scholarly journals From structure to ætiology: a new window on the biology of leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 and Parkinson's disease

2021 ◽  
Vol 478 (14) ◽  
pp. 2945-2951
Author(s):  
Susanne Herbst ◽  
Patrick A. Lewis

Since the discovery of mutations in leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) as an underlying genetic cause for the development of Parkinson's disease (PD) in 2004 (Neuron 44, 601–607; Neuron 44, 595–600), and subsequent efforts to develop LRRK2 kinase inhibitors as a therapy for Parkinson's (Expert Opin. Ther. Targets 21, 751–753), elucidating the atomic resolution structure of LRRK2 has been a major goal of research into this protein. At over 250 kDa, the large size and complicated domain organisation of LRRK2 has made this a highly challenging target for structural biologists, however, a number of recent studies using both in vitro and in situ approaches (Nature 588, 344–349; Cell 182, 1508–1518.e1516; Cell 184, 3519–3527.e3510) have provided important new insights into LRRK2 structure and the complexes formed by this protein.

Author(s):  
Colin K. Deniston ◽  
John Salogiannis ◽  
Sebastian Mathea ◽  
David M. Snead ◽  
Indarjit Lahiri ◽  
...  

AbstractLeucine Rich Repeat Kinase 2 (LRRK2) is the most commonly mutated gene in familial Parkinson’s disease. LRRK2 is proposed to function in membrane trafficking and co-localizes with microtubules. We report the 3.5Å structure of the catalytic half of LRRK2, and an atomic model of microtubule-associated LRRK2 built using a reported 14Å cryo-electron tomography in situ structure. We propose that the conformation of LRRK2’s kinase domain regulates its microtubule interaction, with a closed conformation favoring binding. We show that the catalytic half of LRRK2 is sufficient for microtubule binding and blocks the motility of the microtubule-based motors kinesin and dynein in vitro. Kinase inhibitors that stabilize an open conformation relieve this interference and reduce LRRK2 filament formation in cells, while those that stabilize a closed conformation do not. Our findings suggest that LRRK2 is a roadblock for microtubule-based motors and have implications for the design of therapeutic LRRK2 kinase inhibitors.


eLife ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Steger ◽  
Francesca Tonelli ◽  
Genta Ito ◽  
Paul Davies ◽  
Matthias Trost ◽  
...  

Mutations in Park8, encoding for the multidomain Leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) protein, comprise the predominant genetic cause of Parkinson's disease (PD). G2019S, the most common amino acid substitution activates the kinase two- to threefold. This has motivated the development of LRRK2 kinase inhibitors; however, poor consensus on physiological LRRK2 substrates has hampered clinical development of such therapeutics. We employ a combination of phosphoproteomics, genetics, and pharmacology to unambiguously identify a subset of Rab GTPases as key LRRK2 substrates. LRRK2 directly phosphorylates these both in vivo and in vitro on an evolutionary conserved residue in the switch II domain. Pathogenic LRRK2 variants mapping to different functional domains increase phosphorylation of Rabs and this strongly decreases their affinity to regulatory proteins including Rab GDP dissociation inhibitors (GDIs). Our findings uncover a key class of bona-fide LRRK2 substrates and a novel regulatory mechanism of Rabs that connects them to PD.


2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 1058-1062 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisa Greggio

Interest in studying the biology of LRRK2 (leucine-rich repeat kinase 2) started in 2004 when missense mutations in the LRRK2 gene were linked to an inherited form of Parkinson's disease with clinical and pathological presentation resembling the sporadic syndrome. LRRK2 is a complex molecule containing domains implicated in protein interactions, as well as kinase and GTPase activities. The observation that the common G2019S mutation increases kinase activity in vitro suggests that altered phosphorylation of LRRK2 targets may have pathological outcomes. Given that protein kinases are ideal targets for drug therapies, much effort has been directed at understanding the role of LRRK2 kinase activity on disease onset. However, no clear physiological substrates have been identified to date, indicating that much research is still needed to fully understand the signalling pathways orchestrated by LRRK2 and deregulated under pathological conditions.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francois Singh ◽  
Alan R. Prescott ◽  
Graeme Ball ◽  
Alastair D. Reith ◽  
Ian G. Ganley

AbstractParkinson’s disease (PD) is a major and progressive neurodegenerative disorder, yet the biological mechanisms involved in its aetiology are poorly understood. Evidence links this disorder with mitochondrial dysfunction and/or impaired lysosomal degradation – key features of the autophagy of mitochondria, known as mitophagy. Here we investigated the role of LRRK2, a protein kinase frequently mutated in PD, on this process in vivo. Using mitophagy and autophagy reporter mice, bearing either knockout of LRRK2 or expressing the pathogenic kinase-activating G2019S LRRK2 mutation, we found that basal mitophagy was specifically altered in clinically relevant cells and tissues. Our data show that basal mitophagy inversely correlates with LRRK2 kinase activity in vivo. In support of this, use of distinct LRRK2 kinase inhibitors in cells increased basal mitophagy, and a CNS penetrant LRRK2 kinase inhibitor, GSK3357679A, rescued the mitophagy defects observed in LRRK2 G2019S mice. This study provides the first in vivo evidence that pathogenic LRRK2 directly impairs basal mitophagy, a process with strong links to idiopathic Parkinson’s disease, and demonstrates that pharmacological inhibition of LRRK2 is a rational mitophagy-rescue approach and potential PD therapy.


2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie Leveridge ◽  
Lee Collier ◽  
Colin Edge ◽  
Phil Hardwicke ◽  
Bill Leavens ◽  
...  

LRRK2 is a large multidomain protein containing two functional enzymatic domains: a GTPase domain and a protein kinase domain. Dominant coding mutations in the LRRK2 protein are associated with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Among such pathogenic mutations, Gly2019Ser mutation in the LRRK2 kinase domain is the most frequent cause of familial PD in Caucasians and is also found in some apparently sporadic PD cases. This mutation results in 2- to 3-fold elevated LRRK2 kinase activity compared with wild type, providing a clear clinical hypothesis for the application of kinase inhibitors in the treatment of this disease. To date, reported screening assays for LRRK2 have been based on detection of labeled adenosine triphosphate and adenosine diphosphate or on antibody-based detection of phosphorylation events. While these assays do offer a high-throughput method of monitoring LRRK2 kinase activity, they are prone to interference from autofluorescent compounds and nonspecific events. Here we describe a label-free assay for LRRK2 kinase activity using the RapidFire mass spectrometry system. This assay format was found to be highly robust and enabled a screen of 100,000 lead-like small molecules. The assay successfully identified a number of known LRRK2 chemotypes that met stringent physicochemical criteria.


2019 ◽  
Vol 476 (19) ◽  
pp. 2797-2813 ◽  
Author(s):  
Belén Fernández ◽  
Antonio Jesús Lara Ordóñez ◽  
Elena Fdez ◽  
Eugénie Mutez ◽  
Thomas Comptdaer ◽  
...  

Abstract Leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) is a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD), and orally bioavailable, brain penetrant and highly potent LRRK2 kinase inhibitors are in early stages of clinical testing. Detection of LRRK2 phosphorylation, as well as phosphorylation of Rab10, a LRRK2 kinase substrate, have been proposed as target engagement biomarkers for LRRK2 inhibitor clinical trials. However, these readouts do not seem able to stratify patients based on enhanced LRRK2 kinase activity. Here, we describe a robust cell biological assay based on centrosomal cohesion alterations which were observed in peripheral blood mononuclear cell-derived lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) from patients with G2019S LRRK2 mutations as compared with healthy controls, and could also be detected in a subset of sporadic PD patient samples. We suggest that LCLs may be a valuable resource for LRRK2 research, and that determination of centrosomal cohesion deficits may assist in the stratification of a subset of sporadic PD patients.


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