Infection promotes Ser-214 phosphorylation important for generation of cytotoxic tau variants

Patients who recover from hospital-acquired pneumonia exhibit a high incidence of end-organ dysfunction following hospital discharge, including cognitive deficits. We have previously demonstrated that pneumonia induces the production and release of cytotoxic oligomeric tau from pulmonary endothelial cells, and these tau oligomers can enter the circulation and may be a cause of long-term morbidities. Endothelial-derived oligomeric tau is hyperphosphorylated during infection. The purpose of these studies was to determine whether Ser-214 phosphorylation of tau is a necessary stimulus for generation of cytotoxic tau variants. The results of these studies demonstrate that Ser-214 phosphorylation is critical for the cytotoxic properties of infection-induced oligomeric tau. In the lung, Ser-214 phosphorylated tau contributes to disruption of the alveolar-capillary barrier, resulting in increased permeability. However, in the brain, both the Ser-214 phosphorylated tau and the mutant Ser-214-Ala tau, which cannot be phosphorylated, disrupted hippocampal long-term potentiation suggesting that inhibition of long-term potentiation was relatively insensitive to the phosphorylation status of Ser-214. Nonetheless, phosphorylation of tau is essential to its cytotoxicity since global dephosphorylation of the infection-induced cytotoxic tau variants rescued long-term potentiation. Collectively, these data demonstrate that multiple forms of oligomeric tau are generated during infectious pneumonia, with different forms of oligomeric tau being responsible for dysfunction of distinct end-organs during pneumonia.

Focusing on oligomeric tau as a therapeutic target in Alzheimer's disease and other tauopathies

INTRODUCTION

Tau has commanded much attention as a potential therapeutic target in neurodegenerative diseases. Tau pathology is a hallmark of primary tauopathies, such as progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), corticobasal syndrome (CBS), and subtypes of frontotemporal dementia (FTD), as well as secondary tauopathies, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). The development of tau therapeutics must reconcile with the structural complexity of the tau proteome, as well as an incomplete understanding of the role of tau in both physiology and disease.

AREAS COVERED

This review offers a current perspective on tau biology, discusses key barriers to the development of effective tau-based therapeutics, and promotes the idea that pathogenic (as opposed to merely pathological) tau should be at the center of drug development efforts.

EXPERT OPINION

An efficacious tau therapeutic will exhibit several primary features: 1) selectivity for pathogenic tau versus other tau species; 2) blood-brain barrier and cell membrane permeability, enabling access to intracellular tau in disease-relevant brain regions; and 3) minimal toxicity. Oligomeric tau is proposed as a major pathogenic form of tau and a compelling drug target in tauopathies.

A critical appraisal of tau-targeting therapies for primary and secondary tauopathies

INTRODUCTION

Primary tauopathies are neurological disorders in which tau protein deposition is the predominant pathological feature. Alzheimer's disease is a secondary tauopathy with tau forming hyperphosphorylated insoluble aggregates. Tau pathology can propagate from region to region in the brain, while alterations in tau processing may impair tau physiological functions.

METHODS

We reviewed literature on tau biology and anti-tau drugs using PubMed, meeting abstracts, and ClnicalTrials.gov.

RESULTS

The past 15 years have seen >30 drugs interfering with tau aggregation, processing, and accumulation reaching the clinic. Initial results with tau aggregation inhibitors and anti-tau monoclonal antibodies have not shown clinical efficacy.

DISCUSSION

The reasons for these clinical failures are unclear but could be linked to the clearing of physiological forms of tau by non-specific drugs. Research is now concentrating efforts on developing reliable translational animal models and selective compounds targeting specific tau epitopes, neurotoxic tau aggregates, and post-translational tau modifications.

TIA1 potentiates tau phase separation and promotes generation of toxic oligomeric tau

Tau protein plays an important role in the biology of stress granules and in the stress response of neurons, but the nature of these biochemical interactions is not known. Here we show that the interaction of tau with RNA and the RNA binding protein TIA1 is sufficient to drive phase separation of tau at physiological concentrations, without the requirement for artificial crowding agents such as polyethylene glycol (PEG). We further show that phase separation of tau in the presence of RNA and TIA1 generates abundant tau oligomers. Prior studies indicate that recombinant tau readily forms oligomers and fibrils in vitro in the presence of polyanionic agents, including RNA, but the resulting tau aggregates are not particularly toxic. We discover that tau oligomers generated during copartitioning with TIA1 are significantly more toxic than tau aggregates generated by incubation with RNA alone or phase-separated tau complexes generated by incubation with artificial crowding agents. This pathway identifies a potentially important source for generation of toxic tau oligomers in tau-related neurodegenerative diseases. Our results also reveal a general principle that phase-separated RBP droplets provide a vehicle for coassortment of selected proteins. Tau selectively copartitions with TIA1 under physiological conditions, emphasizing the importance of TIA1 for tau biology. Other RBPs, such as G3BP1, are able to copartition with tau, but this happens only in the presence of crowding agents. This type of selective mixing might provide a basis through which membraneless organelles bring together functionally relevant proteins to promote particular biological activities.

TIA1 potentiates tau phase separation and promotes generation of toxic oligomeric tau

Tau protein plays an important role in the biology of stress granules and in the stress response of neurons, but the nature of these biochemical interactions is not known. Here we show that the interaction of tau with RNA and the RNA binding protein TIA1 is sufficient to drive phase separation of tau at physiological concentrations, without the requirement for artificial crowding agents such as polyethylene glycol (PEG). We further show that phase separation of tau in the presence of RNA and TIA1 generates abundant tau oligomers. Prior studies indicate that recombinant tau readily forms oligomers and fibrils in vitro in the presence of polyanionic agents, including RNA, but the resulting tau aggregates are not particularly toxic. We discover that tau oligomers generated during copartitioning with TIA1 are significantly more toxic than tau aggregates generated by incubation with RNA alone or phase-separated tau complexes generated by incubation with artificial crowding agents. This pathway identifies a potentially important source for generation of toxic tau oligomers in tau-related neurodegenerative diseases. Our results also reveal a general principle that phase-separated RBP droplets provide a vehicle for coassortment of selected proteins. Tau selectively copartitions with TIA1 under physiological conditions, emphasizing the importance of TIA1 for tau biology. Other RBPs, such as G3BP1, are able to copartition with tau, but this happens only in the presence of crowding agents. This type of selective mixing might provide a basis through which membraneless organelles bring together functionally relevant proteins to promote particular biological activities.

Homocysteine Increases Tau Phosphorylation, Truncation and Oligomerization

Increased plasma homocysteinemia is considered a risk factor of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and vascular dementia. However, the reason elevated plasma homocysteinemia increases the risk of dementia remains unknown. A pathological hallmark of AD is neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) that consist of pathologically phosphorylated tau proteins. The effect of homocysteine (Hcy) on tau aggregation was explored using human neuroblastoma M1C cells that constitutively express human wild-type tau (4R0N) under the control of a tetracycline off system, primary mouse cultured neurons, and by inducing hyperhomocysteinemia in a mouse model of tauopathy (HHCy mice). A wide range of Hcy concentrations (10–1000 µM) increased total tau and phosphorylated tau protein levels. Hcy activated glycogen synthase kinase 3, and cyclin dependent kinase 5, major tau phosphokinases, and inactivated protein phosphatase 2A, a main tau phosphatase. Hcy exhibited cytotoxic effects associated with enhanced activation of caspase. Truncation of tau in the C-terminus, the cleavage site of caspase 3 (i.e., D421, detected by the TauC3 antibody) was also increased. Total tau, phosphorylated tau, as well as C-terminal cleaved tau were increased in the sarkosyl insoluble tau fraction. Hcy also increased the level of tau oligomers, as indicated by the tau oligomer complex 1 (TOC1) antibody that specifically identifies oligomeric tau species, in the tris insoluble, sarkosyl soluble fraction. The levels of TOC1-positive oligomeric tau were increased in brain lysates from HHCy mice, and treating HHCy mice with S-adenosylmethionine, an intermediate of Hcy, reduced the levels of oligomeric tau to control levels. These observations suggest that Hcy increases the levels of phosphorylated tau as well as truncated tau species via caspase 3 activation, and enhanced tau oligomerization and aggregation.