Amyloid fibrils are the molecular trigger of inflammation in Parkinson's disease

2015 ◽  
Vol 471 (3) ◽  
pp. 323-333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adelin Gustot ◽  
José Ignacio Gallea ◽  
Rabia Sarroukh ◽  
María Soledad Celej ◽  
Jean-Marie Ruysschaert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Amyloid Fibrils ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Harmful Species

Neuroinflammation largely contributes to the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). We show that only α-synuclein (α-syn) fibrils activate the inflammatory cascades; oligomers, thought to be the most harmful species, did not. This suggests that the inflammatory properties rely on fibril-specific structural features.

scholarly journals Observation of an α-synuclein liquid droplet state and its maturation into Lewy body-like assemblies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maarten C Hardenberg ◽  
Tessa Sinnige ◽  
Sam Casford ◽  
Samuel Dada ◽  
Chetan Poudel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Self Assembly ◽  
Lewy Body ◽  
Amyloid Fibrils ◽  
Liquid Droplet ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Lewy Bodies ◽  
Cellular Components

Abstract Misfolded α-synuclein is a major component of Lewy bodies, which are a hallmark of Parkinson’s disease. A large body of evidence shows that α-synuclein can aggregate into amyloid fibrils, but the relationship between α-synuclein self-assembly and Lewy body formation remains unclear. Here we show, both in vitro and in a Caenorhabditis elegans model of Parkinson’s disease, that α-synuclein undergoes liquid‒liquid phase separation by forming a liquid droplet state, which converts into an amyloid-rich hydrogel with Lewy-body-like properties. This maturation process towards the amyloid state is delayed in the presence of model synaptic vesicles in vitro. Taken together, these results suggest that the formation of Lewy bodies may be linked to the arrested maturation of α-synuclein condensates in the presence of lipids and other cellular components.

scholarly journals Parkinson’s disease-related phosphorylation at Tyr39 rearranges α-synuclein amyloid fibril structure revealed by cryo-EM

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (33) ◽  
pp. 20305-20315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kun Zhao ◽  
Yeh-Jun Lim ◽  
Zhenying Liu ◽  
Houfang Long ◽  
Yunpeng Sun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Posttranslational Modifications ◽  
Cortical Neurons ◽  
Amyloid Fibrils ◽  
Lewy Bodies ◽  
Interaction Network ◽  
Lewy Neurites ◽  
Cryo Electron Microscopy ◽  
Fibril Structure

Posttranslational modifications (PTMs) of α-synuclein (α-syn), e.g., phosphorylation, play an important role in modulating α-syn pathology in Parkinson’s disease (PD) and α-synucleinopathies. Accumulation of phosphorylated α-syn fibrils in Lewy bodies and Lewy neurites is the histological hallmark of these diseases. However, it is unclear how phosphorylation relates to α-syn pathology. Here, by combining chemical synthesis and bacterial expression, we obtained homogeneous α-syn fibrils with site-specific phosphorylation at Y39, which exhibits enhanced neuronal pathology in rat primary cortical neurons. We determined the cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structure of the pY39 α-syn fibril, which reveals a fold of α-syn with pY39 in the center of the fibril core forming an electrostatic interaction network with eight charged residues in the N-terminal region of α-syn. This structure composed of residues 1 to 100 represents the largest α-syn fibril core determined so far. This work provides structural understanding on the pathology of the pY39 α-syn fibril and highlights the importance of PTMs in defining the polymorphism and pathology of amyloid fibrils in neurodegenerative diseases.

scholarly journals Parkinson’s disease is a type of amyloidosis featuring accumulation of amyloid fibrils of α-synuclein

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (36) ◽  
pp. 17963-17969 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katsuya Araki ◽  
Naoto Yagi ◽  
Koki Aoyama ◽  
Chi-Jing Choong ◽  
Hideki Hayakawa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Amyloid Fibrils ◽  
Lewy Bodies ◽  
X Ray Diffraction ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Β Sheet ◽  
The Brain

Many neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by the accumulation of abnormal protein aggregates in the brain. In Parkinson’s disease (PD), α-synuclein (α-syn) forms such aggregates called Lewy bodies (LBs). Recently, it has been reported that aggregates of α-syn with a cross-β structure are capable of propagating within the brain in a prionlike manner. However, the presence of cross-β sheet-rich aggregates in LBs has not been experimentally demonstrated so far. Here, we examined LBs in thin sections of autopsy brains of patients with PD using microbeam X-ray diffraction (XRD) and found that some of them gave a diffraction pattern typical of a cross-β structure. This result confirms that LBs in the brain of PD patients contain amyloid fibrils with a cross-β structure and supports the validity of in vitro propagation experiments using artificially formed amyloid fibrils of α-syn. Notably, our finding supports the concept that PD is a type of amyloidosis, a disease featuring the accumulation of amyloid fibrils of α-syn.

Bioinorganic Chemistry of Parkinson’s Disease: Affinity and Structural Features of Cu(I) Binding to the Full-Length β-Synuclein Protein

2017 ◽  
Vol 56 (17) ◽  
pp. 10387-10395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco C. Miotto ◽  
Mayra D. Pavese ◽  
Liliana Quintanar ◽  
Markus Zweckstetter ◽  
Christian Griesinger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Bioinorganic Chemistry ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Full Length

scholarly journals C-terminal α-synuclein truncations are linked to cysteine cathepsin activity in Parkinson's disease

2019 ◽  
Vol 294 (25) ◽  
pp. 9973-9984 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan P. McGlinchey ◽  
Shannon M. Lacy ◽  
Katherine E. Huffer ◽  
Nahid Tayebi ◽  
Ellen Sidransky ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Amino Acids ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Amyloid Fibrils ◽  
Lewy Bodies ◽  
Amyloid Formation ◽  
Pathological Feature ◽  
Cysteine Cathepsins ◽  
Cathepsin Activity ◽  
Cysteine Cathepsin

A pathological feature of Parkinson's disease (PD) is Lewy bodies (LBs) composed of α-synuclein (α-syn) amyloid fibrils. α-Syn is a 140 amino acids–long protein, but truncated α-syn is enriched in LBs. The proteolytic processes that generate these truncations are not well-understood. On the basis of our previous work, we propose that these truncations could originate from lysosomal activity attributable to cysteine cathepsins (Cts). Here, using a transgenic SNCAA53T mouse model, overexpressing the PD-associated α-syn variant A53T, we compared levels of α-syn species in purified brain lysosomes from nonsymptomatic mice with those in age-matched symptomatic mice. In the symptomatic mice, antibody epitope mapping revealed enrichment of C-terminal truncations, resulting from CtsB, CtsL, and asparagine endopeptidase. We did not observe changes in individual cathepsin activities, suggesting that the increased levels of C-terminal α-syn truncations are because of the burden of aggregated α-syn. Using LC-MS and purified α-syn, we identified C-terminal truncations corresponding to amino acids 1–122 and 1–90 from the SNCAA53T lysosomes. Feeding rat dopaminergic N27 cells with exogenous α-syn fibrils confirmed that these fragments originate from incomplete fibril degradation in lysosomes. We mimicked these events in situ by asparagine endopeptidase degradation of α-syn fibrils. Importantly, the resulting C-terminally truncated fibrils acted as superior seeds in stimulating α-syn aggregation compared with that of the full-length fibrils. These results unequivocally show that C-terminal α-syn truncations in LBs are linked to Cts activities, promote amyloid formation, and contribute to PD pathogenesis.

β-Amyloid Peptide and Amyloid Precursor Proteins in Olfactory Mucosa of Patients with Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, and down Syndrome

1995 ◽  
Vol 104 (8) ◽  
pp. 655-661 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter B. Crino ◽  
Barry Greenberg ◽  
John A. Martin ◽  
Virginia M.-Y. Lee ◽  
William D. Hill ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Down Syndrome ◽  
Amyloid Fibrils ◽  
Olfactory Mucosa ◽  
Amyloid Peptide ◽  
Β Amyloid

Dystrophic neurites are present in olfactory epithelium (OE) of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), and Down syndrome (DS) and occasionally in normal individuals. Cultured olfactory neuroblasts from AD patients generate carboxy terminal amyloid precursor protein (APP) fragments that contain β-amyloid (Aβ), but it is not known if deposits of Aβ and/or APP fragments occur in the OE of individuals with or without AD, PD, or DS. To determine if Aβ accumulates in the OE in situ, we probed postmortem samples of olfactory mucosa from patients with AD, PD and AD (PD/AD), and DS and AD (DS/AD), as well as from controls, using polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies to Aβ and flanking sequences in APPs. Samples of OE also were examined by thioflavin-S and electron microscopy. Labeling of Aβ was observed in 10 of 12 AD cases, 2 of 3 PD/AD cases, 3 of 4 DS/AD cases, 3 of 10 adult controls, and 4 of 6 fetal cases. The Aβ staining was seen in the basal third of the OE, in axons projecting through the lamina propria, and in metaplastic respiratory epithelium within the OE. Antibodies to other APP domains stained the OE of patients and controls. Thioflavin-S staining was present in the basal third of the OE of 8 of 9 AD patients and several PD/AD and DS/AD patients, but only in rare cells of 3 controls. Electron microscopy did not reveal amyloid fibrils in the OE. These data suggest that deposition of Aβ occurs in a variety of circumstances and is not restricted to patients with AD, PD, or DS.

scholarly journals Widespread transneuronal propagation of α-synucleinopathy triggered in olfactory bulb mimics prodromal Parkinson’s disease

2016 ◽  
Vol 213 (9) ◽  
pp. 1759-1778 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nolwen L. Rey ◽  
Jennifer A. Steiner ◽  
Nazia Maroof ◽  
Kelvin C. Luk ◽  
Zachary Madaj ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Mouse Model ◽  
Olfactory Bulb ◽  
Amyloid Fibrils ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Neural Pathways ◽  
Wild Type

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is characterized by the progressive appearance of intraneuronal Lewy aggregates, which are primarily composed of misfolded α-synuclein (α-syn). The aggregates are believed to propagate via neural pathways following a stereotypical pattern, starting in the olfactory bulb (OB) and gut. We hypothesized that injection of fibrillar α-syn into the OB of wild-type mice would recreate the sequential progression of Lewy-like pathology, while triggering olfactory deficits. We demonstrate that injected α-syn fibrils recruit endogenous α-syn into pathological aggregates that spread transneuronally over several months, initially in the olfactory network and later in distant brain regions. The seeded inclusions contain posttranslationally modified α-syn that is Thioflavin S positive, indicative of amyloid fibrils. The spreading α-syn pathology induces progressive and specific olfactory deficits. Thus, we demonstrate that propagating α-syn pathology triggered in the OB is functionally detrimental. Collectively, we have created a mouse model of prodromal PD.

scholarly journals Cryo-EM structures of α-synuclein fibrils with the H50Q hereditary mutation reveal new polymorphs

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Boyer ◽  
Binsen Li ◽  
Chuanqi Sun ◽  
Weijia Fan ◽  
Michael R. Sawaya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Hydrogen Bond ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Dementia With Lewy Bodies ◽  
Amyloid Fibrils ◽  
Lewy Bodies ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
In The Wild ◽  
Bond Network ◽  
Intramolecular Hydrogen

AbstractDeposits of amyloid fibrils of α-synuclein are the histological hallmarks of Parkinson’s disease, multiple system atrophy, and dementia with Lewy bodies. Although most cases of these diseases are sporadic, autosomal-dominant hereditary mutations have been linked to Parkinson’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies. Seeing the changes to the structure of amyloid fibrils bearing these mutations may help to understand these diseases. To this end, we determined the cryo-EM structures of α-synuclein fibrils containing the H50Q hereditary mutation. We find that the H50Q mutation results in two new polymorphs of α-synuclein, which we term Narrow and Wide Fibrils. Both polymorphs recapitulate the conserved kernel formed by residues 50-77 observed in wild-type structures; however, the Narrow and Wide Fibrils reveal that H50Q disrupts a key interaction between H50-E57 on the opposing protofilament, abolishing the extensive protofilament interface formed by preNAC residues in the wild-type “rod” structure. Instead, the Narrow Fibril is formed from a single protofilament and the two protofilaments of the Wide protofilament are held together by only a pair of atoms – the Cɣ atoms from the two threonine 59 sidechains. Further, we find that H50Q forms an intramolecular hydrogen bond with K45 leading to the formation of a novel β-arch formed by residues 36-46 that features an extensive hydrogen-bond network between Y39, T44, and E46. The structures of the H50Q polymorphs help to rationalize the faster aggregation kinetics, higher seeding capacity in biosensor cells, and greater cytotoxicity we observe for H50Q compared to wild-type α-synuclein.

scholarly journals Detection of amyloid fibrils in Parkinson’s disease using plasmonic chirality

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (13) ◽  
pp. 3225-3230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jatish Kumar ◽  
Hasier Eraña ◽  
Elena López-Martínez ◽  
Nathalie Claes ◽  
Víctor F. Martín ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Optical Activity ◽  
Amyloid Fibrils ◽  
Dipolar Coupling ◽  
Noncovalent Interactions ◽  
Disease Diagnosis ◽  
Near Ir ◽  
Protein Fibrils ◽  
Monomeric Proteins

Amyloid fibrils, which are closely associated with various neurodegenerative diseases, are the final products in many protein aggregation pathways. The identification of fibrils at low concentration is, therefore, pivotal in disease diagnosis and development of therapeutic strategies. We report a methodology for the specific identification of amyloid fibrils using chiroptical effects in plasmonic nanoparticles. The formation of amyloid fibrils based on α-synuclein was probed using gold nanorods, which showed no apparent interaction with monomeric proteins but effective adsorption onto fibril structures via noncovalent interactions. The amyloid structure drives a helical nanorod arrangement, resulting in intense optical activity at the surface plasmon resonance wavelengths. This sensing technique was successfully applied to human brain homogenates of patients affected by Parkinson’s disease, wherein protein fibrils related to the disease were identified through chiral signals from Au nanorods in the visible and near IR, whereas healthy brain samples did not exhibit any meaningful optical activity. The technique was additionally extended to the specific detection of infectious amyloids formed by prion proteins, thereby confirming the wide potential of the technique. The intense chiral response driven by strong dipolar coupling in helical Au nanorod arrangements allowed us to detect amyloid fibrils down to nanomolar concentrations.

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