1
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Pokrishevsky E, DuVal MG, McAlary L, Louadi S, Pozzi S, Roman A, Plotkin SS, Dijkstra A, Julien JP, Allison WT, Cashman NR. Tryptophan residues in TDP-43 and SOD1 modulate the cross-seeding and toxicity of SOD1. J Biol Chem 2024; 300:107207. [PMID: 38522514 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2024.107207] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2023] [Revised: 02/04/2024] [Accepted: 03/05/2024] [Indexed: 03/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease of motor neurons. Neuronal superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD1) inclusion bodies are characteristic of familial ALS with SOD1 mutations, while a hallmark of sporadic ALS is inclusions containing aggregated WT TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43). We show here that co-expression of mutant or WT TDP-43 with SOD1 leads to misfolding of endogenous SOD1 and aggregation of SOD1 reporter protein SOD1G85R-GFP in human cell cultures and promotes synergistic axonopathy in zebrafish. Intriguingly, this pathological interaction is modulated by natively solvent-exposed tryptophans in SOD1 (tryptophan-32) and TDP-43 RNA-recognition motif RRM1 (tryptophan-172), in concert with natively sequestered TDP-43 N-terminal domain tryptophan-68. TDP-43 RRM1 intrabodies reduce WT SOD1 misfolding in human cell cultures, via blocking tryptophan-172. Tryptophan-68 becomes antibody-accessible in aggregated TDP-43 in sporadic ALS motor neurons and cell culture. 5-fluorouridine inhibits TDP-43-induced G85R-GFP SOD1 aggregation in human cell cultures and ameliorates axonopathy in zebrafish, via its interaction with SOD1 tryptophan-32. Collectively, our results establish a novel and potentially druggable tryptophan-mediated mechanism whereby two principal ALS disease effector proteins might directly interact in disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edward Pokrishevsky
- Department of Medicine, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Michéle G DuVal
- Department of Biological Sciences, Centre for Prions & Protein Folding Disease, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Luke McAlary
- Department of Medicine, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Sarah Louadi
- Department of Medicine, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Silvia Pozzi
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, University of Laval, Québec, Quebec, Canada; CERVO Brain Research Center, Québec, Quebec, Canada
| | - Andrei Roman
- Department of Medicine, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Steven S Plotkin
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Anke Dijkstra
- Department of Pathology, Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Jean-Pierre Julien
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, University of Laval, Québec, Quebec, Canada; CERVO Brain Research Center, Québec, Quebec, Canada
| | - W Ted Allison
- Department of Biological Sciences, Centre for Prions & Protein Folding Disease, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
| | - Neil R Cashman
- Department of Medicine, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
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2
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Zhao B, Cowan CM, Coutts JA, Christy DD, Saraph A, Hsueh SCC, Plotkin SS, Mackenzie IR, Kaplan JM, Cashman NR. Targeting RACK1 to alleviate TDP-43 and FUS proteinopathy-mediated suppression of protein translation and neurodegeneration. Acta Neuropathol Commun 2023; 11:200. [PMID: 38111057 PMCID: PMC10726565 DOI: 10.1186/s40478-023-01705-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2023] [Accepted: 12/06/2023] [Indexed: 12/20/2023] Open
Abstract
TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) and Fused in Sarcoma/Translocated in Sarcoma (FUS) are ribonucleoproteins associated with pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD). Under physiological conditions, TDP-43 and FUS are predominantly localized in the nucleus, where they participate in transcriptional regulation, RNA splicing and metabolism. In disease, however, they are typically mislocalized to the cytoplasm where they form aggregated inclusions. A number of shared cellular pathways have been identified that contribute to TDP-43 and FUS toxicity in neurodegeneration. In the present study, we report a novel pathogenic mechanism shared by these two proteins. We found that pathological FUS co-aggregates with a ribosomal protein, the Receptor for Activated C-Kinase 1 (RACK1), in the cytoplasm of spinal cord motor neurons of ALS, as previously reported for pathological TDP-43. In HEK293T cells transiently transfected with TDP-43 or FUS mutant lacking a functional nuclear localization signal (NLS; TDP-43ΔNLS and FUSΔNLS), cytoplasmic TDP-43 and FUS induced co-aggregation with endogenous RACK1. These co-aggregates sequestered the translational machinery through interaction with the polyribosome, accompanied by a significant reduction of global protein translation. RACK1 knockdown decreased cytoplasmic aggregation of TDP-43ΔNLS or FUSΔNLS and alleviated associated global translational suppression. Surprisingly, RACK1 knockdown also led to partial nuclear localization of TDP-43ΔNLS and FUSΔNLS in some transfected cells, despite the absence of NLS. In vivo, RACK1 knockdown alleviated retinal neuronal degeneration in transgenic Drosophila melanogaster expressing hTDP-43WT or hTDP-43Q331K and improved motor function of hTDP-43WT flies, with no observed adverse effects on neuronal health in control knockdown flies. In conclusion, our results revealed a novel shared mechanism of pathogenesis for misfolded aggregates of TDP-43 and FUS mediated by interference with protein translation in a RACK1-dependent manner. We provide proof-of-concept evidence for targeting RACK1 as a potential therapeutic approach for TDP-43 or FUS proteinopathy associated with ALS and FTLD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beibei Zhao
- University of British Columbia, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada
- ProMIS Neurosciences, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA
| | - Catherine M Cowan
- University of British Columbia, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Juliane A Coutts
- University of British Columbia, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Darren D Christy
- University of British Columbia, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Ananya Saraph
- University of British Columbia, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Shawn C C Hsueh
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z1, Canada
| | - Stephen S Plotkin
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z1, Canada
| | - Ian R Mackenzie
- University of British Columbia, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | | | - Neil R Cashman
- University of British Columbia, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada.
- ProMIS Neurosciences, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA.
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3
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Molzahn C, Kuechler ER, Zemlyankina I, Nierves L, Ali T, Cole G, Wang J, Albu RF, Zhu M, Cashman NR, Gilch S, Karsan A, Lange PF, Gsponer J, Mayor T. Shift of the insoluble content of the proteome in the aging mouse brain. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2310057120. [PMID: 37906643 PMCID: PMC10636323 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2310057120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2023] [Accepted: 09/24/2023] [Indexed: 11/02/2023] Open
Abstract
During aging, the cellular response to unfolded proteins is believed to decline, resulting in diminished proteostasis. In model organisms, such as Caenorhabditis elegans, proteostatic decline with age has been linked to proteome solubility shifts and the onset of protein aggregation. However, this correlation has not been extensively characterized in aging mammals. To uncover age-dependent changes in the insoluble portion of a mammalian proteome, we analyzed the detergent-insoluble fraction of mouse brain tissue by mass spectrometry. We identified a group of 171 proteins, including the small heat shock protein α-crystallin, that become enriched in the detergent-insoluble fraction obtained from old mice. To enhance our ability to detect features associated with proteins in that fraction, we complemented our data with a meta-analysis of studies reporting the detergent-insoluble proteins in various mouse models of aging and neurodegeneration. Strikingly, insoluble proteins from young and old mice are distinct in several features in our study and across the collected literature data. In younger mice, proteins are more likely to be disordered, part of membraneless organelles, and involved in RNA binding. These traits become less prominent with age, as an increased number of structured proteins enter the pellet fraction. This analysis suggests that age-related changes to proteome organization lead a group of proteins with specific features to become detergent-insoluble. Importantly, these features are not consistent with those associated with proteins driving membraneless organelle formation. We see no evidence in our system of a general increase of condensate proteins in the detergent-insoluble fraction with age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristen Molzahn
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michael Smith Laboratories, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BCV6T 1Z4, Canada
- Edward Leong Center for Healthy Aging, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BCV6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Erich R. Kuechler
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michael Smith Laboratories, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BCV6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Irina Zemlyankina
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michael Smith Laboratories, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BCV6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Lorenz Nierves
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BCV6T 1Z4, Canada
- Michael Cuccione Childhood Cancer Research Program, British Columbia Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, BCV5Z 4H4, Canada
| | - Tahir Ali
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, ABT2N 4Z6, Canada
| | - Grace Cole
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BCV6T 1Z4, Canada
- British Columbia Cancer Research Institute, Vancouver, BCV5Z 1L3, Canada
| | - Jing Wang
- Division of Neurology and Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BCV6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Razvan F. Albu
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michael Smith Laboratories, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BCV6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Mang Zhu
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michael Smith Laboratories, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BCV6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Neil R. Cashman
- Division of Neurology and Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BCV6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Sabine Gilch
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, ABT2N 4Z6, Canada
| | - Aly Karsan
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BCV6T 1Z4, Canada
- British Columbia Cancer Research Institute, Vancouver, BCV5Z 1L3, Canada
| | - Philipp F. Lange
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BCV6T 1Z4, Canada
- Michael Cuccione Childhood Cancer Research Program, British Columbia Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, BCV5Z 4H4, Canada
- British Columbia Cancer Research Institute, Vancouver, BCV5Z 1L3, Canada
| | - Jörg Gsponer
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michael Smith Laboratories, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BCV6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Thibault Mayor
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michael Smith Laboratories, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BCV6T 1Z4, Canada
- Edward Leong Center for Healthy Aging, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BCV6T 1Z3, Canada
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4
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Aina A, Hsueh SCC, Gibbs E, Peng X, Cashman NR, Plotkin SS. De Novo Design of a β-Helix Tau Protein Scaffold: An Oligomer-Selective Vaccine Immunogen Candidate for Alzheimer's Disease. ACS Chem Neurosci 2023; 14:2603-2617. [PMID: 37458595 DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.3c00007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Tau pathology is associated with many neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease (AD), where the spatio-temporal pattern of tau neurofibrillary tangles strongly correlates with disease progression, which motivates therapeutics selective for misfolded tau. Here, we introduce a new avidity-enhanced, multi-epitope approach for protein-misfolding immunogen design, which is predicted to mimic the conformational state of an exposed epitope in toxic tau oligomers. A predicted oligomer-selective tau epitope 343KLDFK347 was scaffolded by designing a β-helix structure that incorporated multiple instances of the 16-residue tau fragment 339VKSEKLDFKDRVQSKI354. Large-scale conformational ensemble analyses involving Jensen-Shannon Divergence and the embedding depth D showed that the multi-epitope scaffolding approach, employed in designing the β-helix scaffold, was predicted to better discriminate toxic tau oligomers than other "monovalent" strategies utilizing a single instance of an epitope for vaccine immunogen design. Using Rosetta, 10,000 sequences were designed and screened for the linker portions of the β-helix scaffold, along with a C-terminal stabilizing α-helix that interacts with the linkers, to optimize the folded structure and stability of the scaffold. Structures were ranked by energy, and the lowest 1% (82 unique sequences) were verified using AlphaFold. Several selection criteria involving AlphaFold are implemented to obtain a lead-designed sequence. The structure was further predicted to have free energetic stability by using Hamiltonian replica exchange molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The synthesized β-helix scaffold showed direct binding in surface plasmon resonance (SPR) experiments to several antibodies that were raised to the structured epitope using a designed cyclic peptide. Moreover, the strength of binding of these antibodies to in vitro tau oligomers correlated with the strength of binding to the β-helix construct, suggesting that the construct presents an oligomer-like conformation and may thus constitute an effective oligomer-selective immunogen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adekunle Aina
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada
| | - Shawn C C Hsueh
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada
| | - Ebrima Gibbs
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada
| | - Xubiao Peng
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada
| | - Neil R Cashman
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada
| | - Steven S Plotkin
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada
- Genome Science and Technology Program, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada
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5
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Gibbs E, Coutts J, Roman A, Zhao B, Kaplan J, Cashman NR. Distinguishing between amyloid‐beta‐directed antibodies: Ability of PMN310 to target toxic oligomers despite competing species. Alzheimers Dement 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/alz.067371] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ebrima Gibbs
- University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
| | | | - Andrei Roman
- University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
| | - Beibei Zhao
- University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
| | | | - Neil R Cashman
- University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
- ProMIS Neurosciences Toronto ON Canada
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6
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McAlary L, Shephard VK, Sher M, Rice LJ, Yerbury JJ, Cashman NR, Plotkin SS. Assessment of protein inclusions in cultured cells using automated image analysis. STAR Protoc 2022; 3:101748. [PMID: 36201320 PMCID: PMC9535320 DOI: 10.1016/j.xpro.2022.101748] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2022] [Revised: 07/18/2022] [Accepted: 09/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Proteinaceous inclusions are associated with neurodegenerative diseases and cell models are often used to determine genetic and chemical modifiers of their formation. This protocol involves the usage of automated microscopy and machine learning-based image analysis to accurately quantify the levels of protein inclusion formation in cultured cells from fluorescence microscopy images. This protocol is highly scalable and can be applied to a few images or large datasets. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to McAlary et al. (2022).
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Affiliation(s)
- Luke McAlary
- Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia,Molecular Horizons and School of Chemistry and Molecular Bioscience, Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia,Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada,Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada,Genome Science and Technology Program, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada,Corresponding author
| | - Victoria K. Shephard
- Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia,Molecular Horizons and School of Chemistry and Molecular Bioscience, Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
| | - Mine Sher
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada,Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Lauren J. Rice
- Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia,Molecular Horizons and School of Chemistry and Molecular Bioscience, Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
| | - Justin J. Yerbury
- Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia,Molecular Horizons and School of Chemistry and Molecular Bioscience, Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
| | - Neil R. Cashman
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Steven S. Plotkin
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada,Genome Science and Technology Program, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada,Corresponding author
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7
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Hsueh SCC, Aina A, Roman AY, Cashman NR, Peng X, Plotkin SS. Optimizing Epitope Conformational Ensembles Using α-Synuclein Cyclic Peptide "Glycindel" Scaffolds: A Customized Immunogen Method for Generating Oligomer-Selective Antibodies for Parkinson's Disease. ACS Chem Neurosci 2022; 13:2261-2280. [PMID: 35840132 DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.1c00567] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Effectively presenting epitopes on immunogens, in order to raise conformationally selective antibodies through active immunization, is a central problem in treating protein misfolding diseases, particularly neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson's disease. We seek to selectively target conformations enriched in toxic, oligomeric propagating species while sparing the healthy forms of the protein that are often more abundant. To this end, we computationally modeled scaffolded epitopes in cyclic peptides by inserting/deleting a variable number of flanking glycines ("glycindels") to best mimic a misfolding-specific conformation of an epitope of α-synuclein enriched in the oligomer ensemble, as characterized by a region most readily disordered and solvent-exposed in a stressed, partially denatured protofibril. We screen and rank the cyclic peptide scaffolds of α-synuclein in silico based on their ensemble overlap properties with the fibril, oligomer-model and isolated monomer ensembles. We present experimental data of seeded aggregation that support nucleation rates consistent with computationally predicted cyclic peptide conformational similarity. We also introduce a method for screening against structured off-pathway targets in the human proteome by selecting scaffolds with minimal conformational similarity between their epitope and the same solvent-exposed primary sequence in structured human proteins. Different cyclic peptide scaffolds with variable numbers of glycines are predicted computationally to have markedly different conformational ensembles. Ensemble comparison and overlap were quantified by the Jensen-Shannon divergence and a new measure introduced here, the embedding depth, which determines the extent to which a given ensemble is subsumed by another ensemble and which may be a more useful measure in developing immunogens that confer conformational selectivity to an antibody.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shawn C C Hsueh
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada
| | - Adekunle Aina
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada
| | - Andrei Yu Roman
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 2B5, Canada
| | - Neil R Cashman
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 2B5, Canada
| | - Xubiao Peng
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada
| | - Steven S Plotkin
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada.,Genome Science and Technology Program, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada
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8
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Xue YC, Liu H, Mohamud Y, Bahreyni A, Zhang J, Cashman NR, Luo H. Sublethal enteroviral infection exacerbates disease progression in an ALS mouse model. J Neuroinflammation 2022; 19:16. [PMID: 35022041 PMCID: PMC8753920 DOI: 10.1186/s12974-022-02380-7] [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] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2021] [Accepted: 01/04/2022] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease of the motor neuron system associated with both genetic and environmental risk factors. Infection with enteroviruses, including poliovirus and coxsackievirus, such as coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3), has been proposed as a possible causal/risk factor for ALS due to the evidence that enteroviruses can target motor neurons and establish a persistent infection in the central nervous system (CNS), and recent findings that enteroviral infection-induced molecular and pathological phenotypes closely resemble ALS. However, a causal relationship has not yet been affirmed. Methods Wild-type C57BL/6J and G85R mutant superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1G85R) ALS mice were intracerebroventricularly infected with a sublethal dose of CVB3 or sham-infected. For a subset of mice, ribavirin (a broad-spectrum anti-RNA viral drug) was given subcutaneously during the acute or chronic stage of infection. Following viral infection, general activity and survival were monitored daily for up to week 60. Starting at week 20 post-infection (PI), motor functions were measured weekly. Mouse brains and/or spinal cords were harvested at day 10, week 20 and week 60 PI for histopathological evaluation of neurotoxicity, immunohistochemical staining of viral protein, neuroinflammatory/immune and ALS pathology markers, and NanoString and RT-qPCR analysis of inflammatory gene expression. Results We found that sublethal infection (mimicking chronic infection) of SOD1G85R ALS mice with CVB3 resulted in early onset and progressive motor dysfunction, and shortened lifespan, while similar viral infection in C57BL/6J, the background strain of SOD1G85R mice, did not significantly affect motor function and mortality as compared to mock infection within the timeframe of the current study (60 weeks PI). Furthermore, we showed that CVB3 infection led to a significant increase in proinflammatory gene expression and immune cell infiltration and induced ALS-related pathologies (i.e., TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) pathology and neuronal damage) in the CNS of both SOD1G85R and C57BL/6J mice. Finally, we discovered that early (day 1) but not late (day 15) administration of ribavirin could rescue ALS-like neuropathology and symptoms induced by CVB3 infection. Conclusions Our study identifies a new risk factor that contributes to early onset and accelerated progression of ALS and offers opportunities for the development of novel targeted therapies. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12974-022-02380-7.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuan Chao Xue
- Centre for Heart and Lung Innovation, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, BC, Canada.,Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Huitao Liu
- Centre for Heart and Lung Innovation, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, BC, Canada.,Department of Experimental Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Yasir Mohamud
- Centre for Heart and Lung Innovation, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, BC, Canada.,Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Amirhossein Bahreyni
- Centre for Heart and Lung Innovation, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, BC, Canada.,Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Jingchun Zhang
- Centre for Heart and Lung Innovation, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, BC, Canada.,Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Neil R Cashman
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Honglin Luo
- Centre for Heart and Lung Innovation, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, BC, Canada. .,Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
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9
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Zhao B, Louadi S, Dijkstra AA, Plotkin SS, Kaplan J, Cashman NR. Selective targeting of intracellular, misfolded, pathogenic TDP‐43 with rationally designed intrabodies. Alzheimers Dement 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/alz.055269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Beibei Zhao
- University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
| | - Sarah Louadi
- University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
| | - Anke A. Dijkstra
- Department of Pathology Amsterdam Neuroscience Amsterdam UMC Amsterdam Netherlands
| | | | | | - Neil R Cashman
- University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
- ProMIS Neurosciences Toronto ON Canada
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10
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Peng X, Gibbs E, Silverman JM, Cashman NR, Plotkin SS. A method for systematically ranking therapeutic drug candidates using multiple uncertain screening criteria. Stat Methods Med Res 2021; 30:1502-1522. [PMID: 33847541 PMCID: PMC8189013 DOI: 10.1177/09622802211002861] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [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] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Multiple different screening tests for candidate leads in drug development may often yield conflicting or ambiguous results, sometimes making the selection of leads a nontrivial maximum-likelihood ranking problem. Here, we employ methods from the field of multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) to the problem of screening candidate antibody therapeutics. We employ the SMAA-TOPSIS method to rank a large cohort of antibodies using up to eight weighted screening criteria, in order to find lead candidate therapeutics for Alzheimer's disease, and determine their robustness to both uncertainty in screening measurements, as well as uncertainty in the user-defined weights of importance attributed to each screening criterion. To choose lead candidates and measure the confidence in their ranking, we propose two new quantities, the Retention Probability and the Topness, as robust measures for ranking. This method may enable more systematic screening of candidate therapeutics when it becomes difficult intuitively to process multi-variate screening data that distinguishes candidates, so that additional candidates may be exposed as potential leads, increasing the likelihood of success in downstream clinical trials. The method properly identifies true positives and true negatives from synthetic data, its predictions correlate well with known clinically approved antibodies vs. those still in trials, and it allows for ranking analyses using antibody developability profiles in the literature. We provide a webserver where users can apply the method to their own data: http://bjork.phas.ubc.ca.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xubiao Peng
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Ebrima Gibbs
- Brain Research Center, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Judith M Silverman
- Brain Research Center, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Neil R Cashman
- Brain Research Center, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Steven S Plotkin
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Genome Science and Technology Program, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
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11
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Cashman NR, Louadi S, Zhao B, Roman A, Gibbs E, Dijkstra AA, Plotkin SS, Kaplan J. Targeting of misfolded, pathogenic TDP‐43 with rationally designed antibodies. Alzheimers Dement 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/alz.045221] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Neil R. Cashman
- University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
- ProMIS Neurosciences Toronto ON Canada
| | - Sarah Louadi
- University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
| | - Beibei Zhao
- University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
| | - Andrei Roman
- University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
| | - Ebrima Gibbs
- University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
| | - Anke A. Dijkstra
- Department of Pathology Amsterdam Neuroscience Amsterdam University Medical Center Amsterdam Netherlands
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12
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Roman A, Hsueh SC, Kaplan J, Gibbs E, Adekunle A, Plotkin SS, Cashman NR. Rationally designed antibodies selective for pathogenic tau aggregates. Alzheimers Dement 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/alz.045461] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Andrei Roman
- University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
| | | | | | - Ebrima Gibbs
- University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
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13
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Plotkin SS, Hsueh SC, Adekunle A, Peng X, Gibbs E, Roman A, Zhao B, Louadi S, Kaplan J, Cashman NR. Epitope prediction for oligomer‐selective antibodies in tau and Aβ. Alzheimers Dement 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/alz.045757] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Steven S. Plotkin
- University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
- ProMIS Neurosciences Toronto ON Canada
| | | | | | - Xubiao Peng
- Beijing Institute of Technology Beijing BC China
| | - Ebrima Gibbs
- University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
| | - Andrei Roman
- University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
| | - Beibei Zhao
- University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
| | - Sarah Louadi
- University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
| | | | - Neil R. Cashman
- University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
- ProMIS Neurosciences Toronto ON Canada
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14
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Robert J, Button EB, Martin E, McAlary L, Gidden Z, Gilmore M, Boyce GK, Caffrey TM, Agbay A, Clark A, Silverman JM, Cashman NR, Wellington CL. Cerebrovascular amyloid angiopathy in bioengineered vessels is reduced by high‐density lipoprotein particles enriched in apolipoprotein E. Alzheimers Dement 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/alz.043473] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Emma Martin
- University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
| | - Luke McAlary
- University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
| | - Zoe Gidden
- University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
| | | | | | | | - Andrew Agbay
- University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
| | - Amanda Clark
- University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
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15
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McAlary L, Chew YL, Lum JS, Geraghty NJ, Yerbury JJ, Cashman NR. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Proteins, Proteostasis, Prions, and Promises. Front Cell Neurosci 2020; 14:581907. [PMID: 33328890 PMCID: PMC7671971 DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2020.581907] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2020] [Accepted: 09/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is characterized by the progressive degeneration of the motor neurons that innervate muscle, resulting in gradual paralysis and culminating in the inability to breathe or swallow. This neuronal degeneration occurs in a spatiotemporal manner from a point of onset in the central nervous system (CNS), suggesting that there is a molecule that spreads from cell-to-cell. There is strong evidence that the onset and progression of ALS pathology is a consequence of protein misfolding and aggregation. In line with this, a hallmark pathology of ALS is protein deposition and inclusion formation within motor neurons and surrounding glia of the proteins TAR DNA-binding protein 43, superoxide dismutase-1, or fused in sarcoma. Collectively, the observed protein aggregation, in conjunction with the spatiotemporal spread of symptoms, strongly suggests a prion-like propagation of protein aggregation occurs in ALS. In this review, we discuss the role of protein aggregation in ALS concerning protein homeostasis (proteostasis) mechanisms and prion-like propagation. Furthermore, we examine the experimental models used to investigate these processes, including in vitro assays, cultured cells, invertebrate models, and murine models. Finally, we evaluate the therapeutics that may best prevent the onset or spread of pathology in ALS and discuss what lies on the horizon for treating this currently incurable disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luke McAlary
- Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
- Molecular Horizons and School of Chemistry and Molecular Bioscience, Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
| | - Yee Lian Chew
- Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
- Molecular Horizons and School of Chemistry and Molecular Bioscience, Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
| | - Jeremy Stephen Lum
- Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
- Molecular Horizons and School of Chemistry and Molecular Bioscience, Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
| | - Nicholas John Geraghty
- Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
- Molecular Horizons and School of Chemistry and Molecular Bioscience, Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
| | - Justin John Yerbury
- Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
- Molecular Horizons and School of Chemistry and Molecular Bioscience, Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
| | - Neil R. Cashman
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
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16
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Abstract
Amyloid-β (Aβ) and tau proteins currently represent the two most promising targets to treat Alzheimer's disease. The most extensively developed method to treat the pathologic forms of these proteins is through the administration of exogenous antibodies, or passive immunotherapy. In this review, we discuss the molecular-level strategies that researchers are using to design an effective therapeutic antibody, given the challenges in treating this disease. These challenges include selectively targeting a protein that has misfolded or is pathological rather than the more abundant, healthy protein, designing strategic constructs for immunizing an animal to raise an antibody that has the appropriate conformational selectivity to achieve this end, and clearing the pathological protein species before prion-like cell-to-cell spread of misfolded protein has irreparably damaged neurons, without invoking damaging inflammatory responses in the brain that naturally arise when the innate immune system is clearing foreign agents. The various solutions to these problems in current clinical trials will be discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven S Plotkin
- University of British Columbia, Department of Physics and Astronomy and Genome Sciences and Technology Program, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada.
| | - Neil R Cashman
- University of British Columbia, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, BC V6T 2B5, Canada.
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17
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Yerbury JJ, Cashman NR. Selenium-based compounds: Emerging players in the ever-unfolding story of SOD1 in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. EBioMedicine 2020; 59:102997. [PMID: 32891934 PMCID: PMC7479490 DOI: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2020.102997] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2020] [Accepted: 08/25/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Justin J Yerbury
- Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, and School of Chemistry and Molecular Bioscience, Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
| | - Neil R Cashman
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
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18
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Abstract
The misfolding, aggregation, and deposition of specific proteins is the key hallmark of most progressive neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). ALS is characterized by the rapid and progressive degenerations of motor neurons in the spinal cord and motor cortex, resulting in paralysis of those who suffer from it. Pathologically, there are three major aggregating proteins associated with ALS, including TAR DNA-binding protein of 43kDa (TDP-43), superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD1), and fused in sarcoma (FUS). While there are ALS-associated mutations found in each of these proteins, the most prevalent aggregation pathology is that of wild-type TDP-43 (97% of cases), with the remaining split between mutant forms of SOD1 (~2%) and FUS (~1%). Considering the progressive nature of ALS and its association with the aggregation of specific proteins, a growing notion is that the spread of pathology and symptoms can be explained by a prion-like mechanism. Prion diseases are a group of highly infectious neurodegenerative disorders caused by the misfolding, aggregation, and spread of a transmissible conformer of prion protein (PrP). Pathogenic PrP is capable of converting healthy PrP into a toxic form through template-directed misfolding. Application of this finding to other neurodegenerative disorders, and in particular ALS, has revolutionized our understanding of cause and progression of these disorders. In this chapter, we first provide a background on ALS pathology and genetic origin. We then detail and discuss the evidence supporting a prion-like propagation of protein misfolding and aggregation in ALS with a particular focus on SOD1 and TDP-43 as these are the most well-established models in the field.
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Affiliation(s)
- L McAlary
- Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, Wollongong, NSW, Australia; Molecular Horizons and School of Chemistry and Molecular Bioscience, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
| | - J J Yerbury
- Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, Wollongong, NSW, Australia; Molecular Horizons and School of Chemistry and Molecular Bioscience, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
| | - N R Cashman
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
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19
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Wright GSA, Watanabe TF, Amporndanai K, Plotkin SS, Cashman NR, Antonyuk SV, Hasnain SS. Purification and Structural Characterization of Aggregation-Prone Human TDP-43 Involved in Neurodegenerative Diseases. iScience 2020; 23:101159. [PMID: 32480125 PMCID: PMC7262455 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2020.101159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2019] [Revised: 03/29/2020] [Accepted: 05/08/2020] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Mislocalization, cleavage, and aggregation of the human protein TDP-43 is found in many neurodegenerative diseases. As is the case with many other proteins that are completely or partially structurally disordered, production of full-length recombinant TDP-43 in the quantities necessary for structural characterization has proved difficult. We show that the full-length TDP-43 protein and two truncated N-terminal constructs 1-270 and 1-263 can be heterologously expressed in E. coli. Full-length TDP-43 could be prevented from aggregation during purification using a detergent. Crystals grown from an N-terminal construct (1-270) revealed only the N-terminal domain (residues 1-80) with molecules arranged as parallel spirals with neighboring molecules arranged in head-to-tail fashion. To obtain detergent-free, full-length TDP-43 we mutated all six tryptophan residues to alanine. This provided sufficient soluble protein to collect small-angle X-ray scattering data. Refining relative positions of individual domains and intrinsically disordered regions against this data yielded a model of full-length TDP-43.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gareth S A Wright
- Molecular Biophysics Group, Department of Biochemistry & Systems Biology, Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Liverpool L69 7ZB, UK
| | - Tatiana F Watanabe
- Molecular Biophysics Group, Department of Biochemistry & Systems Biology, Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Liverpool L69 7ZB, UK
| | - Kangsa Amporndanai
- Molecular Biophysics Group, Department of Biochemistry & Systems Biology, Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Liverpool L69 7ZB, UK
| | - Steven S Plotkin
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Neil R Cashman
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 2B5, Canada
| | - Svetlana V Antonyuk
- Molecular Biophysics Group, Department of Biochemistry & Systems Biology, Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Liverpool L69 7ZB, UK
| | - S Samar Hasnain
- Molecular Biophysics Group, Department of Biochemistry & Systems Biology, Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Liverpool L69 7ZB, UK.
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20
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Khorvash M, Blinov N, Ladner-Keay C, Lu J, Silverman JM, Gibbs E, Wang YT, Kovalenko A, Wishart D, Cashman NR. Molecular interactions between monoclonal oligomer-specific antibody 5E3 and its amyloid beta cognates. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0232266. [PMID: 32469918 PMCID: PMC7259632 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0232266] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2019] [Accepted: 04/12/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Oligomeric amyloid β (Aβ) is currently considered the most neurotoxic form of the Aβ peptide implicated in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The molecular structures of the oligomers have remained mostly unknown due to their transient nature. As a result, the molecular mechanisms of interactions between conformation-specific antibodies and their Aβ oligomer (AβO) cognates are not well understood. A monoclonal conformation-specific antibody, m5E3, was raised against a structural epitope of Aβ oligomers. m5E3 binds to AβOs with high affinity, but not to Aβ monomers or fibrils. In this study, a computational model of the variable fragment (Fv) of the m5E3 antibody (Fv5E3) is introduced. We further employ docking and molecular dynamics simulations to determine the molecular details of the antibody-oligomer interactions, and to classify the AβOs as Fv5E3-positives and negatives, and to provide a rationale for the low affinity of Fv5E3 for fibrils. This information will help us to perform site-directed mutagenesis on the m5E3 antibody to improve its specificity and affinity toward oligomeric Aβ species. We also provide evidence for the possible capability of the m5E3 antibody to disaggregate AβOs and to fragment protofilaments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Massih Khorvash
- Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- University of British Columbia, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Nick Blinov
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- National Research Council of Canada, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Carol Ladner-Keay
- National Research Council of Canada, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Jie Lu
- University of British Columbia, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Judith M. Silverman
- University of British Columbia, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Ebrima Gibbs
- University of British Columbia, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Yu Tian Wang
- University of British Columbia, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Andriy Kovalenko
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- National Research Council of Canada, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - David Wishart
- National Research Council of Canada, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- Department of Computing Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Neil R. Cashman
- Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- University of British Columbia, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- * E-mail:
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21
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Shafiei G, Markello RD, Makowski C, Talpalaru A, Kirschner M, Devenyi GA, Guma E, Hagmann P, Cashman NR, Lepage M, Chakravarty MM, Dagher A, Mišić B. Spatial Patterning of Tissue Volume Loss in Schizophrenia Reflects Brain Network Architecture. Biol Psychiatry 2020; 87:727-735. [PMID: 31837746 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2019.09.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2019] [Revised: 09/04/2019] [Accepted: 09/30/2019] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND There is growing recognition that connectome architecture shapes cortical and subcortical gray matter atrophy across a spectrum of neurological and psychiatric diseases. Whether connectivity contributes to tissue volume loss in schizophrenia in the same manner remains unknown. METHODS Here, we relate tissue volume loss in patients with schizophrenia to patterns of structural and functional connectivity. Gray matter deformation was estimated in a sample of 133 individuals with chronic schizophrenia (48 women, mean age 34.7 ± 12.9 years) and 113 control subjects (64 women, mean age 23.5 ± 8.4 years). Deformation-based morphometry was used to estimate cortical and subcortical gray matter deformation from T1-weighted magnetic resonance images. Structural and functional connectivity patterns were derived from an independent sample of 70 healthy participants using diffusion spectrum imaging and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. RESULTS We found that regional deformation is correlated with the deformation of structurally and functionally connected neighbors. Distributed deformation patterns are circumscribed by specific functional systems (the ventral attention network) and cytoarchitectonic classes (limbic class), with an epicenter in the anterior cingulate cortex. CONCLUSIONS Altogether, the present study demonstrates that brain tissue volume loss in schizophrenia is conditioned by structural and functional connectivity, accounting for 25% to 35% of regional variance in deformation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Golia Shafiei
- McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Integrated Program in Neuroscience, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Ross D Markello
- McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Integrated Program in Neuroscience, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Carolina Makowski
- McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Integrated Program in Neuroscience, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Alexandra Talpalaru
- Department of Biological and Biomedical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Cerebral Imaging Center, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Matthias Kirschner
- McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Psychiatric Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Gabriel A Devenyi
- Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Cerebral Imaging Center, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Elisa Guma
- Integrated Program in Neuroscience, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Cerebral Imaging Center, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Patric Hagmann
- Department of Radiology, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Neil R Cashman
- Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Martin Lepage
- Integrated Program in Neuroscience, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Cerebral Imaging Center, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - M Mallar Chakravarty
- Integrated Program in Neuroscience, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Department of Biological and Biomedical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Cerebral Imaging Center, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Alain Dagher
- McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Integrated Program in Neuroscience, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
| | - Bratislav Mišić
- McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Integrated Program in Neuroscience, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
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22
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Robert J, Button EB, Martin EM, McAlary L, Gidden Z, Gilmour M, Boyce G, Caffrey TM, Agbay A, Clark A, Silverman JM, Cashman NR, Wellington CL. Cerebrovascular amyloid Angiopathy in bioengineered vessels is reduced by high-density lipoprotein particles enriched in Apolipoprotein E. Mol Neurodegener 2020; 15:23. [PMID: 32213187 PMCID: PMC7093966 DOI: 10.1186/s13024-020-00366-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2019] [Accepted: 02/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Several lines of evidence suggest that high-density lipoprotein (HDL) reduces Alzheimer’s disease (AD) risk by decreasing vascular beta-amyloid (Aβ) deposition and inflammation, however, the mechanisms by which HDL improve cerebrovascular functions relevant to AD remain poorly understood. Methods Here we use a human bioengineered model of cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) to define several mechanisms by which HDL reduces Aβ deposition within the vasculature and attenuates endothelial inflammation as measured by monocyte binding. Results We demonstrate that HDL reduces vascular Aβ accumulation independently of its principal binding protein, scavenger receptor (SR)-BI, in contrast to the SR-BI-dependent mechanism by which HDL prevents Aβ-induced vascular inflammation. We describe multiple novel mechanisms by which HDL acts to reduce CAA, namely: i) altering Aβ binding to collagen-I, ii) forming a complex with Aβ that maintains its solubility, iii) lowering collagen-I protein levels produced by smooth-muscle cells (SMC), and iv) attenuating Aβ uptake into SMC that associates with reduced low density lipoprotein related protein 1 (LRP1) levels. Furthermore, we show that HDL particles enriched in apolipoprotein (apo)E appear to be the major drivers of these effects, providing new insights into the peripheral role of apoE in AD, in particular, the fraction of HDL that contains apoE. Conclusion The findings in this study identify new mechanisms by which circulating HDL, particularly HDL particles enriched in apoE, may provide vascular resilience to Aβ and shed new light on a potential role of peripherally-acting apoE in AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jerome Robert
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z3, Canada. .,Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z3, Canada. .,Present address: Institute of Clinical Chemistry, University Hospital Zurich, 8000, Zurich, Switzerland.
| | - Emily B Button
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z3, Canada.,Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Emma M Martin
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z3, Canada.,Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Luke McAlary
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z3, Canada.,Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z1, Canada
| | - Zoe Gidden
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Megan Gilmour
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z3, Canada.,Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Guilaine Boyce
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z3, Canada.,Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Tara M Caffrey
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z3, Canada.,Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Andrew Agbay
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z3, Canada.,Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Amanda Clark
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z3, Canada.,Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Judith M Silverman
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z3, Canada.,Department of Neurology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 2B5, Canada
| | - Neil R Cashman
- Department of Neurology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 2B5, Canada
| | - Cheryl L Wellington
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z3, Canada.,Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z3, Canada.,School of Biomedical Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z3, Canada.,International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, V5Z 1M9, Canada
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23
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McAlary L, Plotkin SS, Yerbury JJ, Cashman NR. Corrigendum: Prion-Like Propagation of Protein Misfolding and Aggregation in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Front Mol Neurosci 2020; 12:311. [PMID: 32038158 PMCID: PMC6986233 DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2019.00311] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2019] [Accepted: 12/04/2019] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Luke McAlary
- Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia.,Molecular Horizons and School of Chemistry and Molecular Bioscience, Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
| | - Steven S Plotkin
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.,Genome Sciences and Technology Program, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Justin J Yerbury
- Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia.,Molecular Horizons and School of Chemistry and Molecular Bioscience, Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
| | - Neil R Cashman
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
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24
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Semmler S, Gagné M, Garg P, Pickles SR, Baudouin C, Hamon-Keromen E, Destroismaisons L, Khalfallah Y, Chaineau M, Caron E, Bayne AN, Trempe JF, Cashman NR, Star AT, Haqqani AS, Durcan TM, Meiering EM, Robertson J, Grandvaux N, Plotkin SS, McBride HM, Vande Velde C. TNF receptor-associated factor 6 interacts with ALS-linked misfolded superoxide dismutase 1 and promotes aggregation. J Biol Chem 2020; 295:3808-3825. [PMID: 32029478 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.ra119.011215] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2019] [Revised: 01/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal disease, characterized by the selective loss of motor neurons leading to paralysis. Mutations in the gene encoding superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) are the second most common cause of familial ALS, and considerable evidence suggests that these mutations result in an increase in toxicity due to protein misfolding. We previously demonstrated in the SOD1G93A rat model that misfolded SOD1 exists as distinct conformers and forms deposits on mitochondrial subpopulations. Here, using SOD1G93A rats and conformation-restricted antibodies specific for misfolded SOD1 (B8H10 and AMF7-63), we identified the interactomes of the mitochondrial pools of misfolded SOD1. This strategy identified binding proteins that uniquely interacted with either AMF7-63 or B8H10-reactive SOD1 conformers as well as a high proportion of interactors common to both conformers. Of this latter set, we identified the E3 ubiquitin ligase TNF receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF6) as a SOD1 interactor, and we determined that exposure of the SOD1 functional loops facilitates this interaction. Of note, this conformational change was not universally fulfilled by all SOD1 variants and differentiated TRAF6 interacting from TRAF6 noninteracting SOD1 variants. Functionally, TRAF6 stimulated polyubiquitination and aggregation of the interacting SOD1 variants. TRAF6 E3 ubiquitin ligase activity was required for the former but was dispensable for the latter, indicating that TRAF6-mediated polyubiquitination and aggregation of the SOD1 variants are independent events. We propose that the interaction between misfolded SOD1 and TRAF6 may be relevant to the etiology of ALS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabrina Semmler
- Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec H3A 2B4, Canada.,Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier de Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec H2X 0A9, Canada
| | - Myriam Gagné
- Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier de Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec H2X 0A9, Canada.,Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec H3T 1J4, Canada
| | - Pranav Garg
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada
| | - Sarah R Pickles
- Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier de Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec H2X 0A9, Canada.,Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec H3T 1J4, Canada
| | - Charlotte Baudouin
- Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier de Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec H2X 0A9, Canada.,Université Catholique de Louvain, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Emeline Hamon-Keromen
- Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier de Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec H2X 0A9, Canada.,Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Laurie Destroismaisons
- Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier de Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec H2X 0A9, Canada
| | - Yousra Khalfallah
- Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier de Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec H2X 0A9, Canada.,Department of Neurosciences, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec H3T 1J4, Canada
| | - Mathilde Chaineau
- Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec H3A 2B4, Canada.,Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec H3A 2B4, Canada
| | - Elise Caron
- Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier de Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec H2X 0A9, Canada
| | - Andrew N Bayne
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec H3A 2B4, Canada
| | - Jean-François Trempe
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec H3A 2B4, Canada
| | - Neil R Cashman
- Department of Medicine (Neurology), University of British Columbia and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, Brain Research Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 2B5, Canada
| | - Alexandra T Star
- Human Health Therapeutics Portfolio, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0R6, Canada
| | - Arsalan S Haqqani
- Human Health Therapeutics Portfolio, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0R6, Canada
| | - Thomas M Durcan
- Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec H3A 2B4, Canada.,Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec H3A 2B4, Canada
| | - Elizabeth M Meiering
- Department of Chemistry, Guelph-Waterloo Centre for Graduate Work in Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada
| | - Janice Robertson
- Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5T 0S8, Canada
| | - Nathalie Grandvaux
- Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier de Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec H2X 0A9, Canada.,Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec H3T 1J4, Canada
| | - Steven S Plotkin
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada
| | - Heidi M McBride
- Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec H3A 2B4, Canada.,Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec H3A 2B4, Canada
| | - Christine Vande Velde
- Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier de Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec H2X 0A9, Canada .,Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec H3T 1J4, Canada.,Department of Neurosciences, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec H3T 1J4, Canada
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25
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Crown A, McAlary L, Fagerli E, Brown H, Yerbury JJ, Galaleldeen A, Cashman NR, Borchelt DR, Ayers JI. Tryptophan residue 32 in human Cu-Zn superoxide dismutase modulates prion-like propagation and strain selection. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0227655. [PMID: 31999698 PMCID: PMC6991973 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0227655] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2019] [Accepted: 12/21/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Mutations in Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) associated with familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis cause the protein to aggregate via a prion-like process in which soluble molecules are recruited to aggregates by conformational templating. These misfolded SOD1 proteins can propagate aggregation-inducing conformations across cellular membranes. Prior studies demonstrated that mutation of a Trp (W) residue at position 32 to Ser (S) suppresses the propagation of misfolded conformations between cells, whereas other studies have shown that mutation of Trp 32 to Phe (F), or Cys 111 to Ser, can act in cis to attenuate aggregation of mutant SOD1. By expressing mutant SOD1 fused with yellow fluorescent protein (YFP), we compared the relative ability of these mutations to modulate the formation of inclusions by ALS-mutant SOD1 (G93A and G85R). Only mutation of Trp 32 to Ser persistently reduced the formation of the amorphous inclusions that form in these cells, consistent with the idea that a Ser at position 32 inhibits templated propagation of aggregation prone conformations. To further test this idea, we produced aggregated fibrils of recombinant SOD1-W32S in vitro and injected them into the spinal cords of newborn mice expressing G85R-SOD1: YFP. The injected mice developed an earlier onset paralysis with a frequency similar to mice injected with WT SOD1 fibrils, generating a strain of misfolded SOD1 that produced highly fibrillar inclusion pathology. These findings suggest that the effect of Trp 32 in modulating the propagation of misfolded SOD1 conformations may be dependent upon the “strain” of the conformer that is propagating.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anthony Crown
- Center for Translational Research in Neurodegenerative Disease, SantaFe HealthCare Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Department of Neuroscience, McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
| | - Luke McAlary
- Molecular Horizons and School of Chemistry & Molecular Bioscience, University of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
- Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, School of Chemistry & Molecular Bioscience, University of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Eric Fagerli
- Center for Translational Research in Neurodegenerative Disease, SantaFe HealthCare Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Department of Neuroscience, McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
| | - Hilda Brown
- Center for Translational Research in Neurodegenerative Disease, SantaFe HealthCare Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Department of Neuroscience, McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
| | - Justin J. Yerbury
- Molecular Horizons and School of Chemistry & Molecular Bioscience, University of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
- Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, School of Chemistry & Molecular Bioscience, University of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Ahmad Galaleldeen
- Department of Biological Sciences, St. Mary’s University, San Antonio, Texas, United States of America
| | - Neil R. Cashman
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - David R. Borchelt
- Center for Translational Research in Neurodegenerative Disease, SantaFe HealthCare Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Department of Neuroscience, McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
| | - Jacob I. Ayers
- Center for Translational Research in Neurodegenerative Disease, SantaFe HealthCare Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, Department of Neuroscience, McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
- Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease, University of California, San Francisco, California, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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26
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McAlary L, Plotkin SS, Yerbury JJ, Cashman NR. Prion-Like Propagation of Protein Misfolding and Aggregation in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Front Mol Neurosci 2019; 12:262. [PMID: 31736708 PMCID: PMC6838634 DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2019.00262] [Citation(s) in RCA: 83] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2019] [Accepted: 10/14/2019] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
The discovery that prion protein can misfold into a pathological conformation that encodes structural information capable of both propagation and inducing severe neuropathology has revolutionized our understanding of neurodegenerative disease. Many neurodegenerative diseases with a protein misfolding component are now classified as “prion-like” owing to the propagation of both symptoms and protein aggregation pathology in affected individuals. The neuromuscular disorder amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is characterized by protein inclusions formed by either TAR DNA-binding protein of 43 kDa (TDP-43), Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1), or fused in sarcoma (FUS), in both upper and lower motor neurons. Evidence from in vitro, cell culture, and in vivo studies has provided strong evidence to support the involvement of a prion-like mechanism in ALS. In this article, we review the evidence suggesting that prion-like propagation of protein aggregation is a primary pathomechanism in ALS, focusing on the key proteins and genes involved in disease (TDP-43, SOD1, FUS, and C9orf72). In each case, we discuss the evidence ranging from biophysical studies to in vivo examinations of prion-like spreading. We suggest that the idiopathic nature of ALS may stem from its prion-like nature and that elucidation of the specific propagating protein assemblies is paramount to developing effective therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luke McAlary
- Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia.,Molecular Horizons and School of Chemistry and Molecular Bioscience, Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
| | - Steven S Plotkin
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.,Genome Sciences and Technology Program, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Justin J Yerbury
- Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia.,Molecular Horizons and School of Chemistry and Molecular Bioscience, Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
| | - Neil R Cashman
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
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27
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Zhao B, Marciniuk K, Gibbs E, Yousefi M, Napper S, Cashman NR. Therapeutic vaccines for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis directed against disease specific epitopes of superoxide dismutase 1. Vaccine 2019; 37:4920-4927. [DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2019.07.044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2019] [Revised: 06/08/2019] [Accepted: 07/10/2019] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
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28
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Gibbs E, Silverman JM, Zhao B, Peng X, Wang J, Wellington CL, Mackenzie IR, Plotkin SS, Kaplan JM, Cashman NR. A Rationally Designed Humanized Antibody Selective for Amyloid Beta Oligomers in Alzheimer's Disease. Sci Rep 2019; 9:9870. [PMID: 31285517 PMCID: PMC6614461 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-46306-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2018] [Accepted: 06/25/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Advances in the understanding of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) suggest that pathogenesis is not directly related to plaque burden, but rather to soluble toxic amyloid-beta oligomers (AßO). Therapeutic antibodies targeting Aß monomers and/or plaque have shown limited efficacy and dose-limiting adverse events in clinical trials. These findings suggest that antibodies capable of selectively neutralizing toxic AßO may achieve improved efficacy and safety. To this end, we generated monoclonal antibodies against a conformational Aß epitope predicted by computational modeling to be presented on toxic AßO but not monomers or fibrils. The resulting lead antibody, PMN310, showed the desired AßO-selective binding profile. In vitro, PMN310 inhibited AßO propagation and toxicity. In vivo, PMN310 prevented AßO-induced loss of memory formation and reduced synaptic loss and inflammation. A humanized version (huPMN310) compared favorably to other Aß-directed antibodies showing a lack of adverse event-associated binding to Aß deposits in AD brains, and greater selective binding to AßO-enriched AD brain fractions that contain synaptotoxic Aß species. Systemic administration of huPMN310 in mice resulted in brain exposure and kinetics comparable to those of other therapeutic human monoclonal antibodies. Greater selectivity for AßO and the potential to safely administer high doses of huPMN310 are expected to result in enhanced safety and therapeutic potency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ebrima Gibbs
- University of British Columbia, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, BC, V6T 2B5, Canada
| | - Judith M Silverman
- University of British Columbia, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, BC, V6T 2B5, Canada
| | - Beibei Zhao
- University of British Columbia, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, BC, V6T 2B5, Canada
| | - Xubiao Peng
- University of British Columbia, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z1, Canada
| | - Jing Wang
- University of British Columbia, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, BC, V6T 2B5, Canada
| | - Cheryl L Wellington
- University of British Columbia, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, BC, V6T 2B5, Canada
| | - Ian R Mackenzie
- University of British Columbia, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, BC, V6T 2B5, Canada
| | - Steven S Plotkin
- University of British Columbia, Department of Physics and Astronomy and Genome Sciences and Technology Program, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z1, Canada.,ProMIS Neurosciences, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA
| | | | - Neil R Cashman
- University of British Columbia, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Vancouver, BC, V6T 2B5, Canada. .,ProMIS Neurosciences, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA.
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29
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Pokrishevsky E, DuVal M, McAlary L, Zhao B, Gibbs E, Louadi S, Kaplan J, Plotkin SS, Allison WT, Cashman NR. P4-163: THE PATHOLOGICAL INTERACTOME OF TDP-43 INCLUDES HUMAN WILDTYPE SOD1. Alzheimers Dement 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jalz.2019.06.3825] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Luke McAlary
- University of British Columbia; Vancouver BC Canada
| | - Beibei Zhao
- University of British Columbia; Vancouver BC Canada
| | - Ebrima Gibbs
- University of British Columbia; Vancouver BC Canada
| | - Sarah Louadi
- University of British Columbia; Vancouver BC Canada
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30
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Cheng WH, Martens KM, Bashir A, Cheung H, Stukas SK, Gibbs E, Namjoshi D, Button EB, Wilkinson A, Barron CJ, Kent BA, Nygaard HB, Cashman NR, Cripton PA, Wellington CL. O3-01-02: CHIMERA REPETITIVE MILD TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY INDUCES CHRONIC BEHAVIORAL AND NEUROPATHOLOGICAL PHENOTYPES IN WILD-TYPE AND APP/PS1 MICE. Alzheimers Dement 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jalz.2019.06.4625] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Asma Bashir
- University of British Columbia; Vancouver BC Canada
| | - Honor Cheung
- University of British Columbia; Vancouver BC Canada
| | | | - Ebrima Gibbs
- University of British Columbia; Vancouver BC Canada
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31
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Kaplan J, Gibbs E, Silverman JM, Zhao B, Wang J, Peng X, Plotkin SS, Cashman NR. O5‐06‐01: SELECTIVE TARGETING OF AMYLOID‐BETA OLIGOMER SPECIES BY PMN310, A MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY RATIONALLY DESIGNED FOR GREATER THERAPEUTIC POTENCY IN ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE. Alzheimers Dement 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jalz.2019.06.4864] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Ebrima Gibbs
- University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
| | | | - Beibei Zhao
- University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
| | - Jing Wang
- University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
| | - Xubiao Peng
- University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
| | - Steven S. Plotkin
- ProMIS Neurosciences Toronto ON Canada
- University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
| | - Neil R. Cashman
- ProMIS Neurosciences Toronto ON Canada
- University of British Columbia Vancouver BC Canada
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32
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Cheng WH, Martens KM, Bashir A, Cheung H, Stukas S, Gibbs E, Namjoshi DR, Button EB, Wilkinson A, Barron CJ, Cashman NR, Cripton PA, Wellington CL. CHIMERA repetitive mild traumatic brain injury induces chronic behavioural and neuropathological phenotypes in wild-type and APP/PS1 mice. Alzheimers Res Ther 2019; 11:6. [PMID: 30636629 PMCID: PMC6330571 DOI: 10.1186/s13195-018-0461-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2018] [Accepted: 12/19/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Background The annual incidence of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the United States is over 2.5 million, with approximately 3–5 million people living with chronic sequelae. Compared with moderate-severe TBI, the long-term effects of mild TBI (mTBI) are less understood but important to address, particularly for contact sport athletes and military personnel who have high mTBI exposure. The purpose of this study was to determine the behavioural and neuropathological phenotypes induced by the Closed-Head Impact Model of Engineered Rotational Acceleration (CHIMERA) model of mTBI in both wild-type (WT) and APP/PS1 mice up to 8 months post-injury. Methods Male WT and APP/PS1 littermates were randomized to sham or repetitive mild TBI (rmTBI; 2 × 0.5 J impacts 24 h apart) groups at 5.7 months of age. Animals were assessed up to 8 months post-injury for acute neurological deficits using the loss of righting reflex (LRR) and Neurological Severity Score (NSS) tasks, and chronic behavioural changes using the passive avoidance (PA), Barnes maze (BM), elevated plus maze (EPM) and rotarod (RR) tasks. Neuropathological assessments included white matter damage; grey matter inflammation; and measures of Aβ levels, deposition, and aducanumab binding activity. Results The very mild CHIMERA rmTBI conditions used here produced no significant acute neurological or motor deficits in WT and APP/PS1 mice, but they profoundly inhibited extinction of fear memory specifically in APP/PS1 mice over the 8-month assessment period. Spatial learning and memory were affected by both injury and genotype. Anxiety and risk-taking behaviour were affected by injury but not genotype. CHIMERA rmTBI induced chronic white matter microgliosis, axonal injury and astrogliosis independent of genotype in the optic tract but not the corpus callosum, and it altered microgliosis in APP/PS1 amygdala and hippocampus. Finally, rmTBI did not alter long-term tau, Aβ or amyloid levels, but it increased aducanumab binding activity. Conclusions CHIMERA is a useful model to investigate the chronic consequences of rmTBI, including behavioural abnormalities consistent with features of post-traumatic stress disorder and inflammation of both white and grey matter. The presence of human Aβ greatly modified extinction of fear memory after rmTBI. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13195-018-0461-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wai Hang Cheng
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, 2215 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Kris M Martens
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, 2215 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Asma Bashir
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, 2215 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Honor Cheung
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, 2215 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Sophie Stukas
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, 2215 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Ebrima Gibbs
- Department of Neurology, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, 2215 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Dhananjay R Namjoshi
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, 2215 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Emily B Button
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, 2215 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Anna Wilkinson
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, 2215 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Carlos J Barron
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, 2215 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Neil R Cashman
- Department of Neurology, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, 2215 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Peter A Cripton
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries, University of British Columbia, 6250 Applied Sciences Lane, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Cheryl L Wellington
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, 2215 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z3, Canada.
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Silverman JM, Christy D, Shyu CC, Moon KM, Fernando S, Gidden Z, Cowan CM, Ban Y, Stacey RG, Grad LI, McAlary L, Mackenzie IR, Foster LJ, Cashman NR. CNS-derived extracellular vesicles from superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) G93A ALS mice originate from astrocytes and neurons and carry misfolded SOD1. J Biol Chem 2019; 294:3744-3759. [PMID: 30635404 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.ra118.004825] [Citation(s) in RCA: 95] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2018] [Revised: 01/02/2019] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are secreted by myriad cells in culture and also by unicellular organisms, and their identification in mammalian fluids suggests that EV release also occurs at the organism level. However, although it is clearly important to better understand EVs' roles in organismal biology, EVs in solid tissues have received little attention. Here, we modified a protocol for EV isolation from primary neural cell culture to collect EVs from frozen whole murine and human neural tissues by serial centrifugation and purification on a sucrose gradient. Quantitative proteomics comparing brain-derived EVs from nontransgenic (NTg) and a transgenic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) mouse model, superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1)G93A, revealed that these EVs contain canonical exosomal markers and are enriched in synaptic and RNA-binding proteins. The compiled brain EV proteome contained numerous proteins implicated in ALS, and EVs from SOD1G93A mice were significantly depleted in myelin-oligodendrocyte glycoprotein compared with those from NTg animals. We observed that brain- and spinal cord-derived EVs, from NTg and SOD1G93A mice, are positive for the astrocyte marker GLAST and the synaptic marker SNAP25, whereas CD11b, a microglial marker, was largely absent. EVs from brains and spinal cords of the SOD1G93A ALS mouse model, as well as from human SOD1 familial ALS patient spinal cord, contained abundant misfolded and nonnative disulfide-cross-linked aggregated SOD1. Our results indicate that CNS-derived EVs from an ALS animal model contain pathogenic disease-causing proteins and suggest that brain astrocytes and neurons, but not microglia, are the main EV source.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judith M Silverman
- From the Centre for Brain Health, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1B5, Canada
| | - Darren Christy
- From the Centre for Brain Health, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1B5, Canada
| | - Chih Cheih Shyu
- From the Centre for Brain Health, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1B5, Canada
| | - Kyung-Mee Moon
- the Centre for High-throughput Biology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1B5, Canada
| | - Sarah Fernando
- From the Centre for Brain Health, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1B5, Canada
| | - Zoe Gidden
- From the Centre for Brain Health, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1B5, Canada
| | - Catherine M Cowan
- From the Centre for Brain Health, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1B5, Canada
| | - Yuxin Ban
- From the Centre for Brain Health, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1B5, Canada
| | - R Greg Stacey
- the Centre for High-throughput Biology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1B5, Canada
| | - Leslie I Grad
- From the Centre for Brain Health, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1B5, Canada
| | - Luke McAlary
- From the Centre for Brain Health, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1B5, Canada.,the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z1, Canada, and
| | - Ian R Mackenzie
- the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1B5, Canada
| | - Leonard J Foster
- the Centre for High-throughput Biology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1B5, Canada
| | - Neil R Cashman
- From the Centre for Brain Health, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1B5, Canada,
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Abstract
The most common neurodegenerative diseases are Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), Huntington's disease, frontotemporal lobar degeneration, and the motor neuron diseases, with AD affecting approximately 6% of people aged 65 years and older, and PD affecting approximately 1% of people aged over 60 years. Specific proteins are associated with these neurodegenerative diseases, as determined by both immunohistochemical studies on post-mortem tissue and genetic screening, where protein misfolding and aggregation are key hallmarks. Many of these proteins are shown to misfold and aggregate into soluble non-native oligomers and large insoluble protein deposits (fibrils and plaques), both of which may exert a toxic gain of function. Proteotoxicity has been examined intensively in cell culture and in in vivo models, and clinical trials of methods to attenuate proteotoxicity are relatively new. Therapies to enhance cellular protein quality control mechanisms such as upregulation of chaperones and clearance/degradation pathways, as well as immunotherapies against toxic protein conformations, are being actively pursued. In this article, we summarize the common pathophysiology of neurodegenerative disease, and review therapies in early-phase clinical trials that target the proteotoxic component of several neurodegenerative diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luke McAlary
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z1, Canada.
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 2B5, Canada.
| | - Steven S Plotkin
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z1, Canada.
- Genome Sciences and Technology Program, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z2, Canada.
| | - Neil R Cashman
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 2B5, Canada.
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Abstract
We introduce a global, collective coordinate bias into molecular dynamics simulations that partially unfolds a protein, in order to predict misfolding-specific epitopes based on the regions that locally unfold. Several metrics are used to measure local disorder, including solvent exposed surface area (SASA), native contacts ( Q), and root mean squared fluctuations (RMSF). The method is applied to Cu, Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1). For this protein, the processes of monomerization, metal loss, and conformational unfolding due to microenvironmental stresses are all separately taken into account. Several misfolding-specific epitopes are predicted, and consensus epitopes are calculated. These predicted epitopes are consistent with the "lower-resolution" peptide sequences used to raise disease-specific antibodies, but the epitopes derived from collective coordinates contain shorter, more refined sequences for the key residues constituting the epitope.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xubiao Peng
- Department of Physics and Astronomy , University of British Columbia , Vancouver , British Columbia V6T 1Z1 , Canada.,Center for Quantum Technology Research, School of Physics , Beijing Institute of Technology , Haidian, Beijing 100081 , China
| | - Neil R Cashman
- Brain Research Centre , University of British Columbia , Vancouver , British Columbia V6T 2B5 , Canada
| | - Steven S Plotkin
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, and Genome Sciences and Technology Program , University of British Columbia , Vancouver , British Columbia V6T 1Z1 , Canada
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Pokrishevsky E, McAlary L, Farrawell NE, Zhao B, Sher M, Yerbury JJ, Cashman NR. Tryptophan 32-mediated SOD1 aggregation is attenuated by pyrimidine-like compounds in living cells. Sci Rep 2018; 8:15590. [PMID: 30349065 PMCID: PMC6197196 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-32835-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2018] [Accepted: 09/14/2018] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Over 160 mutations in superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) are associated with familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (fALS), where the main pathological feature is deposition of SOD1 into proteinaceous cytoplasmic inclusions. We previously showed that the tryptophan residue at position 32 (W32) mediates the prion-like propagation of SOD1 misfolding in cells, and that a W32S substitution blocks this phenomenon. Here, we used in vitro protein assays to demonstrate that a W32S substitution in SOD1-fALS mutants significantly diminishes their propensity to aggregate whilst paradoxically decreasing protein stability. We also show SOD1-W32S to be resistant to seeded aggregation, despite its high abundance of unfolded protein. A cell-based aggregation assay demonstrates that W32S substitution significantly mitigates inclusion formation. Furthermore, this assay reveals that W32 in SOD1 is necessary for the formation of a competent seed for aggregation under these experimental conditions. Following the observed importance of W32 for aggregation, we established that treatment of living cells with the W32-interacting 5-Fluorouridine (5-FUrd), and its FDA approved analogue 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU), substantially attenuate inclusion formation similarly to W32S substitution. Altogether, we highlight W32 as a significant contributor to SOD1 aggregation, and propose that 5-FUrd and 5-FU present promising lead drug candidates for the treatment of SOD1-associated ALS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edward Pokrishevsky
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 2B5, Canada
| | - Luke McAlary
- Faculty of Science Medicine and Health, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia.,Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia
| | - Natalie E Farrawell
- Faculty of Science Medicine and Health, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia.,Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia
| | - Beibei Zhao
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 2B5, Canada
| | - Mine Sher
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 2B5, Canada
| | - Justin J Yerbury
- Faculty of Science Medicine and Health, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia. .,Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia.
| | - Neil R Cashman
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 2B5, Canada.
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Atlasi RS, Malik R, Corrales CI, Tzeplaeff L, Whitelegge JP, Cashman NR, Bitan G. Investigation of Anti-SOD1 Antibodies Yields New Structural Insight into SOD1 Misfolding and Surprising Behavior of the Antibodies Themselves. ACS Chem Biol 2018; 13:2794-2807. [PMID: 30110532 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.8b00729] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Mutations in Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase (SOD1) gene are linked to 10-20% of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (fALS) cases. The mutations cause misfolding and self-assembly of SOD1 into toxic oligomers and aggregates, resulting in motor neuron degeneration. The molecular mechanisms underlying SOD1 aggregation and toxicity are unclear. Characterization of misfolded SOD1 is particularly challenging because of its metastable nature. Antibodies against misfolded SOD1 are useful tools for this purpose, provided their specificity and selectivity are well-characterized. Here, we characterized three recently introduced antimisfolded SOD1 antibodies and compared them with two commercial, antimisfolded SOD1 antibodies raised against the fALS-linked variant G93A-SOD1. As controls, we compared the reactivity of these antibodies to two polyclonal anti-SOD1 antibodies expected to be insensitive to misfolding. We asked to what extent the antibodies could distinguish between WT and variant SOD1 and between native and misfolded conformations. WT, G93A-SOD1, or E100K-SOD1 were incubated under aggregation-promoting conditions and monitored using thioflavin-T fluorescence, electron microscopy, and dot blots. WT and G93A-SOD1 also were analyzed using native-PAGE/Western blot. The new antimisfolded SOD1 and the commercial antibody B8H10 showed variable reactivity using dot blots but generally showed maximum reactivity at the time misfolded SOD1 oligomers were expected to be most abundant. In contrast, only B8H10 and the control antibodies were reactive in Western blots. Unexpectedly, the polyclonal antibodies showed strong preference for the misfolded form of G93A-SOD1 in dot blots. Surprisingly, antimisfolded SOD1 antibody C4F6 was specific for the apo form of G93A-SOD1 but insensitive to misfolding. Antibody 10C12 showed preference for early misfolded structures, whereas 3H1 bound preferentially to late structures. These new antibodies allow distinction between putative early- and late-forming prefibrillar SOD1 oligomers.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Neil R. Cashman
- Department of Neurology, University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 2B5, Canada
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Paré B, Lehmann M, Beaudin M, Nordström U, Saikali S, Julien JP, Gilthorpe JD, Marklund SL, Cashman NR, Andersen PM, Forsberg K, Dupré N, Gould P, Brännström T, Gros-Louis F. Misfolded SOD1 pathology in sporadic Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Sci Rep 2018; 8:14223. [PMID: 30242181 PMCID: PMC6155098 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-31773-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2018] [Accepted: 08/15/2018] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Aggregation of mutant superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) is a pathological hallmark of a subset of familial ALS patients. However, the possible role of misfolded wild type SOD1 in human ALS is highly debated. To ascertain whether or not misfolded SOD1 is a common pathological feature in non-SOD1 ALS, we performed a blinded histological and biochemical analysis of post mortem brain and spinal cord tissues from 19 sporadic ALS, compared with a SOD1 A4V patient as well as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and non-neurological controls. Multiple conformation- or misfolded-specific antibodies for human SOD1 were compared. These were generated independently by different research groups and were compared using standardized conditions. Five different misSOD1 staining patterns were found consistently in tissue sections from SALS cases and the SOD1 A4V patient, but were essentially absent in AD and non-neurological controls. We have established clear experimental protocols and provide specific guidelines for working, with conformational/misfolded SOD1-specific antibodies. Adherence to these guidelines will aid in the comparison of the results of future studies and better interpretation of staining patterns. This blinded, standardized and unbiased approach provides further support for a possible pathological role of misSOD1 in SALS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bastien Paré
- Laval University Experimental Organogenesis Research Center/LOEX, Division of Regenerative Medicine, CHU de Québec Research Center - Enfant-Jésus Hospital, Québec, Canada.,Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, Québec, Canada
| | - Manuela Lehmann
- Department of Pharmacology and Clinical Neuroscience, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Marie Beaudin
- Neuroscience Division of the CHU de Québec and Department of Medicine of the Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, Québec, QC, Canada
| | - Ulrika Nordström
- Department of Pharmacology and Clinical Neuroscience, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Stephan Saikali
- Department of Medical Biology, Division of Anatomic Pathology and Neuropathology, CHU de Québec, Hôpital de l'Enfant-Jésus, Québec, Canada
| | - Jean-Pierre Julien
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Laval University, Québec City, Québec, Canada.,Centre de Recherche CERVO, Québec City, Québec, Canada
| | - Jonathan D Gilthorpe
- Department of Pharmacology and Clinical Neuroscience, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Stefan L Marklund
- Department of Medical Biosciences, Clinical Chemistry, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Neil R Cashman
- Department of Medicine (Neurology), Brain Research Center, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Peter M Andersen
- Department of Pharmacology and Clinical Neuroscience, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Karin Forsberg
- Department of Medical Biosciences, Pathology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Nicolas Dupré
- Neuroscience Division of the CHU de Québec and Department of Medicine of the Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, Québec, QC, Canada
| | - Peter Gould
- Department of Medical Biology, Division of Anatomic Pathology and Neuropathology, CHU de Québec, Hôpital de l'Enfant-Jésus, Québec, Canada
| | - Thomas Brännström
- Department of Medical Biosciences, Pathology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
| | - François Gros-Louis
- Laval University Experimental Organogenesis Research Center/LOEX, Division of Regenerative Medicine, CHU de Québec Research Center - Enfant-Jésus Hospital, Québec, Canada. .,Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, Québec, Canada.
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39
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Silverman JM, Gibbs E, Peng X, Martens KM, Balducci C, Wang J, Yousefi M, Cowan CM, Lamour G, Louadi S, Ban Y, Robert J, Stukas S, Forloni G, Hsiung GYR, Plotkin SS, Wellington CL, Cashman NR. A Rational Structured Epitope Defines a Distinct Subclass of Toxic Amyloid-beta Oligomers. ACS Chem Neurosci 2018; 9:1591-1606. [PMID: 29614860 DOI: 10.1021/acschemneuro.7b00469] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Oligomers of amyloid-β (AβO) are deemed key in synaptotoxicity and amyloid seeding of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the heterogeneous and dynamic nature of AβO and inadequate markers for AβO subtypes have stymied effective AβO identification and therapeutic targeting in vivo. We identified an AβO-subclass epitope defined by differential solvent orientation of the lysine 28 side chain in a constrained loop of serine-asparagine-lysine (cSNK), rarely displayed in molecular dynamics simulations of monomer and fibril ensembles. A mouse monoclonal antibody targeting AβOcSNK recognizes ∼50-60 kDa SDS-resistant soluble Aβ assemblages in AD brain and prolongs the lag phase of Aβ aggregation in vitro. Acute peripheral infusion of a murine IgG1 anti-AβOcSNK in two AD mouse models reduced soluble brain Aβ aggregates by 20-30%. Chronic cSNK peptide immunization of APP/PS1 mice engendered an anti-AβOcSNK IgG1 response without epitope spreading to Aβ monomers or fibrils and was accompanied by preservation of global PSD95 expression and improved cued fear memory. Our data indicate that the oligomer subtype AβOcSNK participates in synaptotoxicity and propagation of Aβ aggregation in vitro and in vivo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judith M. Silverman
- Department of Medicine, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, 2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 2B5, Canada
| | - Ebrima Gibbs
- Department of Medicine, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, 2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 2B5, Canada
| | - Xubiao Peng
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Genome Sciences and Technology Program, Bioinformatics, Institute for Applied Math, University of British Columbia, Room
311, 6356 Agricultural Road, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2, Canada
| | - Kris M. Martens
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, 2215 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Claudia Balducci
- IRCCS, Department of Neuroscience, Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, Via La Masa, 19, 20156 Milano, Italy
| | - Jing Wang
- Department of Medicine, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, 2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 2B5, Canada
| | - Masoud Yousefi
- Department of Medicine, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, 2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 2B5, Canada
| | - Catherine M. Cowan
- Department of Medicine, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, 2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 2B5, Canada
| | - Guillaume Lamour
- Chemistry Department, University of British Columbia, Rm D223, 2036 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada
| | - Sarah Louadi
- Department of Medicine, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, 2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 2B5, Canada
| | - Yuxin Ban
- Department of Medicine, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, 2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 2B5, Canada
| | - Jerome Robert
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, 2215 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Sophie Stukas
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, 2215 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Gianluigi Forloni
- IRCCS, Department of Neuroscience, Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research, Via La Masa, 19, 20156 Milano, Italy
| | - Ging-Yuek R. Hsiung
- UBC Hospital Clinic for Alzheimer Disease and Related Disorders, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, 2215 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Steven S. Plotkin
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Genome Sciences and Technology Program, Bioinformatics, Institute for Applied Math, University of British Columbia, Room
311, 6356 Agricultural Road, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2, Canada
| | - Cheryl L. Wellington
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, 2215 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Neil R. Cashman
- Department of Medicine, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, 2211 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 2B5, Canada
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40
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Kaplan J, Gibbs E, Silverman JM, Wang J, Peng X, Plotkin SS, Cashman NR. P2‐048: HUMANIZED PMN310 SHOWS ENHANCED THERAPEUTIC POTENTIAL BY BINDING TOXIC LOW MOLECULAR WEIGHT Aβ OLIGOMERS WHILE AVOIDING ARIA‐RELATED BINDING TO Aβ DEPOSITS IN AD PATIENT BRAINS. Alzheimers Dement 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jalz.2018.06.732] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Jing Wang
- University of British ColumbiaVancouverBCCanada
| | - Xubiao Peng
- University of British ColumbiaVancouverBCCanada
| | - Steven S. Plotkin
- ProMIS NeurosciencesTorontoONCanada
- University of British ColumbiaVancouverBCCanada
| | - Neil R. Cashman
- ProMIS NeurosciencesTorontoONCanada
- University of British ColumbiaVancouverBCCanada
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41
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Peng X, Gibbs E, Silverman JM, Cashman NR, Plotkin SS. Computational Epitope Prediction and Screening Precision Antibody Therapeutics for Alzheimer's Disease. Biophys J 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2017.11.3633] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
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42
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Mercer RCC, Daude N, Dorosh L, Fu ZL, Mays CE, Gapeshina H, Wohlgemuth SL, Acevedo-Morantes CY, Yang J, Cashman NR, Coulthart MB, Pearson DM, Joseph JT, Wille H, Safar JG, Jansen GH, Stepanova M, Sykes BD, Westaway D. A novel Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker disease mutation defines a precursor for amyloidogenic 8 kDa PrP fragments and reveals N-terminal structural changes shared by other GSS alleles. PLoS Pathog 2018; 14:e1006826. [PMID: 29338055 PMCID: PMC5786331 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1006826] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2017] [Revised: 01/26/2018] [Accepted: 12/18/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
To explore pathogenesis in a young Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker Disease (GSS) patient, the corresponding mutation, an eight-residue duplication in the hydrophobic region (HR), was inserted into the wild type mouse PrP gene. Transgenic (Tg) mouse lines expressing this mutation (Tg.HRdup) developed spontaneous neurologic syndromes and brain extracts hastened disease in low-expressor Tg.HRdup mice, suggesting de novo formation of prions. While Tg.HRdup mice exhibited spongiform change, PrP aggregates and the anticipated GSS hallmark of a proteinase K (PK)-resistant 8 kDa fragment deriving from the center of PrP, the LGGLGGYV insertion also imparted alterations in PrP's unstructured N-terminus, resulting in a 16 kDa species following thermolysin exposure. This species comprises a plausible precursor to the 8 kDa PK-resistant fragment and its detection in adolescent Tg.HRdup mice suggests that an early start to accumulation could account for early disease of the index case. A 16 kDa thermolysin-resistant signature was also found in GSS patients with P102L, A117V, H187R and F198S alleles and has coordinates similar to GSS stop codon mutations. Our data suggest a novel shared pathway of GSS pathogenesis that is fundamentally distinct from that producing structural alterations in the C-terminus of PrP, as observed in other prion diseases such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease and scrapie. Prion diseases can be sporadic, infectious or genetic. The central event of all prion diseases is the structural conversion of the cellular prion protein (PrPC) to its disease associated conformer, PrPSc. Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker Disease (GSS) is a genetic prion disease presenting as a multi-systemic neurological syndrome. A novel mutation, an eight amino acid insertion, was discovered in a young GSS patient. We created transgenic mice expressing this mutation and found that they recapitulate key features of the disease; namely PrP deposition in the brain and a low molecular weight proteinase K (PK) resistant internal PrP fragment. While structural investigations did not reveal a gross alteration in the conformation of this mutant PrP, the insertion lying at the boundary of the globular domain causes alterations in the unstructured amino terminal portion of the protein such that it becomes resistant to digestion by the enzyme thermolysin. We demonstrate by kinetic analysis and sequential digestion that this novel thermolysin resistant species is a precursor to the pathognomonic PK resistant fragment. Analysis of samples from other GSS patients revealed this same signature, suggesting a common molecular pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert C. C. Mercer
- Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- Department of Medicine (Neurology), University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Nathalie Daude
- Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Lyudmyla Dorosh
- National Research Council of Canada, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Ze-Lin Fu
- Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Charles E. Mays
- Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Hristina Gapeshina
- Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Serene L. Wohlgemuth
- Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | | | - Jing Yang
- Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Neil R. Cashman
- Brain Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Michael B. Coulthart
- Canadian Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Surveillance System, Centre for Foodborne, Environmental and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Public Health Agency of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | - Dawn M. Pearson
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Jeffrey T. Joseph
- Hotchkiss Brain Institute and Calgary Laboratory Services, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Holger Wille
- Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Jiri G. Safar
- Departments of Pathology and Neurology, School of Medicine Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, United States of America
| | - Gerard H. Jansen
- Canadian Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Surveillance System, Centre for Foodborne, Environmental and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Public Health Agency of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
- Division of Anatomical Pathology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | - Maria Stepanova
- National Research Council of Canada, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Brian D. Sykes
- Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - David Westaway
- Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- Department of Medicine (Neurology), University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- * E-mail:
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Abstract
The prion hypothesis - a protein conformation capable of replicating without a nucleic acid genome - was heretical at the time of its discovery. However, the characteristics of the disease-misfolded prion protein and its ability to transmit disease, replicate, and spread are now widely accepted throughout the scientific community. In fact, in the last decade a wealth of evidence has emerged supporting similar properties observed for many of the misfolded proteins implicated in other neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer disease, Parkinson disease, tauopathies, and as described in this chapter, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Multiple studies have now demonstrated the ability for superoxide dismutase-1, 43-kDa transactive response (TAR) DNA-binding protein, fused-in sarcoma, and most recently, C9orf72-encoded polypeptides to display properties similar to those of prions. The majority of these are cell-free and in vitro assays, while superoxide dismutase-1 remains the only ALS-linked protein to demonstrate several prion-like properties in vivo. In this chapter, we provide an introduction to ALS and review the recent literature linking several proteins implicated in the familial forms of the disease to properties of the prion protein.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacob I Ayers
- Department of Neuroscience, Center for Translational Research in Neurodegenerative Disease (CTRND), University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Neil R Cashman
- Department of Medicine, Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
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Blinov N, Khorvash M, Wishart DS, Cashman NR, Kovalenko A. Initial Structural Models of the Aβ42 Dimer from Replica Exchange Molecular Dynamics Simulations. ACS Omega 2017; 2:7621-7636. [PMID: 31457321 PMCID: PMC6645216 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.7b00805] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2017] [Accepted: 10/26/2017] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Experimental characterization of the molecular structure of small amyloid (A)β oligomers that are currently considered as toxic agents in Alzheimer's disease is a formidably difficult task due to their transient nature and tendency to aggregate. Such structural information is of importance because it can help in developing diagnostics and an effective therapy for the disease. In this study, molecular simulations and protein-protein docking are employed to explore a possible connection between the structure of Aβ monomers and the properties of the intermonomer interface in the Aβ42 dimer. A structurally diverse ensemble of conformations of the monomer was sampled in microsecond timescale implicit solvent replica exchange molecular dynamics simulations. Representative structures with different solvent exposure of hydrophobic residues and secondary structure content were selected to build structural models of the dimer. Analysis of these models reveals that formation of an intramonomer salt bridge (SB) between Asp23 and Lys28 residues can prevent the building of a hydrophobic interface between the central hydrophobic clusters (CHCs) of monomers upon dimerization. This structural feature of the Aβ42 dimer is related to the difference in packing of hydrophobic residues in monomers with the Asp23-Lys28 SB in on and off states, in particular, to a lower propensity to form hydrophobic contacts between the CHC domain and C-terminal residues in monomers with a formed SB. These findings could have important implications for understanding the difference between aggregation pathways of Aβ monomers leading to neurotoxic oligomers or inert fibrillar structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikolay Blinov
- Department
of Mechanical Engineering, University of
Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 1H9, Canada
- National
Institute for Nanotechnology, National Research
Council of Canada, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2M9, Canada
| | - Massih Khorvash
- Department
of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 2B5, Canada
| | - David S. Wishart
- Departments
of Computing Science and Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E8, Canada
| | - Neil R. Cashman
- Department
of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 2B5, Canada
| | - Andriy Kovalenko
- Department
of Mechanical Engineering, University of
Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 1H9, Canada
- National
Institute for Nanotechnology, National Research
Council of Canada, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2M9, Canada
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Pokrishevsky E, Hong RH, Mackenzie IR, Cashman NR. Spinal cord homogenates from SOD1 familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis induce SOD1 aggregation in living cells. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0184384. [PMID: 28877271 PMCID: PMC5587256 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0184384] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2017] [Accepted: 08/22/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Mutant Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) can confer its misfolding on wild-type SOD1 in living cells; the propagation of misfolding can also be transmitted between cells in vitro. Recent studies identified fluorescently-tagged SOD1G85R as a promiscuous substrate that is highly prone to aggregate by a variety of templates, in vitro and in vivo. Here, we utilized several SOD1-GFP reporter proteins with G37R, G85R, or G93A mutations in SOD1. We observed that human spinal cord homogenates prepared from SOD1 familial ALS (FALS) can induce significantly more intracellular reporter protein aggregation than spinal cord homogenates from sporadic ALS, Alzheimer’s disease, multiple system atrophy or healthy control individuals. We also determined that the induction of reporter protein aggregation by SOD1-FALS tissue homogenates can be attenuated by incubating the cells with the SOD1 misfolding-specific antibody 3H1, or the small molecule 5-fluorouridine. Our study further implicates SOD1 as the seeding particle responsible for the spread of SOD1-FALS neurodegeneration from its initial onset site(s), and demonstrates two potential therapeutic strategies for SOD1-mediated disease. This work also comprises a medium-throughput cell-based platform of screening potential therapeutics to attenuate propagated aggregation of SOD1.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edward Pokrishevsky
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Ran Ha Hong
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Ian R. Mackenzie
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Neil R. Cashman
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- * E-mail:
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46
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Abstract
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is primarily characterized by progressive loss of motor neurons, although there is marked phenotypic heterogeneity between cases. Typical, or "classical," ALS is associated with simultaneous upper motor neuron (UMN) and lower motor neuron (LMN) involvement at disease onset, whereas atypical forms, such as primary lateral sclerosis and progressive muscular atrophy, have early and predominant involvement in the UMN and LMN, respectively. The varying phenotypes can be so distinctive that they would seem to have differing biology. Because the same phenotypes can have multiple causes, including different gene mutations, there may be multiple molecular mechanisms causing ALS, implying that the disease is a syndrome. Conversely, multiple phenotypes can be caused by a single gene mutation; thus, a single molecular mechanism could be compatible with clinical heterogeneity. The pathogenic mechanism(s) in ALS remain unknown, but active propagation of the pathology neuroanatomically is likely a primary component.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leslie I Grad
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Department of Medicine (Neurology), University of British Columbia, Vancouver V6T 2B5, Canada
| | - Guy A Rouleau
- Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, McGill University, Montréal H3A 2B4, Canada
| | - John Ravits
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093
| | - Neil R Cashman
- Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, Department of Medicine (Neurology), University of British Columbia, Vancouver V6T 2B5, Canada
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47
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Button EB, Robert J, Stukas S, Boyce G, Gibbs E, Cowan C, Cheng WH, Soo S, Yuen B, Bahrabadi A, Kang K, Kulic I, Francis G, Cashman NR, Wellington C. [P4–118]: HIGH‐DENSITY LIPOPROTEINS SUPPRESS Aβ‐INDUCED BRAIN MICROVASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL CELL ACTIVATION. Alzheimers Dement 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jalz.2017.06.1984] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Sonja Soo
- University of British ColumbiaVancouverBCCanada
| | - Brian Yuen
- University of British ColumbiaVancouverBCCanada
| | | | - Kevin Kang
- University of British ColumbiaVancouverBCCanada
| | - Iva Kulic
- University of British ColumbiaVancouverBCCanada
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48
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Kaplan J, Silverman JM, Gibbs E, Wang J, Peng X, Plotkin SS, Cashman NR. [O2–14–03]: TARGETING OF TOXIC AMYLOID‐BETA OLIGOMER SPECIES BY MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY PMN310: PRECISION DRUG DESIGN FOR ALZHEIMER's DISEASE. Alzheimers Dement 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jalz.2017.07.225] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Johanne Kaplan
- ProMIS NeurosciencesTorontoONCanada
- University of British ColumbiaVancouverBCCanada
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49
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Silverman JM, Gibbs E, Martens K, Balducci C, Wang J, Yousefi M, Peng X, Cowan C, Forloni G, Robin Hsiung G, Plotkin SS, Wellington C, Cashman NR. [P3–182]: PROPAGATIVE TOXIC Aβ OLIGOMER SUBCLASS IDENTIFIED AND DEFINED BY SOLVENT ORIENTATION OF THE LYSINE 28 SIDE CHAIN. Alzheimers Dement 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jalz.2017.06.1394] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Claudia Balducci
- IRCCS, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario NegriMilanoItaly
| | - Jing Wang
- University of British ColumbiaVancouverBCCanada
| | | | - Xubiao Peng
- University of British ColumbiaVancouverBCCanada
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50
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Wang MD, Little J, Gomes J, Cashman NR, Krewski D. Identification of risk factors associated with onset and progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis using systematic review and meta-analysis. Neurotoxicology 2017; 61:101-130. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuro.2016.06.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 99] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2016] [Accepted: 06/29/2016] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
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