago 8370993, Chile
| | - Marc D. Schwabenlander
- Minnesota Center for Prion Research and Outreach, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA;
| | - Daniel P. Walsh
- U.S. Geological Survey, Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59812, USA
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Fontana E, Bongianni M, Benussi A, Bronzato E, Scialo C, Sacchetto L, Cagnin A, Castriciano S, Buratti E, Gardoni F, Italia M, Schreiber A, Ferracin C, Fiorini M, Newell KL, Cracco L, Garringer HJ, Cecchini MP, Polymenidou M, Padovani A, Monaco S, Legname G, Ghetti B, Borroni B, Zanusso G. Detection of TDP-43 seeding activity in the olfactory mucosa from patients with frontotemporal dementia. Alzheimers Dement 2024; 20:1156-1165. [PMID: 37908186 PMCID: PMC10917048 DOI: 10.1002/alz.13541] [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: 07/25/2023] [Revised: 10/10/2023] [Accepted: 10/11/2023] [Indexed: 11/02/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION We assessed TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) seeding activity and aggregates detection in olfactory mucosa of patients with frontotemporal lobar degeneration with TDP-43-immunoreactive pathology (FTLD-TDP) by TDP-43 seeding amplification assay (TDP43-SAA) and immunocytochemical analysis. METHODS The TDP43-SAA was optimized using frontal cortex samples from 16 post mortem cases with FTLD-TDP, FTLD with tau inclusions, and controls. Subsequently, olfactory mucosa samples were collected from 17 patients with FTLD-TDP, 15 healthy controls, and three patients carrying MAPT variants. RESULTS TDP43-SAA discriminated with 100% accuracy post mortem cases presenting or lacking TDP-43 neuropathology. TDP-43 seeding activity was detectable in the olfactory mucosa, and 82.4% of patients with FTLD-TDP tested positive, whereas 86.7% of controls tested negative (P < 0.001). Two out of three patients with MAPT mutations tested negative. In TDP43-SAA positive samples, cytoplasmatic deposits of phosphorylated TDP-43 in the olfactory neural cells were detected. DISCUSSION TDP-43 aggregates can be detectable in olfactory mucosa, suggesting that TDP43-SAA might be useful for identifying and monitoring FTLD-TDP in living patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Fontana
- Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement SciencesUniversity of VeronaVeronaItaly
| | - Matilde Bongianni
- Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement SciencesUniversity of VeronaVeronaItaly
| | - Alberto Benussi
- Department of Clinical and Experimental SciencesUniversity of BresciaBresciaItaly
- Department of Continuity of Care and FrailtyASST Spedali Civili Brescia HospitalBresciaItaly
| | - Erika Bronzato
- Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement SciencesUniversity of VeronaVeronaItaly
| | - Carlo Scialo
- Department of Quantitative BiomedicineUniversity of ZurichZurichSwitzerland
| | - Luca Sacchetto
- Department of SurgeryDentistryPaediatrics and GynaecologyOtolaryngology SectionUniversity of VeronaVeronaItaly
| | - Annachiara Cagnin
- Neurology UnitDepartment of NeuroscienceUniversity of PadovaPaduaItaly
- Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC)University of PadovaPaduaItaly
| | | | - Emanuele Buratti
- International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB)TriesteItaly
| | - Fabrizio Gardoni
- Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences (DiSFeB) “Rodolfo Paoletti,”University of MilanMilanItaly
| | - Maria Italia
- Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences (DiSFeB) “Rodolfo Paoletti,”University of MilanMilanItaly
| | - Alberto Schreiber
- Otorhinolaryngology Unit, Head and Neck SurgeryASST Spedali CiviliUniversity of BresciaBresciaItaly
| | - Chiara Ferracin
- Laboratory of Prion BiologyDepartment of NeuroscienceScuola Internazionale Superiore Di Studi Avanzati (SISSA)TriesteItaly
| | - Michele Fiorini
- Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement SciencesUniversity of VeronaVeronaItaly
| | - Kathy L. Newell
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory MedicineSchool of MedicineIndiana UniversityIndianapolisIndianaUSA
| | - Laura Cracco
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory MedicineSchool of MedicineIndiana UniversityIndianapolisIndianaUSA
| | - Holly J. Garringer
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory MedicineSchool of MedicineIndiana UniversityIndianapolisIndianaUSA
| | - Maria Paola Cecchini
- Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement SciencesUniversity of VeronaVeronaItaly
| | | | - Alessandro Padovani
- Department of Clinical and Experimental SciencesUniversity of BresciaBresciaItaly
- Department of Continuity of Care and FrailtyASST Spedali Civili Brescia HospitalBresciaItaly
| | - Salvatore Monaco
- Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement SciencesUniversity of VeronaVeronaItaly
| | - Giuseppe Legname
- Laboratory of Prion BiologyDepartment of NeuroscienceScuola Internazionale Superiore Di Studi Avanzati (SISSA)TriesteItaly
| | - Bernardino Ghetti
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory MedicineSchool of MedicineIndiana UniversityIndianapolisIndianaUSA
| | - Barbara Borroni
- Department of Clinical and Experimental SciencesUniversity of BresciaBresciaItaly
- Department of Continuity of Care and FrailtyASST Spedali Civili Brescia HospitalBresciaItaly
| | - Gianluigi Zanusso
- Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement SciencesUniversity of VeronaVeronaItaly
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Yilmaz G, Morrill T, Pilot W, Ward C, Mitchell G, Soutyrine A, Dan H, Lin M, Guan J. Optimization of RT-QuIC Assay Duration for Screening Chronic Wasting Disease in White-Tailed Deer. Vet Sci 2024; 11:60. [PMID: 38393078 PMCID: PMC10891863 DOI: 10.3390/vetsci11020060] [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: 09/05/2023] [Revised: 01/15/2024] [Accepted: 01/19/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) assays have become a common tool to detect chronic wasting disease (CWD) and are very sensitive provided the assay duration is sufficient. However, a prolonged assay duration may lead to non-specific signal amplification. The wide range of pre-defined assay durations in current RT-QuIC applications presents a need for methods to optimize the RT-QuIC assay. In this study, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was applied to optimize the assay duration for CWD screening in obex and retropharyngeal lymph node (RLN) tissue specimens. Two different fluorescence thresholds were used: a fixed threshold based on background fluorescence (Tstdev) and a max-point ratio (maximum/background fluorescence) threshold (TMPR) to determine CWD positivity. The optimal assay duration was 33 h for obex and 30 h for RLN based on Tstdev, and 29 h for obex and 32 h for RLN based on TMPR. The optimized assay durations were then evaluated for screening CWD in white-tailed deer from an affected farm. At a replicate level, using the optimized assay durations with TStdev and TMPR, the level of agreement with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than that when using a 40 h assay duration. These findings demonstrate that the optimization of assay duration via a ROC analysis can improve RT-QuIC assays for screening CWD in white-tailed deer.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Jiewen Guan
- Ottawa Laboratory Fallowfield, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Ottawa, ON K2J 4S1, Canada
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30
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Bentivenga GM, Mammana A, Baiardi S, Rossi M, Ticca A, Magliocchetti F, Mastrangelo A, Poleggi A, Ladogana A, Capellari S, Parchi P. Performance of a seed amplification assay for misfolded alpha-synuclein in cerebrospinal fluid and brain tissue in relation to Lewy body disease stage and pathology burden. Acta Neuropathol 2024; 147:18. [PMID: 38240849 PMCID: PMC10799141 DOI: 10.1007/s00401-023-02663-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2023] [Revised: 11/19/2023] [Accepted: 11/20/2023] [Indexed: 01/22/2024]
Abstract
The development of in vitro seed amplification assays (SAA) detecting misfolded alpha-synuclein (αSyn) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and other tissues has provided a pathology-specific biomarker for Lewy body disease (LBD). However, αSyn SAA diagnostic performance in early pathological stages or low Lewy body (LB) pathology load has only been assessed in small cohorts. Moreover, the relationship between SAA kinetic parameters, the number of αSyn brain seeds and the LB pathology burden assessed by immunohistochemistry has never been systematically investigated. We tested 269 antemortem CSF samples and 138 serially diluted brain homogenates from patients with and without neuropathological evidence of LBD in different stages by the αSyn Real-Time Quaking-Induced Conversion (RT-QuIC) SAA. Moreover, we looked for LB pathology by αSyn immunohistochemistry in a consecutive series of 604 Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD)-affected brains. αSyn CSF RT-QuIC showed 100% sensitivity in detecting LBD in limbic and neocortical stages. The assay sensitivity was significantly lower in patients in early stages (37.5% in Braak 1 and 2, 73.3% in Braak 3) or with focal pathology (50% in amygdala-predominant). The average number of CSF RT-QuIC positive replicates significantly correlated with LBD stage. Brain homogenate RT-QuIC showed higher sensitivity than immunohistochemistry for the detection of misfolded αSyn. In the latter, the kinetic parameter lag phase (time to reach the positive threshold) strongly correlated with the αSyn seed concentration in serial dilution experiments. Finally, incidental LBD prevalence was 8% in the CJD cohort. The present results indicate that (a) CSF RT-QuIC has high specificity and sufficient sensitivity to detect all patients with LB pathology at Braak stages > 3 and most of those at stage 3; (b) brain deposition of misfolded αSyn precedes the formation of LB and Lewy neurites; (c) αSyn SAA provides "quantitative" information regarding the LB pathology burden, with the lag phase and the number of positive replicates being the most promising variables to be used in the clinical setting.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Angela Mammana
- IRCCS, Istituto Delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Simone Baiardi
- Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Marcello Rossi
- IRCCS, Istituto Delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Alice Ticca
- Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | | | - Andrea Mastrangelo
- Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Anna Poleggi
- Department of Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Anna Ladogana
- Department of Neurosciences, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Sabina Capellari
- Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
- IRCCS, Istituto Delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Piero Parchi
- Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
- IRCCS, Istituto Delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
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31
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LaCroix MS, Artikis E, Hitt BD, Beaver JD, Estill-Terpack SJ, Gleason K, Tamminga CA, Evers BM, White CL, Caughey B, Diamond MI. Tau seeding without tauopathy. J Biol Chem 2024; 300:105545. [PMID: 38072056 PMCID: PMC10797195 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2023.105545] [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: 07/03/2023] [Revised: 11/28/2023] [Accepted: 11/29/2023] [Indexed: 01/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Neurodegenerative tauopathies such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) are caused by brain accumulation of tau assemblies. Evidence suggests tau functions as a prion, and cells and animals can efficiently propagate unique, transmissible tau pathologies. This suggests a dedicated cellular replication machinery, potentially reflecting a normal physiologic function for tau seeds. Consequently, we hypothesized that healthy control brains would contain seeding activity. We have recently developed a novel monoclonal antibody (MD3.1) specific for tau seeds. We used this antibody to immunopurify tau from the parietal and cerebellar cortices of 19 healthy subjects without any neuropathology, ranging 19 to 65 years. We detected seeding in lysates from the parietal cortex, but not in the cerebellum. We also detected no seeding in brain homogenates from wildtype or human tau knockin mice, suggesting that cellular/genetic context dictates development of seed-competent tau. Seeding did not correlate with subject age or brain tau levels. We confirmed our essential findings using an orthogonal assay, real-time quaking-induced conversion, which amplifies tau seeds in vitro. Dot blot analyses revealed no AT8 immunoreactivity above background levels in parietal and cerebellar extracts and ∼1/100 of that present in AD. Based on binding to a panel of antibodies, the conformational characteristics of control seeds differed from AD, suggesting a unique underlying assembly, or structural ensemble. Tau's ability to adopt self-replicating conformations under nonpathogenic conditions may reflect a normal function that goes awry in disease states.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael S LaCroix
- Center for Alzheimer's and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA
| | | | - Brian D Hitt
- Center for Alzheimer's and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA; Department of Neurology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA
| | - Joshua D Beaver
- Center for Alzheimer's and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA
| | - Sandi-Jo Estill-Terpack
- Center for Alzheimer's and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA
| | - Kelly Gleason
- Department of Psychiatry, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA
| | - Carol A Tamminga
- Department of Psychiatry, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA
| | - Bret M Evers
- Department of Pathology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA
| | - Charles L White
- Department of Pathology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA
| | - Byron Caughey
- NIH/NIAID, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, Hamilton, Montana, USA
| | - Marc I Diamond
- Center for Alzheimer's and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA; Department of Neurology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA.
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32
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Benavente R, Reed JH, Lockwood M, Morales R. PMCA screening of retropharyngeal lymph nodes in white-tailed deer and comparisons with ELISA and IHC. Sci Rep 2023; 13:20171. [PMID: 37978312 PMCID: PMC10656533 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-47105-9] [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: 07/11/2023] [Accepted: 11/09/2023] [Indexed: 11/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a prion disease affecting cervids. CWD diagnosis is conducted through enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) in retropharyngeal lymph nodes. Unfortunately, these techniques have limited sensitivity against the biomarker (CWD-prions). Two in vitro prion amplification techniques, real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) and protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA), have shown promise in detecting CWD-prions in tissues and bodily fluids. Recent studies have demonstrated that RT-QuIC yields similar results compared to ELISA and IHC. Here, we analyzed 1003 retropharyngeal lymph nodes (RPLNs) from Texas white-tailed deer. PMCA detected CWD at a higher rate compared to ELISA/IHC, identified different prion strains, and revealed the presence of CWD-prions in places with no previous history. These findings suggest that PMCA exhibits greater sensitivity than current standard techniques and could be valuable for rapid and strain-specific CWD detection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebeca Benavente
- Department of Neurology, McGovern Medical School, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA
| | - J Hunter Reed
- Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Kerrville, TX, USA
| | | | - Rodrigo Morales
- Department of Neurology, McGovern Medical School, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA.
- Centro Integrativo de Biologia y Quimica Aplicada (CIBQA), Universidad Bernardo O'Higgins, Santiago, Chile.
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33
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Bravo-Risi F, Soto P, Benavente R, Nichols TA, Morales R. Dynamics of CWD prion detection in feces and blood from naturally infected white-tailed deer. Sci Rep 2023; 13:20170. [PMID: 37978207 PMCID: PMC10656452 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-46929-9] [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: 09/09/2023] [Accepted: 11/07/2023] [Indexed: 11/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a prion disease affecting cervids. Confirmatory testing of CWD is currently performed postmortem in obex and lymphoid tissues. Extensive evidence demonstrates the presence of infectious prions in feces of CWD-infected deer using in vitro prion-amplification techniques and bioassays. In experimental conditions, this has been achieved as soon as 6-month post-inoculation, suggesting this sample type is a candidate for antemortem diagnosis. In the present study, we optimized the detection of CWD-prions in fecal samples from naturally infected, pre-clinical white-tailed deer by comparing protocols aiming to concentrate CWD-prions with direct spiking of the sample into the PMCA reactions. Results of this screening were compared with similar analyses made in blood. Our data shows that CWD-prion detection in feces using PMCA is best in the absence of sample pre-treatments. We performed a screening of 169 fecal samples, detecting CWD-prions with diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of 54.81% and 98.46%, respectively. In addition, the PMCA seeding activity of 76 fecal samples was compared with that on blood of matched deer. Our findings, demonstrate that CWD-prions in feces and blood are increased at late pre-clinical stages, exhibiting similar detection in both sample types (> 90% sensitivity) when PrP96GG animals are tested. Our findings contribute to understand prion distribution across different biological samples and polymorphic variants in white-tailed deer. This information is also relevant for the current efforts to identify platforms to diagnose CWD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francisca Bravo-Risi
- Department of Neurology, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 6431 Fannin St., Houston, TX, 77030, USA
- Centro Integrativo de Biologia y Quimica Aplicada (CIBQA), Universidad Bernardo O'Higgins, Santiago, Chile
| | - Paulina Soto
- Department of Neurology, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 6431 Fannin St., Houston, TX, 77030, USA
- Centro Integrativo de Biologia y Quimica Aplicada (CIBQA), Universidad Bernardo O'Higgins, Santiago, Chile
| | - Rebeca Benavente
- Department of Neurology, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 6431 Fannin St., Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Tracy A Nichols
- Veterinary Services Cervid Health Program, United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | - Rodrigo Morales
- Department of Neurology, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 6431 Fannin St., Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
- Centro Integrativo de Biologia y Quimica Aplicada (CIBQA), Universidad Bernardo O'Higgins, Santiago, Chile.
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Chang SC, Hannaoui S, Arifin MI, Huang YH, Tang X, Wille H, Gilch S. Propagation of PrP Sc in mice reveals impact of aggregate composition on prion disease pathogenesis. Commun Biol 2023; 6:1162. [PMID: 37964018 PMCID: PMC10645910 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-05541-3] [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: 10/10/2022] [Accepted: 11/03/2023] [Indexed: 11/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Infectious prions consist of PrPSc, a misfolded, aggregation-prone isoform of the host's prion protein. PrPSc assemblies encode distinct biochemical and biological properties. They harbor a specific profile of PrPSc species, from small oligomers to fibrils in different ratios, where the highest infectivity aligns with oligomeric particles. To investigate the impact of PrPSc aggregate complexity on prion propagation, biochemical properties, and disease pathogenesis, we fractionated elk prions by sedimentation velocity centrifugation, followed by sub-passages of individual fractions in cervidized mice. Upon first passage, different fractions generated PrPSc with distinct biochemical, biophysical, and neuropathological profiles. Notably, low or high molecular weight PrPSc aggregates caused different clinical signs of hyperexcitability or lethargy, respectively, which were retained over passage, whereas other properties converged. Our findings suggest that PrPSc quaternary structure determines an initial selection of a specific replication environment, resulting in transmissible features that are independent of PrPSc biochemical and biophysical properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sheng Chun Chang
- Department of Comparative Biology and Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Samia Hannaoui
- Department of Comparative Biology and Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Maria Immaculata Arifin
- Department of Comparative Biology and Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Yuan-Hung Huang
- Department of Comparative Biology and Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
| | - Xinli Tang
- Department of Biochemistry, Center for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Holger Wille
- Department of Biochemistry, Center for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Institute, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
| | - Sabine Gilch
- Department of Comparative Biology and Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
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35
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Frey B, Holzinger D, Taylor K, Ehrnhoefer DE, Striebinger A, Biesinger S, Gasparini L, O'Neill MJ, Wegner F, Barghorn S, Höglinger GU, Heym RG. Tau seed amplification assay reveals relationship between seeding and pathological forms of tau in Alzheimer's disease brain. Acta Neuropathol Commun 2023; 11:181. [PMID: 37964332 PMCID: PMC10644662 DOI: 10.1186/s40478-023-01676-w] [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: 09/26/2023] [Accepted: 10/23/2023] [Indexed: 11/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Tau seed amplification assays (SAAs) directly measure the seeding activity of tau and would therefore be ideal biomarkers for clinical trials targeting seeding-competent tau in Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the precise relationship between tau seeding measured by SAA and the levels of pathological forms of tau in the AD brain remains unknown. We developed a new tau SAA based on full-length 0N3R tau with sensitivity in the low fg/ml range and used it to characterize 103 brain samples from three independent cohorts. Tau seeding clearly discriminated between AD and control brain samples. Interestingly, seeding was absent in Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) putamen, suggesting that our tau SAA did not amplify 4R tau aggregates from PSP brain. The specificity of our tau SAA for AD brain was further supported by analysis of matched hippocampus and cerebellum samples. While seeding was detected in hippocampus from Braak stages I-II, no seeding was present in AD cerebellum that is devoid of tau inclusions. Analysis of 40 middle frontal gyrus samples encompassing all Braak stages showed that tau SAA seeding activity gradually increased with Braak stage. This relationship between seeding activity and the presence of tau inclusions in AD brain was further supported by robust correlations between tau SAA results and the levels of phosphorylated tau212/214, phosphorylated tau181, aggregated tau, and sarkosyl-insoluble tau. Strikingly, we detected tau seeding in the middle frontal gyrus already at Braak stage II-III, suggesting that tau SAA can detect tau pathology earlier than conventional immunohistochemical staining. In conclusion, our data suggest a quantitative relationship between tau seeding activity and pathological forms of tau in the human brain and provides an important basis for further development of tau SAA for accessible human samples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bryan Frey
- AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, Neuroscience Research, Knollstrasse, 67061, Ludwigshafen, Germany.
- Department of Neurology, Hannover Medical School, Hanover, Germany.
- Center for Systems Neuroscience, Hannover, Germany.
| | - David Holzinger
- AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, Neuroscience Research, Knollstrasse, 67061, Ludwigshafen, Germany
| | - Keenan Taylor
- AbbVie Bioresearch Center, Biotherapeutics and Genetic Medicine Technologies, Worcester, MA, USA
| | - Dagmar E Ehrnhoefer
- AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, Neuroscience Research, Knollstrasse, 67061, Ludwigshafen, Germany
| | - Andreas Striebinger
- AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, Neuroscience Research, Knollstrasse, 67061, Ludwigshafen, Germany
| | - Sandra Biesinger
- AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, Neuroscience Research, Knollstrasse, 67061, Ludwigshafen, Germany
| | - Laura Gasparini
- AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, Neuroscience Research, Knollstrasse, 67061, Ludwigshafen, Germany
| | - Michael J O'Neill
- AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, Neuroscience Research, Knollstrasse, 67061, Ludwigshafen, Germany
| | - Florian Wegner
- Department of Neurology, Hannover Medical School, Hanover, Germany
- Center for Systems Neuroscience, Hannover, Germany
| | - Stefan Barghorn
- AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, Neuroscience Research, Knollstrasse, 67061, Ludwigshafen, Germany
| | - Günter U Höglinger
- Department of Neurology, Hannover Medical School, Hanover, Germany
- Center for Systems Neuroscience, Hannover, Germany
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases E.V. (DZNE), Munich, Germany
- Department of Neurology, LMU University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU), Munich, Germany
| | - Roland G Heym
- AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, Neuroscience Research, Knollstrasse, 67061, Ludwigshafen, Germany.
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Thomas CM, Salamat MKF, de Wolf C, McCutcheon S, Blanco ARA, Manson JC, Hunter N, Houston EF. Development of a sensitive real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) assay for application in prion-infected blood. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0293845. [PMID: 37917783 PMCID: PMC10621866 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0293845] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2023] [Accepted: 10/18/2023] [Indexed: 11/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Efforts to prevent human-to-human transmission of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) by contaminated blood would be aided by the development of a sensitive diagnostic test that could be routinely used to screen blood donations. As blood samples from vCJD patients are extremely rare, here we describe the optimisation of real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) for detection of PrPSc (misfolded prion protein, a marker of prion infection) in blood samples from an established large animal model of vCJD, sheep experimentally infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Comparative endpoint titration experiments with RT-QuIC, miniaturized bead protein misfolding cyclic amplification (mb-PMCA) and intracerebral inoculation of a transgenic mouse line expressing sheep PrP (tgOvARQ), demonstrated highly sensitive detection of PrPSc by RT-QuIC in a reference sheep brain homogenate. Upon addition of a capture step with iron oxide beads, the RT-QuIC assay was able to detect PrPSc in whole blood samples from BSE-infected sheep up to two years before disease onset. Both RT-QuIC and mb-PMCA also demonstrated sensitive detection of PrPSc in a reference vCJD-infected human brain homogenate, suggesting that either assay may be suitable for application to human blood samples. Our results support the further development and evaluation of RT-QuIC as a diagnostic or screening test for vCJD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charlotte M. Thomas
- The Roslin Institute, Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush Campus, Midlothian, United Kingdom
| | - M. Khalid F. Salamat
- The Roslin Institute, Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush Campus, Midlothian, United Kingdom
| | - Christopher de Wolf
- The Roslin Institute, Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush Campus, Midlothian, United Kingdom
| | - Sandra McCutcheon
- The Roslin Institute, Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush Campus, Midlothian, United Kingdom
| | - A. Richard Alejo Blanco
- The Roslin Institute, Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush Campus, Midlothian, United Kingdom
| | - Jean C. Manson
- The Roslin Institute, Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush Campus, Midlothian, United Kingdom
| | - Nora Hunter
- The Roslin Institute, Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush Campus, Midlothian, United Kingdom
| | - E. Fiona Houston
- The Roslin Institute, Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush Campus, Midlothian, United Kingdom
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37
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Teunissen CE, Kimble L, Bayoumy S, Bolsewig K, Burtscher F, Coppens S, Das S, Gogishvili D, Fernandes Gomes B, Gómez de San José N, Mavrina E, Meda FJ, Mohaupt P, Mravinacová S, Waury K, Wojdała AL, Abeln S, Chiasserini D, Hirtz C, Gaetani L, Vermunt L, Bellomo G, Halbgebauer S, Lehmann S, Månberg A, Nilsson P, Otto M, Vanmechelen E, Verberk IMW, Willemse E, Zetterberg H. Methods to Discover and Validate Biofluid-Based Biomarkers in Neurodegenerative Dementias. Mol Cell Proteomics 2023; 22:100629. [PMID: 37557955 PMCID: PMC10594029 DOI: 10.1016/j.mcpro.2023.100629] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2023] [Revised: 07/24/2023] [Accepted: 07/31/2023] [Indexed: 08/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Neurodegenerative dementias are progressive diseases that cause neuronal network breakdown in different brain regions often because of accumulation of misfolded proteins in the brain extracellular matrix, such as amyloids or inside neurons or other cell types of the brain. Several diagnostic protein biomarkers in body fluids are being used and implemented, such as for Alzheimer's disease. However, there is still a lack of biomarkers for co-pathologies and other causes of dementia. Such biofluid-based biomarkers enable precision medicine approaches for diagnosis and treatment, allow to learn more about underlying disease processes, and facilitate the development of patient inclusion and evaluation tools in clinical trials. When designing studies to discover novel biofluid-based biomarkers, choice of technology is an important starting point. But there are so many technologies to choose among. To address this, we here review the technologies that are currently available in research settings and, in some cases, in clinical laboratory practice. This presents a form of lexicon on each technology addressing its use in research and clinics, its strengths and limitations, and a future perspective.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charlotte E Teunissen
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Neurochemistry Lab, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
| | - Leighann Kimble
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; KIN Center for Digital Innovation, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Sherif Bayoumy
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Neurochemistry Lab, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Katharina Bolsewig
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Neurochemistry Lab, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Felicia Burtscher
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine, University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
| | - Salomé Coppens
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; National Measurement Laboratory at LGC, Teddington, United Kingdom
| | - Shreyasee Das
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; ADx NeuroSciences, Gent, Belgium
| | - Dea Gogishvili
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Computer Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Bárbara Fernandes Gomes
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Mölndal, Sweden
| | - Nerea Gómez de San José
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Neurology, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Ekaterina Mavrina
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; KIN Center for Digital Innovation, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Francisco J Meda
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Mölndal, Sweden
| | - Pablo Mohaupt
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; LBPC-PPC, IRMB CHU Montpellier, INM INSERM, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Sára Mravinacová
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Division of Affinity Proteomics, Department of Protein Science, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SciLifeLab, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Katharina Waury
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Computer Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Anna Lidia Wojdała
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Section of Neurology, Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy
| | - Sanne Abeln
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Computer Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Davide Chiasserini
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Section of Physiology and Biochemistry, Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy
| | - Christophe Hirtz
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; LBPC-PPC, IRMB CHU Montpellier, INM INSERM, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Lorenzo Gaetani
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Section of Neurology, Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy
| | - Lisa Vermunt
- Neurochemistry Lab, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Giovanni Bellomo
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Section of Neurology, Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy
| | - Steffen Halbgebauer
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Neurology, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany; German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE e.V.), Ulm, Germany
| | - Sylvain Lehmann
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; LBPC-PPC, IRMB CHU Montpellier, INM INSERM, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France
| | - Anna Månberg
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Division of Affinity Proteomics, Department of Protein Science, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SciLifeLab, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Peter Nilsson
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Division of Affinity Proteomics, Department of Protein Science, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SciLifeLab, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Markus Otto
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Neurology, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany; Department of Neurology, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany
| | - Eugeen Vanmechelen
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; ADx NeuroSciences, Gent, Belgium
| | - Inge M W Verberk
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Neurochemistry Lab, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Eline Willemse
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Neurochemistry Lab, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Henrik Zetterberg
- MIRIADE Consortium, Multiomics Interdisciplinary Research Integration to Address DEmentia diagnosis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Mölndal, Sweden; Clinical Neurochemistry Laboratory, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Mölndal, Sweden; Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK; UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL, London, UK; Hong Kong Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong, China; Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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Baune C, Groveman BR, Hughson AG, Thomas T, Twardoski B, Priola S, Chesebro B, Race B. Efficacy of Wex-cide 128 disinfectant against multiple prion strains. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0290325. [PMID: 37616303 PMCID: PMC10449212 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0290325] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2023] [Accepted: 08/03/2023] [Indexed: 08/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Prion diseases are transmissible, fatal neurologic diseases that include Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) in humans, chronic wasting disease (CWD) in cervids, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle and scrapie in sheep. Prions are extremely difficult to inactivate and established methods to reduce prion infectivity are often dangerous, caustic, expensive, or impractical. Identifying viable and safe methods for treating prion contaminated materials is important for hospitals, research facilities, biologists, hunters, and meat-processors. For three decades, some prion researchers have used a phenolic product called Environ LpH (eLpH) to inactivate prions. ELpH has been discontinued, but a similar product, Wex-cide 128, containing the similar phenolic chemicals as eLpH is now available. In the current study, we directly compared the anti-prion efficacy of eLpH and Wex-cide 128 against prions from four different species (hamster 263K, cervid CWD, mouse 22L and human CJD). Decontamination was performed on either prion infected brain homogenates or prion contaminated steel wires and mouse bioassay was used to quantify the remaining prion infectivity. Our data show that both eLpH and Wex-cide 128 removed 4.0-5.5 logs of prion infectivity from 22L, CWD and 263K prion homogenates, but only about 1.25-1.50 logs of prion infectivity from human sporadic CJD. Wex-cide 128 is a viable substitute for inactivation of most prions from most species, but the resistance of CJD to phenolic inactivation is a concern and emphasizes the fact that inactivation methods should be confirmed for each target prion strain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chase Baune
- The Laboratory of Neurological Infections and Immunity, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Montana, United States of America
| | - Bradley R. Groveman
- The Laboratory of Neurological Infections and Immunity, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Montana, United States of America
| | - Andrew G. Hughson
- The Laboratory of Neurological Infections and Immunity, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Montana, United States of America
| | - Tina Thomas
- Rocky Mountain Veterinary Branch, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Montana, United States of America
| | - Barry Twardoski
- Office of Operations Management, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Montana, United States of America
| | - Suzette Priola
- The Laboratory of Neurological Infections and Immunity, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Montana, United States of America
| | - Bruce Chesebro
- The Laboratory of Neurological Infections and Immunity, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Montana, United States of America
| | - Brent Race
- The Laboratory of Neurological Infections and Immunity, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Montana, United States of America
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Manca M, Standke HG, Browne DF, Huntley ML, Thomas OR, Orrú CD, Hughson AG, Kim Y, Zhang J, Tatsuoka C, Zhu X, Hiniker A, Coughlin DG, Galasko D, Kraus A. Tau seeds occur before earliest Alzheimer's changes and are prevalent across neurodegenerative diseases. Acta Neuropathol 2023; 146:31-50. [PMID: 37154939 PMCID: PMC10261243 DOI: 10.1007/s00401-023-02574-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2022] [Revised: 04/06/2023] [Accepted: 04/07/2023] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Tau neurofibrillary tangles are a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease neuropathological change. However, it remains largely unclear how distinctive Alzheimer's disease tau seeds (i.e. 3R/4R) correlate with histological indicators of tau accumulation. Furthermore, AD tau co-pathology is thought to influence features and progression of other neurodegenerative diseases including Lewy body disease; yet measurements of different types of tau seeds in the setting of such diseases is an unmet need. Here, we use tau real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) assays to selectively quantitate 3R/4R tau seeds in the frontal lobe which accumulates histologically identifiable tau pathology at late disease stages of AD neuropathologic change. Seed quantitation across a spectrum of neurodegenerative disease cases and controls indicated tau seeding activity can be detected well before accompanying histopathological indication of tau deposits, and even prior to the earliest evidence of Alzheimer's-related tau accumulation anywhere in the brain. In later stages of AD, 3R/4R tau RT-QuIC measures correlated with immunohistochemical tau burden. In addition, Alzheimer's tau seeds occur in the vast majority of cases evaluated here inclusive of primary synucleinopathies, frontotemporal lobar degeneration and even controls albeit at multi-log lower levels than Alzheimer's cases. α-synuclein seeding activity confirmed synucleinopathy cases and further indicated the co-occurrence of α-synuclein seeds in some Alzheimer's disease and primary tauopathy cases. Our analysis indicates that 3R/4R tau seeds in the mid-frontal lobe correlate with the overall Braak stage and Alzheimer's disease neuropathologic change, supporting the quantitative predictive value of tau RT-QuIC assays. Our data also indicate 3R/4R tau seeds are elevated in females compared to males at high (≥ IV) Braak stages. This study suggests 3R/4R tau seeds are widespread even prior to the earliest stages of Alzheimer's disease changes, including in normal, and even young individuals, with prevalence across multiple neurodegenerative diseases to further define disease subtypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matteo Manca
- Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, 2103 Cornell Road, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
| | - Heidi G Standke
- Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, 2103 Cornell Road, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
| | - Danielle F Browne
- Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, 2103 Cornell Road, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
| | - Mikayla L Huntley
- Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, 2103 Cornell Road, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
| | - Olivia R Thomas
- Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, 2103 Cornell Road, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
| | - Christina D Orrú
- Laboratory of Persistent Viral Diseases, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT, 59840, USA
| | - Andrew G Hughson
- Laboratory of Persistent Viral Diseases, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT, 59840, USA
| | - Yongya Kim
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, 92093-0612, USA
| | - Jing Zhang
- Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
| | - Curtis Tatsuoka
- Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15232, USA
| | - Xiongwei Zhu
- Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, 2103 Cornell Road, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
| | - Annie Hiniker
- Department of Pathology, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, 92093-0612, USA
| | - David G Coughlin
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, 92093-0612, USA
| | - Douglas Galasko
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, 92093-0612, USA
| | - Allison Kraus
- Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, 2103 Cornell Road, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA.
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40
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Han JY, Park KJ, Park HC, Lee YR, Moore RA, Sohn HJ, Choi YP. Autoclave treatment fails to completely inactivate DLB alpha-synuclein seeding activity. Biochem Biophys Rep 2023; 34:101446. [PMID: 36923008 PMCID: PMC10009011 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrep.2023.101446] [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: 12/02/2022] [Revised: 02/20/2023] [Accepted: 02/21/2023] [Indexed: 03/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Synucleinopathies are characterized by the deposition of alpha-synuclein (α-syn) aggregates in brain tissue. Pathological α-syn aggregates propagate in a prion-like manner and display prion-like biochemical properties. Using RT-QuIC, we measured α-syn seeding activity from brains of Dementia with Lewy body (DLB) patients post autoclave. Here, we show that autoclaving at 121 °C removes one to two log10 of α-syn seeding activity but the remaining 50% seeding dose (SD50) is more than 107/mg tissue. DLB brain samples autoclaved at 132 °C still revealed an SD50 of approximately 106/mg tissue. Our data suggest that DLB α-syn seeds are incompletely inactivated by standard autoclave, thus highlighting the need for evaluating laboratory procedures that fully inactivate them.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jung-Youn Han
- Laboratory Animal Center, Division of Research Strategy, Korea Brain Research Institute, Daegu, Republic of Korea
| | - Kyung-Je Park
- Reference Laboratory for CWD, Foreign Animal Disease Division, Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, Gimcheon, Republic of Korea
| | - Hoo-Chang Park
- Reference Laboratory for CWD, Foreign Animal Disease Division, Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, Gimcheon, Republic of Korea
| | - Yu-Ran Lee
- Reference Laboratory for CWD, Foreign Animal Disease Division, Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, Gimcheon, Republic of Korea
| | | | - Hyun-Joo Sohn
- Reference Laboratory for CWD, Foreign Animal Disease Division, Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, Gimcheon, Republic of Korea
| | - Young Pyo Choi
- Laboratory Animal Center, Division of Research Strategy, Korea Brain Research Institute, Daegu, Republic of Korea
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41
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Tamvaka N, Manne S, Kondru N, Ross OA. Pick's Disease, Seeding an Answer to the Clinical Diagnosis Conundrum. Biomedicines 2023; 11:1646. [PMID: 37371741 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines11061646] [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: 05/19/2023] [Revised: 05/26/2023] [Accepted: 05/27/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Pick's disease (PiD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disease that is characterized by dementia, frontotemporal lobar degeneration, and the aggregation of 3R tau in pathognomonic inclusions known as Pick bodies. The term PiD has adopted many meanings since its conception in 1926, but it is currently used as a strictly neuropathological term, since PiD patients cannot be diagnosed during life. Due to its rarity, PiD remains significantly understudied, and subsequently, the etiology and pathomechanisms of the disease remain to be elucidated. The study of PiD and the preferential 3R tau accumulation that is unique to PiD is imperative in order to expand the current understanding of the disease and inform future studies and therapeutic development, since the lack of intervention strategies for tauopathies remains an unmet need. Yet, the lack of an antemortem diagnostic test for the disease has further complicated the study of PiD. The development of a clinical diagnostic assay for PiD will be a vital step in the study of the disease that will greatly contribute to therapeutic research, clinical trial design and patient recruitment and ultimately improve patient outcomes. Seed aggregation assays have shown great promise for becoming ante mortem clinical diagnostic tools for many proteinopathies, including tauopathies. Future research on adapting and optimizing current seed aggregation assays to successfully detect 3R tau pathogenic forms from PiD samples will be critical in establishing a 3R tau specific seed aggregation assay that can be used for clinical diagnosis and treatment evaluation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole Tamvaka
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
- Mayo Graduate School, Neuroscience Track, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
| | - Sireesha Manne
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
| | - Naveen Kondru
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
| | - Owen A Ross
- Department of Neuroscience, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
- Mayo Graduate School, Neuroscience Track, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
- Department of Clinical Genomics, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
- Department of Medicine, University College Dublin, D04 V1W8 Dublin, Ireland
- Department of Biology, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
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42
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Vascellari S, Orrù CD, Groveman BR, Parveen S, Fenu G, Pisano G, Piga G, Serra G, Oppo V, Murgia D, Perra A, Angius F, Hughson AG, Haigh CL, Manzin A, Cossu G, Caughey B. α-Synuclein seeding activity in duodenum biopsies from Parkinson's disease patients. PLoS Pathog 2023; 19:e1011456. [PMID: 37390080 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1011456] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2023] [Accepted: 06/02/2023] [Indexed: 07/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Abnormal deposition of α-synuclein is a key feature and biomarker of Parkinson's disease. α-Synuclein aggregates can propagate themselves by a prion-like seeding-based mechanism within and between tissues and are hypothesized to move between the intestine and brain. α-Synuclein RT-QuIC seed amplification assays have detected Parkinson's-associated α-synuclein in multiple biospecimens including post-mortem colon samples. Here we show intra vitam detection of seeds in duodenum biopsies from 22/23 Parkinson's patients, but not in 6 healthy controls by RT-QuICR. In contrast, no tau seeding activity was detected in any of the biopsies. Our seed amplifications provide evidence that the upper intestine contains a form(s) of α-synuclein with self-propagating activity. The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity for PD in this biopsy panel were 95.7% and 100% respectively. End-point dilution analysis indicated up to 106 SD50 seeding units per mg of tissue with positivity in two contemporaneous biopsies from individual patients suggesting widespread distribution within the superior and descending parts of duodenum. Our detection of α-synuclein seeding activity in duodenum biopsies of Parkinson's disease patients suggests not only that such analyses may be useful in ante-mortem diagnosis, but also that the duodenum may be a source or a destination for pathological, self-propagating α-synuclein assemblies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Vascellari
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy
| | - Christina D Orrù
- Laboratory of Neurological Infections and Immunity (LNII), Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institute of Health (NIH), Hamilton, Montana, United States
| | - Bradley R Groveman
- Laboratory of Neurological Infections and Immunity (LNII), Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institute of Health (NIH), Hamilton, Montana, United States
| | - Sabiha Parveen
- Laboratory of Neurological Infections and Immunity (LNII), Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institute of Health (NIH), Hamilton, Montana, United States
| | - Giuseppe Fenu
- S. C. Neurology and Stroke Unit, AOBrotzu, Cagliari, Italy
| | - Giada Pisano
- S. C. Neurology and Stroke Unit, AOBrotzu, Cagliari, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Piga
- S. C. Neurology and Stroke Unit, AOBrotzu, Cagliari, Italy
| | - Giulia Serra
- S. C. Neurology and Stroke Unit, AOBrotzu, Cagliari, Italy
| | - Valentina Oppo
- S. C. Neurology and Stroke Unit, AOBrotzu, Cagliari, Italy
| | - Daniela Murgia
- S. C. Neurology and Stroke Unit, AOBrotzu, Cagliari, Italy
| | - Andrea Perra
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy
| | - Fabrizio Angius
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy
| | - Andrew G Hughson
- Laboratory of Neurological Infections and Immunity (LNII), Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institute of Health (NIH), Hamilton, Montana, United States
| | - Cathryn L Haigh
- Laboratory of Neurological Infections and Immunity (LNII), Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institute of Health (NIH), Hamilton, Montana, United States
| | - Aldo Manzin
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy
| | - Giovanni Cossu
- S. C. Neurology and Stroke Unit, AOBrotzu, Cagliari, Italy
| | - Byron Caughey
- Laboratory of Neurological Infections and Immunity (LNII), Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institute of Health (NIH), Hamilton, Montana, United States
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Mok TH, Nihat A, Majbour N, Sequeira D, Holm-Mercer L, Coysh T, Darwent L, Batchelor M, Groveman BR, Orr CD, Hughson AG, Heslegrave A, Laban R, Veleva E, Paterson RW, Keshavan A, Schott JM, Swift IJ, Heller C, Rohrer JD, Gerhard A, Butler C, Rowe JB, Masellis M, Chapman M, Lunn MP, Bieschke J, Jackson GS, Zetterberg H, Caughey B, Rudge P, Collinge J, Mead S. Seed amplification and neurodegeneration marker trajectories in individuals at risk of prion disease. Brain 2023; 146:2570-2583. [PMID: 36975162 PMCID: PMC10232278 DOI: 10.1093/brain/awad101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2022] [Revised: 02/17/2023] [Accepted: 03/13/2023] [Indexed: 03/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Human prion diseases are remarkable for long incubation times followed typically by rapid clinical decline. Seed amplification assays and neurodegeneration biofluid biomarkers are remarkably useful in the clinical phase, but their potential to predict clinical onset in healthy people remains unclear. This is relevant not only to the design of preventive strategies in those at-risk of prion diseases, but more broadly, because prion-like mechanisms are thought to underpin many neurodegenerative disorders. Here, we report the accrual of a longitudinal biofluid resource in patients, controls and healthy people at risk of prion diseases, to which ultrasensitive techniques such as real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) and single molecule array (Simoa) digital immunoassays were applied for preclinical biomarker discovery. We studied 648 CSF and plasma samples, including 16 people who had samples taken when healthy but later developed inherited prion disease (IPD) ('converters'; range from 9.9 prior to, and 7.4 years after onset). Symptomatic IPD CSF samples were screened by RT-QuIC assay variations, before testing the entire collection of at-risk samples using the most sensitive assay. Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), neurofilament light (NfL), tau and UCH-L1 levels were measured in plasma and CSF. Second generation (IQ-CSF) RT-QuIC proved 100% sensitive and specific for sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), iatrogenic and familial CJD phenotypes, and subsequently detected seeding activity in four presymptomatic CSF samples from three E200K carriers; one converted in under 2 months while two remain asymptomatic after at least 3 years' follow-up. A bespoke HuPrP P102L RT-QuIC showed partial sensitivity for P102L disease. No compatible RT-QuIC assay was discovered for classical 6-OPRI, A117V and D178N, and these at-risk samples tested negative with bank vole RT-QuIC. Plasma GFAP and NfL, and CSF NfL levels emerged as proximity markers of neurodegeneration in the typically slow IPDs (e.g. P102L), with significant differences in mean values segregating healthy control from IPD carriers (within 2 years to onset) and symptomatic IPD cohorts; plasma GFAP appears to change before NfL, and before clinical conversion. In conclusion, we show distinct biomarker trajectories in fast and slow IPDs. Specifically, we identify several years of presymptomatic seeding positivity in E200K, a new proximity marker (plasma GFAP) and sequential neurodegenerative marker evolution (plasma GFAP followed by NfL) in slow IPDs. We suggest a new preclinical staging system featuring clinical, seeding and neurodegeneration aspects, for validation with larger prion at-risk cohorts, and with potential application to other neurodegenerative proteopathies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tze How Mok
- Medical Research Council Prion Unit at University College London, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, London W1W 7FF, UK
- NHS National Prion Clinic, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Akin Nihat
- Medical Research Council Prion Unit at University College London, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, London W1W 7FF, UK
- NHS National Prion Clinic, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Nour Majbour
- Medical Research Council Prion Unit at University College London, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, London W1W 7FF, UK
| | - Danielle Sequeira
- Medical Research Council Prion Unit at University College London, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, London W1W 7FF, UK
- NHS National Prion Clinic, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Leah Holm-Mercer
- Medical Research Council Prion Unit at University College London, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, London W1W 7FF, UK
- NHS National Prion Clinic, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Thomas Coysh
- Medical Research Council Prion Unit at University College London, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, London W1W 7FF, UK
- NHS National Prion Clinic, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Lee Darwent
- Medical Research Council Prion Unit at University College London, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, London W1W 7FF, UK
| | - Mark Batchelor
- Medical Research Council Prion Unit at University College London, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, London W1W 7FF, UK
| | - Bradley R Groveman
- Laboratory of Persistent Viral Diseases, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT 59840, USA
| | - Christina D Orr
- Laboratory of Persistent Viral Diseases, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT 59840, USA
| | - Andrew G Hughson
- Laboratory of Persistent Viral Diseases, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT 59840, USA
| | - Amanda Heslegrave
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
- United Kingdom Dementia Research Institute at University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Rhiannon Laban
- United Kingdom Dementia Research Institute at University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Elena Veleva
- United Kingdom Dementia Research Institute at University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - Ross W Paterson
- United Kingdom Dementia Research Institute at University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, University College London Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London WC1N 3AR, UK
| | - Ashvini Keshavan
- United Kingdom Dementia Research Institute at University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, University College London Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London WC1N 3AR, UK
| | - Jonathan M Schott
- United Kingdom Dementia Research Institute at University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, University College London Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London WC1N 3AR, UK
| | - Imogen J Swift
- United Kingdom Dementia Research Institute at University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, University College London Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London WC1N 3AR, UK
| | - Carolin Heller
- United Kingdom Dementia Research Institute at University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, University College London Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London WC1N 3AR, UK
| | - Jonathan D Rohrer
- United Kingdom Dementia Research Institute at University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
- Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, University College London Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London WC1N 3AR, UK
| | - Alexander Gerhard
- Division of Neuroscience and Experimental Psychology, Wolfson Molecular Imaging Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
- Department of Geriatric Medicine, Center for Translational Neuro- and Behavioral Sciences, University Medicine Essen, 45147 Essen, Germany
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, Center for Translational Neuro- and Behavioral Sciences, University Medicine Essen, 45147 Essen, Germany
| | - Christopher Butler
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Medical Sciences Division, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK
| | - James B Rowe
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences and Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust and Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 7EF, UK
| | - Mario Masellis
- Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Sunnybrook Research Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M4N 3M5, Canada
| | - Miles Chapman
- Neuroimmunology and CSF Laboratory, University College London Hospitals NHS Trust National Hospital of Neurology and Neurosurgery, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Michael P Lunn
- Neuroimmunology and CSF Laboratory, University College London Hospitals NHS Trust National Hospital of Neurology and Neurosurgery, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Jan Bieschke
- Medical Research Council Prion Unit at University College London, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, London W1W 7FF, UK
| | - Graham S Jackson
- Medical Research Council Prion Unit at University College London, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, London W1W 7FF, UK
| | - Henrik Zetterberg
- Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
- United Kingdom Dementia Research Institute at University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, S-43180 Mölndal, Sweden
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, S-431 80 Mölndal, Sweden
- Hong Kong Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Hong Kong, China
- Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53792-2420, USA
| | - Byron Caughey
- Laboratory of Persistent Viral Diseases, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, MT 59840, USA
| | - Peter Rudge
- Medical Research Council Prion Unit at University College London, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, London W1W 7FF, UK
- NHS National Prion Clinic, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - John Collinge
- Medical Research Council Prion Unit at University College London, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, London W1W 7FF, UK
- NHS National Prion Clinic, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Simon Mead
- Medical Research Council Prion Unit at University College London, UCL Institute of Prion Diseases, London W1W 7FF, UK
- NHS National Prion Clinic, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
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Inzalaco HN, Bravo-Risi F, Morales R, Walsh DP, Storm DJ, Pedersen JA, Turner WC, Lichtenberg SS. Ticks harbor and excrete chronic wasting disease prions. Sci Rep 2023; 13:7838. [PMID: 37188858 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-34308-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2022] [Accepted: 04/27/2023] [Indexed: 05/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease caused by infectious prions (PrPCWD) affecting cervids. Circulating PrPCWD in blood may pose a risk for indirect transmission by way of hematophagous ectoparasites acting as mechanical vectors. Cervids can carry high tick infestations and exhibit allogrooming, a common tick defense strategy between conspecifics. Ingestion of ticks during allogrooming may expose naïve animals to CWD, if ticks harbor PrPCWD. This study investigates whether ticks can harbor transmission-relevant quantities of PrPCWD by combining experimental tick feeding trials and evaluation of ticks from free-ranging white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Using the real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) assay, we show that black-legged ticks (Ixodes scapularis) fed PrPCWD-spiked blood using artificial membranes ingest and excrete PrPCWD. Combining results of RT-QuIC and protein misfolding cyclic amplification, we detected seeding activity from 6 of 15 (40%) pooled tick samples collected from wild CWD-infected white-tailed deer. Seeding activities in ticks were analogous to 10-1000 ng of CWD-positive retropharyngeal lymph node collected from deer upon which they were feeding. Estimates revealed a median infectious dose range of 0.3-42.4 per tick, suggesting that ticks can take up transmission-relevant amounts of PrPCWD and may pose a CWD risk to cervids.
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Affiliation(s)
- H N Inzalaco
- Wisconsin Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA.
| | - F Bravo-Risi
- Department of Neurology, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA
- Centro Integrativo de Biologia y Quimica Aplicada (CIBQA), Universidad Bernardo O'Higgins, Santiago, Chile
| | - R Morales
- Department of Neurology, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA
- Centro Integrativo de Biologia y Quimica Aplicada (CIBQA), Universidad Bernardo O'Higgins, Santiago, Chile
| | - D P Walsh
- U.S. Geological Survey, Montana Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA
| | - D J Storm
- Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Eau Claire, WI, USA
| | - J A Pedersen
- Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 21218, USA
| | - W C Turner
- Wisconsin Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, U.S. Geological Survey, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
| | - S S Lichtenberg
- Department of Soil Science, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Madison, WI, USA
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45
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Olech M. Conventional and State-of-the-Art Detection Methods of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE). Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24087135. [PMID: 37108297 PMCID: PMC10139118 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24087135] [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: 03/16/2023] [Revised: 04/08/2023] [Accepted: 04/09/2023] [Indexed: 04/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease that belongs to a group of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). It is believed that the infectious agent responsible for prion diseases is abnormally folded prion protein (PrPSc), which derives from a normal cellular protein (PrPC), which is a cell surface glycoprotein predominantly expressed in neurons. There are three different types of BSE, the classical BSE (C-type) strain and two atypical strains (H-type and L-type). BSE is primarily a disease of cattle; however, sheep and goats also can be infected with BSE strains and develop a disease clinically and pathogenically indistinguishable from scrapie. Therefore, TSE cases in cattle and small ruminants require discriminatory testing to determine whether the TSE is BSE or scrapie and to discriminate classical BSE from the atypical H- or L-type strains. Many methods have been developed for the detection of BSE and have been reported in numerous studies. Detection of BSE is mainly based on the identification of characteristic lesions or detection of the PrPSc in the brain, often by use of their partial proteinase K resistance properties. The objective of this paper was to summarize the currently available methods, highlight their diagnostic performance, and emphasize the advantages and drawbacks of the application of individual tests.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monika Olech
- Department of Pathology, National Veterinary Research Institute, 24-100 Puławy, Poland
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46
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Dutta S, Hornung S, Taha HB, Bitan G. Biomarkers for parkinsonian disorders in CNS-originating EVs: promise and challenges. Acta Neuropathol 2023; 145:515-540. [PMID: 37012443 PMCID: PMC10071251 DOI: 10.1007/s00401-023-02557-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2022] [Revised: 02/27/2023] [Accepted: 03/07/2023] [Indexed: 04/05/2023]
Abstract
Extracellular vesicles (EVs), including exosomes, microvesicles, and oncosomes, are nano-sized particles enclosed by a lipid bilayer. EVs are released by virtually all eukaryotic cells and have been shown to contribute to intercellular communication by transporting proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids. In the context of neurodegenerative diseases, EVs may carry toxic, misfolded forms of amyloidogenic proteins and facilitate their spread to recipient cells in the central nervous system (CNS). CNS-originating EVs can cross the blood-brain barrier into the bloodstream and may be found in other body fluids, including saliva, tears, and urine. EVs originating in the CNS represent an attractive source of biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases, because they contain cell- and cell state-specific biological materials. In recent years, multiple papers have reported the use of this strategy for identification and quantitation of biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's disease and atypical parkinsonian disorders. However, certain technical issues have yet to be standardized, such as the best surface markers for isolation of cell type-specific EVs and validating the cellular origin of the EVs. Here, we review recent research using CNS-originating EVs for biomarker studies, primarily in parkinsonian disorders, highlight technical challenges, and propose strategies for overcoming them.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suman Dutta
- International Institute of Innovation and Technology, New Town, Kolkata, India
| | - Simon Hornung
- Division of Peptide Biochemistry, TUM School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany
| | - Hash Brown Taha
- Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, University of California Los Angeles, 635 Charles E. Young Drive South/Gordon 451, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
| | - Gal Bitan
- Department of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, University of California Los Angeles, 635 Charles E. Young Drive South/Gordon 451, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
- Brain Research Institute, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
- Molecular Biology Institute, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
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47
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Wang F, Pritzkow S, Soto C. PMCA for ultrasensitive detection of prions and to study disease biology. Cell Tissue Res 2023; 392:307-321. [PMID: 36567368 PMCID: PMC9790818 DOI: 10.1007/s00441-022-03727-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2022] [Accepted: 12/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
The emergence of a novel class of infectious agent composed exclusively of a misfolded protein (termed prions) has been a challenge in modern biomedicine. Despite similarities on the behavior of prions with respect to conventional pathogens, the many uncertainties regarding the biology and virulence of prions make them a worrisome paradigm. Since prions do not contain nucleic acids and rely on a very different way of replication and spreading, it was necessary to invent a novel technology to study them. In this article, we provide an overview of such a technology, termed protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA), and summarize its many applications to detect prions and understand prion biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fei Wang
- Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Brain Disorders, Department of Neurology, University of Texas McGovern Medical School, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Sandra Pritzkow
- Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Brain Disorders, Department of Neurology, University of Texas McGovern Medical School, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Claudio Soto
- Mitchell Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Brain Disorders, Department of Neurology, University of Texas McGovern Medical School, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
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48
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Arshad H, Patel Z, Amano G, Li LY, Al-Azzawi ZAM, Supattapone S, Schmitt-Ulms G, Watts JC. A single protective polymorphism in the prion protein blocks cross-species prion replication in cultured cells. J Neurochem 2023; 165:230-245. [PMID: 36511154 DOI: 10.1111/jnc.15739] [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: 10/03/2022] [Revised: 11/22/2022] [Accepted: 11/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
The bank vole (BV) prion protein (PrP) can function as a universal acceptor of prions. However, the molecular details of BVPrP's promiscuity for replicating a diverse range of prion strains remain obscure. To develop a cultured cell paradigm capable of interrogating the unique properties of BVPrP, we generated monoclonal lines of CAD5 cells lacking endogenous PrP but stably expressing either hamster (Ha), mouse (Mo), or BVPrP (M109 or I109 polymorphic variants) and then challenged them with various strains of mouse or hamster prions. Cells expressing BVPrP were susceptible to both mouse and hamster prions, whereas cells expressing MoPrP or HaPrP could only be infected with species-matched prions. Propagation of mouse and hamster prions in cells expressing BVPrP resulted in strain adaptation in several instances, as evidenced by alterations in conformational stability, glycosylation, susceptibility to anti-prion small molecules, and the inability of BVPrP-adapted mouse prion strains to infect cells expressing MoPrP. Interestingly, cells expressing BVPrP containing the G127V prion gene variant, identified in individuals resistant to kuru, were unable to become infected with prions. Moreover, the G127V polymorphic variant impeded the spontaneous aggregation of recombinant BVPrP. These results demonstrate that BVPrP can facilitate cross-species prion replication in cultured cells and that a single amino acid change can override the prion-permissive nature of BVPrP. This cellular paradigm will be useful for dissecting the molecular features of BVPrP that allow it to function as a universal prion acceptor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hamza Arshad
- Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Zeel Patel
- Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Genki Amano
- Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Le Yao Li
- Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Zaid A M Al-Azzawi
- Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Surachai Supattapone
- Department of Biochemistry, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
- Department of Medicine, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
| | - Gerold Schmitt-Ulms
- Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Joel C Watts
- Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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49
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Bsoul R, Lund EL, Burns K, Andrews M, McKenzie N, Green A, Areškevičiūtė A. Improved Real-Time Quaking Induced Conversion for Early Diagnostics of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in Denmark. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24076098. [PMID: 37047069 PMCID: PMC10094695 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24076098] [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: 02/28/2023] [Revised: 03/20/2023] [Accepted: 03/21/2023] [Indexed: 04/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Cerebrospinal fluid-based real-time quaking-induced conversion (CSF RT-QuIC) is currently the most prominent method for early detection of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD), the most common prion disease. CSF RT-QuIC delivers high sensitivity (>90%) and specificity (100%), which has been demonstrated by large ring-trial studies testing probable and definitive sCJD cohorts. Following the inclusion of CSF RT-QuIC in the revised European CJD Surveillance Network diagnostic criteria for sCJD, it has become a standard diagnostic procedure in many prion disease reference or surveillance centers around the world. In this study, we present the implementation of the second-generation CSF RT-QuIC (commonly known as Improved QuIC or IQ) at the Danish Reference Center for Prion Diseases (DRCPD). The method's sensitivity and specificity were evaluated and validated by analyzing 63 CSF samples. These 63 samples were also analyzed at the National CJD Research and Surveillance Unit (NCJDRSU), based at the University of Edinburgh, UK; analysis was carried out using the first generation or previous CSF RT-QuIC method (PQ). The sensitivity and specificity of PQ during tests at the NCJDRSU were 92% and 100%, respectively. Using these 63 CSF samples, the agreement between the two RT-QuIC generations at DRCPD and NCJDRSU prion laboratories was 100%.
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Affiliation(s)
- Remarh Bsoul
- Danish Reference Center for Prion Diseases, Department of Pathology, Copenhagen University Hospital, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Eva Løbner Lund
- Danish Reference Center for Prion Diseases, Department of Pathology, Copenhagen University Hospital, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Kimberley Burns
- National CJD Research and Surveillance Unit, Centre for Clinical Brain Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK
| | - Mary Andrews
- National CJD Research and Surveillance Unit, Centre for Clinical Brain Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK
| | - Neil McKenzie
- National CJD Research and Surveillance Unit, Centre for Clinical Brain Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK
| | - Alison Green
- National CJD Research and Surveillance Unit, Centre for Clinical Brain Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK
| | - Aušrinė Areškevičiūtė
- Danish Reference Center for Prion Diseases, Department of Pathology, Copenhagen University Hospital, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
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50
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Duan S, Yang J, Cui Z, Li J, Zheng H, Zhao T, Yuan Y, Liu Y, Zhao L, Wang Y, Luo H, Xu Y. Seed amplification assay of nasal swab extracts for accurate and non-invasive molecular diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases. Transl Neurodegener 2023; 12:13. [PMID: 36922862 PMCID: PMC10017346 DOI: 10.1186/s40035-023-00345-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2022] [Accepted: 03/02/2023] [Indexed: 03/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Nasal swabs are non-invasive testing methods for detecting diseases by collecting samples from the nasal cavity or nasopharynx. Dysosmia is regarded as an early sign of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and nasal swabs are the gold standard for the detection. By nasal swabs, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) nucleic acids can be cyclically amplified and detected using real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction after sampling. Similarly, olfactory dysfunction precedes the onset of typical clinical manifestations by several years in prion diseases and other neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, and multiple system atrophy. In neurodegenerative diseases, nasal swab tests are currently being explored using seed amplification assay (SAA) of pathogenic misfolded proteins, such as prion, α-synuclein, and tau. These misfolded proteins can serve as templates for the conformational change of other copies from the native form into the same misfolded form in a prion-like manner. SAA for misfolded prion-like proteins from nasal swab extracts has been developed, conceptually analogous to PCR, showing high sensitivity and specificity for molecular diagnosis of degenerative diseases even in the prodromal stage. Cyclic amplification assay of nasal swab extracts is an attractive and feasible method for accurate and non-invasive detection of trace amount of pathogenic substances for screening and diagnosis of neurodegenerative disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suying Duan
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.,Henan Key Laboratory of Cerebrovascular Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Jing Yang
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.,Henan Key Laboratory of Cerebrovascular Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.,Institute of Neuroscience, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Zheqing Cui
- Department of Rhinology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Jiaqi Li
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.,Henan Key Laboratory of Cerebrovascular Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Honglin Zheng
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.,The Academy of Medical Sciences of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Taiqi Zhao
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.,Henan Key Laboratory of Cerebrovascular Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Yanpeng Yuan
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.,Institute of Neuroscience, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Yutao Liu
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.,Institute of Neuroscience, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Lu Zhao
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.,Institute of Neuroscience, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Yangyang Wang
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.,Institute of Neuroscience, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Haiyang Luo
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China. .,Henan Key Laboratory of Cerebrovascular Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China. .,Institute of Neuroscience, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.
| | - Yuming Xu
- Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China. .,Henan Key Laboratory of Cerebrovascular Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China. .,Institute of Neuroscience, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.
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