Tau aggregation into insoluble filaments is the defining pathological hallmark of tauopathies. However, it is not known what controls the formation and templated seeding of strain-specific structures ...associated with individual tauopathies. Here, we use cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) to determine the structures of tau filaments from corticobasal degeneration (CBD) human brain tissue. Cryo-EM and mass spectrometry of tau filaments from CBD reveal that this conformer is heavily decorated with posttranslational modifications (PTMs), enabling us to map PTMs directly onto the structures. By comparing the structures and PTMs of tau filaments from CBD and Alzheimer’s disease, it is found that ubiquitination of tau can mediate inter-protofilament interfaces. We propose a structure-based model in which cross-talk between PTMs influences tau filament structure, contributing to the structural diversity of tauopathy strains. Our approach establishes a framework for further elucidating the relationship between the structures of polymorphic fibrils, including their PTMs, and neurodegenerative disease.
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•Cryo-EM structures of human brain-derived tau filaments from a four-repeat tauopathy•Cryo-EM and MS of tau filaments enable PTM mapping directly onto atomic models•Comparing tauopathies reveals that ubiquitination of tau can mediate fibril diversity•Integrated structural biology elucidates principles of PTM-mediated fibril assembly
Structural and mass spectrometry-based proteomics of tau filaments, including their posttranslational modifications, from corticobasal degeneration and Alzheimer’s disease point to how cross-talk between posttranslational modifications influences fibril structure, contributing to the structural diversity of tauopathy strains.
The accumulation of hyperphosphorylated tau in neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) is a neuropathological hallmark of tauopathies, including Alzheimer's disease (AD) and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, ...but effective therapies directly targeting the tau protein are currently lacking. Herein, we describe a novel mechanism in which the acetylation of tau on KXGS motifs inhibits phosphorylation on this same motif, and also prevents tau aggregation. Using a site-specific antibody to detect acetylation of KXGS motifs, we demonstrate that these sites are hypoacetylated in patients with AD, as well as a mouse model of tauopathy, suggesting that loss of acetylation on KXGS motifs renders tau vulnerable to pathogenic insults. Furthermore, we identify histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) as the enzyme responsible for the deacetylation of these residues, and provide proof of concept that acute treatment with a selective and blood-brain barrier-permeable HDAC6 inhibitor enhances acetylation and decreases phosphorylation on tau's KXGS motifs in vivo. As such, we have uncovered a novel therapeutic pathway that can be manipulated to block the formation of pathogenic tau species in disease.
How hexanucleotide GGGGCC (G
C
) repeat expansions in
cause frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is not understood. We developed a mouse model engineered to express ...poly(PR), a proline-arginine (PR) dipeptide repeat protein synthesized from expanded G
C
repeats. The expression of green fluorescent protein-conjugated (PR)
(a 50-repeat PR protein) throughout the mouse brain yielded progressive brain atrophy, neuron loss, loss of poly(PR)-positive cells, and gliosis, culminating in motor and memory impairments. We found that poly(PR) bound DNA, localized to heterochromatin, and caused heterochromatin protein 1α (HP1α) liquid-phase disruptions, decreases in HP1α expression, abnormal histone methylation, and nuclear lamina invaginations. These aberrations of histone methylation, lamins, and HP1α, which regulate heterochromatin structure and gene expression, were accompanied by repetitive element expression and double-stranded RNA accumulation. Thus, we uncovered mechanisms by which poly(PR) may contribute to the pathogenesis of
-associated FTD and ALS.
Misfolding and aggregation of disease-specific proteins, resulting in the formation of filamentous cellular inclusions, is a hallmark of neurodegenerative disease with characteristic filament ...structures, or conformers, defining each proteinopathy. Here we show that a previously unsolved amyloid fibril composed of a 135 amino acid C-terminal fragment of TMEM106B is a common finding in distinct human neurodegenerative diseases, including cases characterized by abnormal aggregation of TDP-43, tau, or α-synuclein protein. A combination of cryoelectron microscopy and mass spectrometry was used to solve the structures of TMEM106B fibrils at a resolution of 2.7 Å from postmortem human brain tissue afflicted with frontotemporal lobar degeneration with TDP-43 pathology (FTLD-TDP, n = 8), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP, n = 2), or dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB, n = 1). The commonality of abundant amyloid fibrils composed of TMEM106B, a lysosomal/endosomal protein, to a broad range of debilitating human disorders indicates a shared fibrillization pathway that may initiate or accelerate neurodegeneration.
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•Cryo-EM structures of brain-derived TMEM106B fibrils from neurodegenerative diseases•Endolysosomal membrane protein TMEM106B C-terminal fragment forms amyloid fibrils•TMEM106B fibrillization is widespread among diverse neurodegenerative proteinopathies•Identification of fibrillization pathway potentially implicated in neurodegeneration
Cryo-EM and mass spectrometry-based proteomics of insoluble amyloid fibrils derived from postmortem human brains afflicted with diverse neurodegenerative diseases reveals widespread fibrillization of an endolysosomal membrane protein, TMEM106B, pointing toward a potentially pathogenic commonality between distinct proteinopathies.
The identification of tau protein as a major constituent of neurofibrillary tangles spurred considerable effort devoted to identifying and validating pathways through which therapeutics may alleviate ...tau burden in Alzheimer's disease and related tauopathies, including chronic traumatic encephalopathy associated with sport- and military-related injuries. Most tau-based therapeutic strategies have previously focused on modulating tau phosphorylation, given that tau species present within neurofibrillary tangles are hyperphosphorylated on a number of different residues. However, the recent discovery that tau is modified by acetylation necessitates additional research to provide greater mechanistic insight into the spectrum of physiological consequences of tau acetylation, which may hold promise as a novel therapeutic target. In this review, we discuss recent findings evaluating tau acetylation in the context of previously accepted notions regarding tau biology and pathophysiology. We also examine the evidence demonstrating the neuroprotective and beneficial consequences of inhibiting histone deacetylase (HDAC)6, a tau deacetylase, including its effect on microtubule stabilization. We also discuss the rationale for pharmacologically modulating HDAC6 in tau-based pathologies as a novel therapeutic strategy.
Haploinsufficiency of GRN, the gene encoding progranulin (PGRN), causes frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), the second most common cause of early-onset dementia. Receptor-mediated lysosomal ...targeting has been shown to regulate brain PGRN levels, and complete deficiency of PGRN is a direct cause of neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (NCL), a lysosomal storage disease. Here we show that the lysosomal cysteine protease cathepsin L (Cat L) can mediate the proteolytic cleavage of intracellular PGRN into poly-granulin and granulin fragments. Further, PGRN and Cat L co-localize in lysosomes of HEK293 cells, iPSC-derived neurons and human cortical neurons from human postmortem tissue. These data identify Cat L as a key intracellular lysosomal PGRN protease, and provides an intriguing new link between lysosomal dysfunction and FTLD.
Trans-activation Response DNA-binding Protein-43 (TDP-43) lesions are observed in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration with ubiquitin inclusions (FTLD-TDP) and ...25-50% of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) cases. These abnormal protein inclusions are composed of either amorphous TDP-43 aggregates or highly ordered filaments. The filamentous TDP-43 accumulations typically contain clean 10-12 nm filaments though wider 18-20 nm coated filaments may be observed. The TDP-43 present within these lesions is phosphorylated, truncated and ubiquitinated, and these modifications appear to be abnormal as they are linked to both a cellular heat shock response and microglial activation. The mechanisms associated with this abnormal TDP-43 accumulation are believed to result in a loss of TDP-43 function, perhaps due to the post-translational modifications or resulting from physical sequestration of the TDP-43. The formation of TDP-43 inclusions involves cellular translocation and conversion of TDP-43 into fibrillogenic forms, but the ability of these accumulations to sequester normal TDP-43 and propagate this behavior between neurons pathologically is mostly inferred. The lack of methodology to produce soluble full length TDP-43 and recapitulate this polymerization into filaments as observed in disease has limited our understanding of these pathogenic cascades.
The protocols described here generate soluble, full-length and untagged TDP-43 allowing for a direct assessment of the impact of various posttranslational modifications on TDP-43 function. We demonstrate that Casein Kinase II (CKII) promotes the polymerization of this soluble TDP-43 into 10 nm diameter filaments that resemble the most common TDP-43 structures observed in disease. Furthermore, these filaments are recognized as abnormal by Heat Shock Proteins (HSPs) which can inhibit TDP-43 polymerization or directly promote TDP-43 filament depolymerization.
These findings demonstrate CKII induces polymerization of soluble TDP-43 into filaments and Hsp90 promotes TDP-43 filament depolymerization. These findings provide rational for potential therapeutic intervention at these points in TDP-43 proteinopathies.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
TDP-43 is a multifunctional nucleic acid binding protein linked to several neurodegenerative diseases including Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Frontotemporal Dementia. To learn more about ...the normal biological and abnormal pathological role of this protein, we turned to Caenorhabditis elegans and its orthologue TDP-1. We report that TDP-1 functions in the Insulin/IGF pathway to regulate longevity and the oxidative stress response downstream from the forkhead transcription factor DAF-16/FOXO3a. However, although tdp-1 mutants are stress-sensitive, chronic upregulation of tdp-1 expression is toxic and decreases lifespan. ALS-associated mutations in TDP-43 or the related RNA binding protein FUS activate the unfolded protein response and generate oxidative stress leading to the daf-16-dependent upregulation of tdp-1 expression with negative effects on neuronal function and lifespan. Consistently, deletion of endogenous tdp-1 rescues mutant TDP-43 and FUS proteotoxicity in C. elegans. These results suggest that chronic induction of wild-type TDP-1/TDP-43 by cellular stress may propagate neurodegeneration and decrease lifespan.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
In order to determine the frequency of microtubule-associated protein tau gene (
MAPT
) mutations and rare variants in CBD, we performed a systematic sequence analysis of
MAPT
coding and 3′ ...untranslated region (3′UTR) in a large cohort of autopsy-confirmed CBD patients (
N
= 109). This identified a novel
MAPT
mutation in exon 13, p.N410H, in a case that is neuropathologically indistinguishable from sporadic CBD. On immunoblot, the p.N410H mutation carrier had the same insoluble tau profile as seen in CBD. Additionally, tau expression analysis in brain tissue found a significant increase in the 4R/3R tau mRNA ratio (
P
= 0.04), indicating that p.N410H disrupts tau isoform homeostasis. Biochemically, recombinant tau protein with p.N410H showed a marked increase in tau filament formation compared to wild-type tau (
P
< 0.001), had a 19.2 % decrease in rate of microtubule assembly (
P
< 0.05), and a 10.3 % reduction in the extent of total microtubule polymerization (
P
< 0.01). Sequence analysis of the complete
MAPT
3′UTR in autopsy-confirmed CBD cases further identified two rare variants with nominally significant association with CBD. An ATC nucleotide insertion (“MAPTv8”) was found in 4.6 % of CBD patients compared to 1.2 % of controls (
P
= 0.031, OR = 3.71), and rs186977284 in 4.6 % CBD patients, but only 0.9 % of controls (
P
= 0.04, OR = 3.58). Rs186977284 was also present in 2.7 % of a large cohort of autopsy-confirmed PSP patients (
N
= 566) and only 0.9 % of an additional control series (
P
= 0.034, OR = 3.08), extending the association to PSP. Our findings show that mutations in
MAPT
can cause CBD and
MAPT
non-coding variants may increase the risk of complex 4R tauopathies.
Tauopathies are neurodegenerative disorders characterized by aggregation of microtubule associated tau protein in neurons and glia. They are clinically and pathologically heterogeneous depending on ...the isoform of tau protein that accumulates (three or four 31-to-32-amino-acid repeats 3R or 4R in the microtubule binding domain), as well as the cellular and neuroanatomical distribution of tau pathology. Growing evidence suggests that distinct tau conformers may contribute to the characteristic features of various tauopathies. Globular glial tauopathy (GGT) is a rare 4R tauopathy with globular cytoplasmic inclusions within neurons and glial cells. Given the unique cellular distribution and morphology of tau pathology in GGT, we sought to determine if tau species in GGT had distinctive biological properties. To address this question, we performed seeding analyses with postmortem brain tissues using a commercial tau biosensor cell line. We found that brain lysates from GGT cases had significantly higher seeding competency than other tauopathies, including corticobasal degeneration (CBD), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), and Alzheimer's disease (AD). The robust seeding activity of GGT brain lysates was independent of phosphorylated tau burden and diminished upon removal of tau from samples, suggesting that seeding properties were indeed mediated by tau in the lysates. In addition, cellular inclusions in the tau biosensor cell line induced by GGT had a distinct, globular morphology that was markedly different from inclusions induced by other tauopathies, further highlighting the unique nature of tau species in GGT. Characterization of different tau species in GGT showed that detergent-insoluble, fibril-like tau contained the highest seeding activity, as reflected in its ability to increase tau aggregation in primary glial cultures. Taken together, our data suggest that unique seeding properties differentiate GGT-tau from other tauopathies, which provides new insight into pathogenic heterogeneity of primary neurodegenerative tauopathies.
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