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Molecular Neurodegeneration Nov 2023
Topics: Phosphorylation; alpha-Synuclein; Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases
PubMed: 37953316
DOI: 10.1186/s13024-023-00680-x -
Journal of Biochemistry Feb 2023The accumulation of protein aggregates as intracellular inclusions interferes with cellular protein homeostasis leading to protein aggregation diseases. Protein...
The accumulation of protein aggregates as intracellular inclusions interferes with cellular protein homeostasis leading to protein aggregation diseases. Protein aggregation results in the formation of several protein conformers including oligomers and fibrils, where each conformer has its own structural characteristic and proteotoxic potential. The present study explores the effect of alpha-synuclein (α-syn) conformers on the activity and spontaneous refolding of firefly luciferase. Of the different conformers, α-syn monomers delayed the inactivation of luciferase under thermal stress conditions and enhanced the spontaneous refolding of luciferase. In contrast, the α-syn oligomers and fibrils adversely affected luciferase activity and refolding, where the oligomers inhibited spontaneous refolding, whereas a pronounced effect on the inactivation of native luciferase was observed in the case of fibrils. These results indicate that the oligomers and fibrils of α-syn interfere with the refolding of luciferase and promote its misfolding and aggregation. The study reveals the differential propensities of various conformers of a pathologically relevant protein in causing inactivation, structural modifications and misfolding of other proteins, consequently resulting in altered protein homeostasis.
Topics: Humans; alpha-Synuclein; Parkinson Disease; Protein Aggregates; Protein Folding; Fireflies; Luciferases
PubMed: 36368019
DOI: 10.1093/jb/mvac095 -
Redox Biology Jul 2023Sporadic Parkinson's disease (sPD) is a complex multifactorial disorder which etiology remains elusive. Several mechanisms have been described to contribute to PD...
Sporadic Parkinson's disease (sPD) is a complex multifactorial disorder which etiology remains elusive. Several mechanisms have been described to contribute to PD development namely mitochondrial dysfunction, activation of inflammatory pathways and the deposition of unfolded proteins such as α-synuclein. Our work shows for the first time that lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced activation of innate immunity requires a functional mitochondria and mimics PD pathology in cells. We found in primary mesencephalic neurons that LPS targeted the mitochondria and activated neuronal innate immune responses, which culminated with α-synuclein oligomerization. Moreover, in cybrid cell lines repopulated with mtDNA from sPD subjects with inherent mitochondrial dysfunction and NT2-Rho0 obtained by long-term ethidium bromide exposure, and so without a functional mitochondrial, LPS was not able to further activate innate immunity or increase α-synuclein aggregation. Herein, we showed that mesencephalic neurons are able to activate innate immunity after LPS exposure and this pathway is dependent on mitochondria. Moreover, we disclose that α-synuclein over production is an innate immune response. Our data indicate that mitochondria provide the base for innate immunity activation in idiopathic PD.
Topics: Humans; Parkinson Disease; alpha-Synuclein; Lipopolysaccharides; Mitochondria; Immunity, Innate
PubMed: 37120929
DOI: 10.1016/j.redox.2023.102714 -
Journal of Molecular Biology Jan 2023
Topics: Membranes; Synapses; SNARE Proteins; alpha-Synuclein
PubMed: 36481178
DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2022.167905 -
Journal of Biomolecular Structure &... Jul 2022The classical Hofmeister series orders ions into kosmotropes and chaotropes, based on their interaction with the solvent, water. The role of protein is mostly ignored...
The classical Hofmeister series orders ions into kosmotropes and chaotropes, based on their interaction with the solvent, water. The role of protein is mostly ignored probably because most of the proteins studied are natively folded and broadly follow this classification pattern. Recent reports suggest that the interaction of ions is different with solvent molecules of proximal layer and bulk. Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) differ from globular proteins in the fraction of polar vis-à-vis hydrophobic amino acids and the absence of distinct secondary and tertiary structures. The kosmotrope, ammonium sulphate, increases the compactness of the polypeptide conformation, with differing effects for globular proteins and IDPs. For globular proteins, lowered flexibility corresponds to a more stable native structure. Using oligomer-specific and aggregation-specific antibodies and comparing with fibrillation results, we show for alpha-synuclein, an IDP, ammonium sulphate-induced compaction results in the formation of the aggregation-prone hydrophobic core, which combines with other similar moieties to form the fibrillar 'seed'. SEC-HPLC and SAXS analysis show the presence of the threshold oligomers. In the presence of the aggregation suppressor, arginine too, an oligomer is formed. This oligomer, however, is 'dead', and does not move further along the aggregation pathway. Thus, alpha-synuclein undergoes compaction in the presence of protein stabilisers, with differing consequences. In case of the chaotropes, KSCN and urea, aggregation of alpha-synuclein is partially inhibited. However, the amounts and types of aggregates formed are different in the two cases. Thus, the classical catalogue of molecules into protein stabilisers and destabilisers requires a relook for IDPs.Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.
Topics: Ammonium Sulfate; Intrinsically Disordered Proteins; Protein Aggregates; Scattering, Small Angle; Solvents; X-Ray Diffraction; alpha-Synuclein
PubMed: 33292065
DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2020.1856721 -
Neuromolecular Medicine Mar 2023Post-stroke secondary brain damage is significantly influenced by the induction and accumulation of α-Synuclein (α-Syn). α-Syn-positive inclusions are often present...
Post-stroke secondary brain damage is significantly influenced by the induction and accumulation of α-Synuclein (α-Syn). α-Syn-positive inclusions are often present in tauopathies and elevated tau levels and phosphorylation promotes neurodegeneration. Glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK-3β) is a known promoter of tau phosphorylation. We currently evaluated the interaction of α-Syn with GSK-3β and tau in post-ischemic mouse brain. Transient focal ischemia led to increased cerebral protein-protein interaction of α-Syn with both GSK-3β and tau and elevated tau phosphorylation. Treatment with a GSK-3β inhibitor prevented post-ischemic tau phosphorylation. Furthermore, α-Syn interaction was observed to be crucial for post-ischemic GSK-3β-dependent tau hyperphosphorylation as it was not seen in α-Syn knockout mice. Moreover, tau knockout mice show significantly smaller brain damage after transient focal ischemia. Overall, the present study indicates that GSK-3β catalyzes the α-Syn-dependent tau phosphorylation and preventing this interaction is crucial to limit post-ischemic secondary brain damage.
Topics: Mice; Animals; alpha-Synuclein; tau Proteins; Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 beta; Brain Injuries; Stroke; Brain; Mice, Knockout; Phosphorylation
PubMed: 36447045
DOI: 10.1007/s12017-022-08731-0 -
Biomolecules Mar 2022In 1957, Lionel Penrose built the first man-made self-replicating mechanical device and illustrated its function in a series of machine prototypes, prefiguring our... (Review)
Review
In 1957, Lionel Penrose built the first man-made self-replicating mechanical device and illustrated its function in a series of machine prototypes, prefiguring our current view of the genesis and the proliferation of amyloid fibrils. He invented and demonstrated, with the help of his son Roger, the concepts that decades later, would become the fundamentals of prion and prion-like neurobiology: nucleation, seeding and conformational templating of monomers, linear polymer elongation, fragmentation, and spread. He published his premonitory discovery in a movie he publicly presented at only two conferences in 1958, a movie we thus reproduce here. By making a 30-year-jump in the early 90's, we evoke the studies performed by Peter Lansbury and his group in which α-Synuclein (α-Syn) was for the first time (i) compared to a prion; (ii) shown to contain a fibrillization-prone domain capable of seeding its own assembly into fibrils; (iii) identified as an intrinsically disordered protein (IDP), and which, in the early 2000s, (iv) was described by one of us as a protein chameleon. We use these temporally distant breakthroughs to propose that the combination of the chameleon nature of α-Syn with the rigid gear of the Penrose machine is sufficient to account for a phenomenon that is of current interest: the emergence and the spread of a variety of α-Syn fibril strains in α-Synucleinopathies.
Topics: Amyloid; Humans; Intrinsically Disordered Proteins; Prions; Synucleinopathies; alpha-Synuclein
PubMed: 35454083
DOI: 10.3390/biom12040494 -
Chemphyschem : a European Journal of... Mar 2021Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder involving a functional protein, α-synuclein, whose primary function is related to vesicle trafficking. However,...
Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder involving a functional protein, α-synuclein, whose primary function is related to vesicle trafficking. However, α-synuclein is prone to form aggregates, and these inclusions, known as Lewy bodies, are the hallmark of Parkinson's disease. α-synuclein can alter its conformation and acquire aggregating capacity, forming aggregates containing β-sheets. This protein's pathogenic importance is based on its ability to form oligomers that impair synaptic transmission and neuronal function by increasing membrane permeability and altering homeostasis, generating a deleterious effect over cells. First, we establish that oligomers interfere with the mechanical properties of 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC) membrane, as demonstrated by nanoindentation curves. In contrast, nanoindentation revealed that the α-synuclein monomer's presence leads to a much more resistant lipid bilayer. Moreover, the oligomers' interaction with cell membranes can promote lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release, suggesting the activation of cytotoxic events.
Topics: Animals; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Membrane; Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase; Lipid Bilayers; Mice; Phosphatidylcholines; Protein Aggregates; Protein Multimerization; alpha-Synuclein
PubMed: 33482036
DOI: 10.1002/cphc.202000831 -
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Jan 2020The object of our analysis is the structure of alpha-synuclein (ASyn), which, under in vivo conditions, associates with presynaptic vesicles. Misfolding of ASyn is known...
The object of our analysis is the structure of alpha-synuclein (ASyn), which, under in vivo conditions, associates with presynaptic vesicles. Misfolding of ASyn is known to be implicated in Parkinson's disease. The availability of structural information for both the micelle-bound and amyloid form of ASyn enables us to speculate on the specific mechanism of amyloid transformation. This analysis is all the more interesting given the fact that-Unlike in Aβ(1-42) amyloids-only the central fragment (30-100) of ASyn has a fibrillar structure, whereas, its N- and C-terminal fragments (1-30 and 100-140, respectively) are described as random coils. Our work addresses the following question: Can the ASyn chain-as well as the aforementioned individual fragments-adopt globular conformations? In order to provide an answer, we subjected the corresponding sequences to simulations carried out using Robetta and I-Tasser, both of which are regarded as accurate protein structure predictors. In addition, we also applied the fuzzy oil drop (FOD) model, which, in addition to optimizing the protein's internal free energy, acknowledges the presence of an external force field contributed by the aqueous solvent. This field directs hydrophobic residues to congregate near the center of the protein body while exposing hydrophilic residues on its surface. Comparative analysis of the obtained models suggests that fragments which do not participate in forming the amyloid fibril (i.e., 1-30 and 100-140) can indeed attain globular conformations. We also explain the influence of mutations observed in vivo upon the susceptibility of ASyn to undergo amyloid transformation. In particular, the 30-100 fragment (which adopts a fibrillar structure in PDB) is not predicted to produce a centralized hydrophobic core by any of the applied toolkits (Robetta, I-Tasser, and FOD). This means that in order to minimize the entropically disadvantageous contact between hydrophobic residues and the polar solvent, ASyn adopts the form of a ribbonlike micelle (rather than a spherical one). In other words, the ribbonlike micelle represents a synergy between the conformational preferences of the protein chain and the influence of its environment.
Topics: Amyloid; Humans; Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; Models, Molecular; Mutation; Peptide Fragments; Protein Conformation; alpha-Synuclein
PubMed: 32019169
DOI: 10.3390/molecules25030600 -
Translational Neurodegeneration Jun 2021Accumulation of alpha-synuclein (α-syn) is a main pathological hallmark of Parkinson's and related diseases, which are collectively known as synucleinopathies. Growing...
BACKGROUND
Accumulation of alpha-synuclein (α-syn) is a main pathological hallmark of Parkinson's and related diseases, which are collectively known as synucleinopathies. Growing evidence has supported that the same protein can induce remarkably distinct pathological progresses and disease phenotypes, suggesting the existence of strain difference among α-syn fibrils. Previous studies have shown that α-syn pathology can propagate from the peripheral nervous system (PNS) to the central nervous system (CNS) in a "prion-like" manner. However, the difference of the propagation potency from the periphery to CNS among different α-syn strains remains unknown and the effect of different generation processes of these strains on the potency of seeding and propagation remains to be revealed in more detail.
METHODS
Three strains of preformed α-syn fibrils (PFFs) were generated in different buffer conditions which varied in pH and ionic concentrations. The α-syn PFFs were intramuscularly (IM) injected into a novel bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) transgenic mouse line that expresses wild-type human α-syn, and the efficiency of seeding and propagation of these PFFs from the PNS to the CNS was evaluated.
RESULTS
The three strains of α-syn PFFs triggered distinct propagation patterns. The fibrils generated in mildly acidic buffer led to the most severe α-syn pathology, degeneration of motor neurons and microgliosis in the spinal cord.
CONCLUSIONS
The different α-syn conformers generated in different conditions exhibited strain-specific pathology and propagation patterns from the periphery to the CNS, which further supports the view that α-syn strains may be responsible for the heterogeneity of pathological features and disease progresses among synucleinopathies.
Topics: Animals; Behavior, Animal; Central Nervous System; Chromosomes, Artificial, Bacterial; HEK293 Cells; Humans; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Injections, Intramuscular; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Transgenic; Peripheral Nervous System; Prions; Synucleinopathies; alpha-Synuclein
PubMed: 34148543
DOI: 10.1186/s40035-021-00242-5