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Tuck BJ, Miller LVC, Katsinelos T, Smith AE, Wilson EL, Keeling S, Cheng S, Vaysburd MJ, Knox C, Tredgett L, Metzakopian E, James LC, McEwan WA. Cholesterol determines the cytosolic entry and seeded aggregation of tau. Cell Rep 2022; 39:110776. [PMID: 35508140 PMCID: PMC9108550 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110776] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2021] [Revised: 03/03/2022] [Accepted: 04/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Assemblies of tau can transit between neurons, seeding aggregation in a prion-like manner. To accomplish this, tau must cross cell-limiting membranes, a process that is poorly understood. Here, we establish assays for the study of tau entry into the cytosol as a phenomenon distinct from uptake, in real time, and at physiological concentrations. The entry pathway of tau is cell type specific and, in neurons, highly sensitive to cholesterol. Depletion of the cholesterol transporter Niemann-Pick type C1 or extraction of membrane cholesterol renders neurons highly permissive to tau entry and potentiates seeding even at low levels of exogenous tau assemblies. Conversely, cholesterol supplementation reduces entry and almost completely blocks seeded aggregation. Our findings establish entry as a rate-limiting step to seeded aggregation and demonstrate that dysregulated cholesterol, a feature of several neurodegenerative diseases, potentiates tau aggregation by promoting entry of tau assemblies into the cell interior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin J Tuck
- UK Dementia Research Institute at the University of Cambridge, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 0AH, UK.
| | - Lauren V C Miller
- UK Dementia Research Institute at the University of Cambridge, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 0AH, UK
| | - Taxiarchis Katsinelos
- UK Dementia Research Institute at the University of Cambridge, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 0AH, UK
| | - Annabel E Smith
- UK Dementia Research Institute at the University of Cambridge, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 0AH, UK
| | - Emma L Wilson
- UK Dementia Research Institute at the University of Cambridge, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 0AH, UK
| | - Sophie Keeling
- UK Dementia Research Institute at the University of Cambridge, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 0AH, UK
| | - Shi Cheng
- UK Dementia Research Institute at the University of Cambridge, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 0AH, UK
| | - Marina J Vaysburd
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge, CB2 0QH, UK
| | - Claire Knox
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge, CB2 0QH, UK
| | - Lucy Tredgett
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge, CB2 0QH, UK
| | - Emmanouil Metzakopian
- UK Dementia Research Institute at the University of Cambridge, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 0AH, UK
| | - Leo C James
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Francis Crick Avenue, Cambridge, CB2 0QH, UK
| | - William A McEwan
- UK Dementia Research Institute at the University of Cambridge, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 0AH, UK.
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Miller LVC, Mukadam AS, Durrant CS, Vaysburd MJ, Katsinelos T, Tuck BJ, Sanford S, Sheppard O, Knox C, Cheng S, James LC, Coleman MP, McEwan WA. Tau assemblies do not behave like independently acting prion-like particles in mouse neural tissue. Acta Neuropathol Commun 2021; 9:41. [PMID: 33712082 PMCID: PMC7953780 DOI: 10.1186/s40478-021-01141-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2021] [Accepted: 02/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
A fundamental property of infectious agents is their particulate nature: infectivity arises from independently-acting particles rather than as a result of collective action. Assemblies of the protein tau can exhibit seeding behaviour, potentially underlying the apparent spread of tau aggregation in many neurodegenerative diseases. Here we ask whether tau assemblies share with classical pathogens the characteristic of particulate behaviour. We used organotypic hippocampal slice cultures from P301S tau transgenic mice in order to precisely control the concentration of extracellular tau assemblies in neural tissue. Whilst untreated slices displayed no overt signs of pathology, exposure to recombinant tau assemblies could result in the formation of intraneuronal, hyperphosphorylated tau structures. However, seeding ability of tau assemblies did not titrate in a one-hit manner in neural tissue. The results suggest that seeding behaviour of tau arises at high concentrations, with implications for the interpretation of high-dose intracranial challenge experiments and the possible contribution of seeded aggregation to human disease.
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