scholarly journals The Aggregation Inhibitor Peptide QBP1 as a Therapeutic Molecule for the Polyglutamine Neurodegenerative Diseases

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Akiko Popiel ◽  
James R. Burke ◽  
Warren J. Strittmatter ◽  
Shinya Oishi ◽  
Nobutaka Fujii ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neurodegenerative Diseases ◽  
Protein Misfolding ◽  
Therapeutic Strategy ◽  
Protein Transduction ◽  
Protein Transduction Domains ◽  
Aggregation Inhibitor ◽  
Polyq Diseases ◽  
Near Future ◽  
The Brain

Misfolding and abnormal aggregation of proteins in the brain are implicated in the pathogenesis of various neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and the polyglutamine (polyQ) diseases. In the polyQ diseases, an abnormally expanded polyQ stretch triggers misfolding and aggregation of the disease-causing proteins, eventually resulting in neurodegeneration. In this paper, we introduce our therapeutic strategy against the polyQ diseases using polyQ binding peptide 1 (QBP1), a peptide that we identified by phage display screening. We showed that QBP1 specifically binds to the expanded polyQ stretch and inhibits its misfolding and aggregation, resulting in suppression of neurodegeneration in cell culture and animal models of the polyQ diseases. We further demonstrated the potential of protein transduction domains (PTDs) for in vivo delivery of QBP1. We hope that in the near future, chemical analogues of aggregation inhibitor peptides including QBP1 will be developed against protein misfolding-associated neurodegenerative diseases.

scholarly journals News about the Role of Fluid and Imaging Biomarkers in Neurodegenerative Diseases

Biomedicines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 252
Author(s):  
Jacopo Meldolesi
Keyword(s):  
Neurodegenerative Diseases ◽  
Imaging Techniques ◽  
Imaging Biomarkers ◽  
Positron Emission ◽  
Specific Proteins ◽  
Great Relevance ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Positive Point

Biomarkers are molecules that are variable in their origin, nature, and mechanism of action; they are of great relevance in biology and also in medicine because of their specific connection with a single or several diseases. Biomarkers are of two types, which in some cases are operative with each other. Fluid biomarkers, started around 2000, are generated in fluid from specific proteins/peptides and miRNAs accumulated within two extracellular fluids, either the central spinal fluid or blood plasma. The switch of these proteins/peptides and miRNAs, from free to segregated within extracellular vesicles, has induced certain advantages including higher levels within fluids and lower operative expenses. Imaging biomarkers, started around 2004, are identified in vivo upon their binding by radiolabeled molecules subsequently revealed in the brain by positron emission tomography and/or other imaging techniques. A positive point for the latter approach is the quantitation of results, but expenses are much higher. At present, both types of biomarker are being extensively employed to study Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases, investigated from the presymptomatic to mature stages. In conclusion, biomarkers have revolutionized scientific and medical research and practice. Diagnosis, which is often inadequate when based on medical criteria only, has been recently improved by the multiplicity and specificity of biomarkers. Analogous results have been obtained for prognosis. In contrast, improvement of therapy has been limited or fully absent, especially for Alzheimer’s in which progress has been inadequate. An urgent need at hand is therefore the progress of a new drug trial design together with patient management in clinical practice.

scholarly journals The Role of Long Noncoding RNAs in Diabetic Alzheimer’s Disease

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. 461 ◽  
Author(s):  
Young-Kook Kim ◽  
Juhyun Song
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Insulin Resistance ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Neurodegenerative Diseases ◽  
Noncoding Rnas ◽  
Long Noncoding Rnas ◽  
Glucose Dysregulation ◽  
Near Future ◽  
The Brain

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are involved in diverse physiological and pathological processes by modulating gene expression. They have been found to be dysregulated in the brain and cerebrospinal fluid of patients with neurodegenerative diseases, and are considered promising therapeutic targets for treatment. Among the various neurodegenerative diseases, diabetic Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has been recently emerging as an important issue due to several unexpected reports suggesting that metabolic issues in the brain, such as insulin resistance and glucose dysregulation, could be important risk factors for AD. To facilitate understanding of the role of lncRNAs in this field, here we review recent studies on lncRNAs in AD and diabetes, and summarize them with different categories associated with the pathogenesis of the diseases including neurogenesis, synaptic dysfunction, amyloid beta accumulation, neuroinflammation, insulin resistance, and glucose dysregulation. It is essential to understand the role of lncRNAs in the pathogenesis of diabetic AD from various perspectives for therapeutic utilization of lncRNAs in the near future.

Noninvasive Detection of Misfolded Proteins in the Brain Using [11C]BF-227 PET

2013 ◽  
pp. 438-445
Author(s):  
Nobuyuki Okamura ◽  
Shozo Furumoto ◽  
Manabu Tashiro ◽  
Katsutoshi Furukawa ◽  
Hiroyuki Arai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protein Misfolding ◽  
Protein A ◽  
Lewy Bodies ◽  
Protein Aggregates ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Postmortem Brain ◽  
In Vivo Detection ◽  
Misfolding Diseases ◽  
The Brain

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and many other neurodegenerative disorders belong to the family of protein misfolding diseases. These diseases are characterized by the deposition of insoluble protein aggregates containing an enriched ß-sheet structure. To evaluate PET amyloid-imaging tracer [11C]BF-227 as an agent for in vivo detection of various kinds of misfolded protein, a [11C]BF-227 PET study was performed in patients with various protein misfolding diseases, including AD, frontotemporal dementia (FTD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD) and Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker disease (GSS). BF-227 binds to ß-amyloid fibrils with high affinity. Most of the AD patients showed prominent retention of [11C]BF-227 in the neocortex. In addition, neocortical retention of BF-227 was observed in the subjects with mild cognitive impairment who converted to AD during follow-up. DLB patients had elevated [11C]BF-227 uptake in the neocortex. However, FTD and sCJD patients showed no cortical retention of [11C]BF-227. Patients with multiple system atrophy had elevated BF-227 binding in the putamen. Finally, GSS patients had elevated BF-227 uptake in the cerebellum and other brain regions. This chapter confirms that BF-227 can selectively bind to a-synuclein and prion protein deposits using postmortem brain samples. Based on these findings, [11C]BF-227 is not necessarily specific for ß-amyloid in AD patients. However, this tracer could be used to detect various types of protein aggregates in the brain.

scholarly journals Activate or Inhibit? Implications of Autophagy Modulation as a Therapeutic Strategy for Alzheimer’s Disease

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (18) ◽  
pp. 6739
Author(s):  
Sharmeelavathi Krishnan ◽  
Yasaswi Shrestha ◽  
Dona P. W. Jayatunga ◽  
Sarah Rea ◽  
Ralph Martins ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Neurodegenerative Diseases ◽  
Therapeutic Strategy ◽  
Senile Plaques ◽  
Physiological State ◽  
Proteotoxic Stress ◽  
Underlying Causes ◽  
The Brain

Neurodegenerative diseases result in a range of conditions depending on the type of proteinopathy, genes affected or the location of the degeneration in the brain. Proteinopathies such as senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain are prominent features of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Autophagy is a highly regulated mechanism of eliminating dysfunctional organelles and proteins, and plays an important role in removing these pathogenic intracellular protein aggregates, not only in AD, but also in other neurodegenerative diseases. Activating autophagy is gaining interest as a potential therapeutic strategy for chronic diseases featuring protein aggregation and misfolding, including AD. Although autophagy activation is a promising intervention, over-activation of autophagy in neurodegenerative diseases that display impaired lysosomal clearance may accelerate pathology, suggesting that the success of any autophagy-based intervention is dependent on lysosomal clearance being functional. Additionally, the effects of autophagy activation may vary significantly depending on the physiological state of the cell, especially during proteotoxic stress and ageing. Growing evidence seems to favour a strategy of enhancing the efficacy of autophagy by preventing or reversing the impairments of the specific processes that are disrupted. Therefore, it is essential to understand the underlying causes of the autophagy defect in different neurodegenerative diseases to explore possible therapeutic approaches. This review will focus on the role of autophagy during stress and ageing, consequences that are linked to its activation and caveats in modulating this pathway as a treatment.

In vivo optical activation of astrocytes as a potential therapeutic strategy for neurodegenerative diseases

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuanxin Chen ◽  
James Mancuso ◽  
Zhen Zhao ◽  
Xuping Li ◽  
Zhong Xue ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neurodegenerative Diseases ◽  
Therapeutic Strategy ◽  
Optical Activation

scholarly journals Isomeric O-methyl cannabidiolquinones with dual BACH1/NRF2 activity

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Casares ◽  
Juan Diego Unciti ◽  
Maria Eugenia Prados ◽  
Diego Caprioglio ◽  
Maureen Higgins ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oxidative Stress ◽  
Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Neurodegenerative Diseases ◽  
Cell Models ◽  
Therapeutic Approaches ◽  
Neuroprotective Effects ◽  
Anti Oxidant ◽  
Anti Inflammatory ◽  
The Brain

ABSTRACTOxidative stress and inflammation in the brain are two key hallmarks of neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s and multiple sclerosis. The axis NRF2-BACH1 has anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties that could be exploited pharmacologically to obtain neuroprotective effects. Activation of NRF2 or inhibition of BACH1 are, individually, promising therapeutic approaches for NDs. Compounds with dual activity as NRF2 activators and BACH1 inhibitors, could therefore potentially provide a more robust antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, with an overall better neuroprotective outcome. The phytocannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) inhibits BACH1 but lacks significant NRF2 activating properties. Based on this scaffold, we have developed a novel CBD derivative that is highly effective at both inhibiting BACH1 and activating NRF2. This new CBD derivative provides neuroprotection in cell models of relevance to Huntington’s disease, setting the basis for further developments in vivo.

scholarly journals Computational Insight into the Effect of Natural Compounds on the Destabilization of Preformed Amyloid-β(1-40) Fibrils

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Tavanti ◽  
Alfonso Pedone ◽  
Maria Cristina Menziani
Keyword(s):  
Therapeutic Strategy ◽  
Therapeutic Potential ◽  
Structure Stability ◽  
Insoluble Form ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Identification And Characterization ◽  
Insight Into

One of the principal hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is related to the aggregation of amyloid-β fibrils in an insoluble form in the brain, also known as amyloidosis. Therefore, a prominent therapeutic strategy against AD consists either in blocking the amyloid aggregation and/or destroying the already formed aggregates. Natural products have shown significant therapeutic potential as amyloid inhibitors from in vitro studies as well as in vivo animal tests. In this study, the interaction of five natural biophenols (curcumin, dopamine, (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-gallate, Quercetin, and Rosmarinic acid) with the amyloid-β(1-40) fibrils has been studied through computational simulations. The results allowed the identification and characterization of the different binding modalities of each compounds and their consequences on fibril dynamics and aggregation. It emerges that the lateral aggregation of the fibrils is strongly influenced by the intercalation of the ligands, which modulate the double-layered structure stability.

scholarly journals Novel PET Biomarkers to Disentangle Molecular Pathways across Age-Related Neurodegenerative Diseases

Cells ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 2581
Author(s):  
Heather Wilson ◽  
Marios Politis ◽  
Eugenii A. Rabiner ◽  
Lefkos T. Middleton
Keyword(s):  
Neurodegenerative Diseases ◽  
Protein Misfolding ◽  
Imaging Technique ◽  
Emission Tomography ◽  
Imaging Biomarkers ◽  
Synaptic Dysfunction ◽  
Molecular Pathways ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Positron Emission

There is a need to disentangle the etiological puzzle of age-related neurodegenerative diseases, whose clinical phenotypes arise from known, and as yet unknown, pathways that can act distinctly or in concert. Enhanced sub-phenotyping and the identification of in vivo biomarker-driven signature profiles could improve the stratification of patients into clinical trials and, potentially, help to drive the treatment landscape towards the precision medicine paradigm. The rapidly growing field of neuroimaging offers valuable tools to investigate disease pathophysiology and molecular pathways in humans, with the potential to capture the whole disease course starting from preclinical stages. Positron emission tomography (PET) combines the advantages of a versatile imaging technique with the ability to quantify, to nanomolar sensitivity, molecular targets in vivo. This review will discuss current research and available imaging biomarkers evaluating dysregulation of the main molecular pathways across age-related neurodegenerative diseases. The molecular pathways focused on in this review involve mitochondrial dysfunction and energy dysregulation; neuroinflammation; protein misfolding; aggregation and the concepts of pathobiology, synaptic dysfunction, neurotransmitter dysregulation and dysfunction of the glymphatic system. The use of PET imaging to dissect these molecular pathways and the potential to aid sub-phenotyping will be discussed, with a focus on novel PET biomarkers.

Noninvasive Detection of Misfolded Proteins in the Brain Using [11C]BF-227 PET

2011 ◽  
pp. 212-219
Author(s):  
Nobuyuki Okamura ◽  
Shozo Furumoto ◽  
Manabu Tashiro ◽  
Katsutoshi Furukawa ◽  
Hiroyuki Arai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protein Misfolding ◽  
Protein A ◽  
Lewy Bodies ◽  
Protein Aggregates ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Postmortem Brain ◽  
In Vivo Detection ◽  
Misfolding Diseases ◽  
The Brain

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and many other neurodegenerative disorders belong to the family of protein misfolding diseases. These diseases are characterized by the deposition of insoluble protein aggregates containing an enriched ß-sheet structure. To evaluate PET amyloid-imaging tracer [11C]BF-227 as an agent for in vivo detection of various kinds of misfolded protein, a [11C]BF-227 PET study was performed in patients with various protein misfolding diseases, including AD, frontotemporal dementia (FTD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD) and Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker disease (GSS). BF-227 binds to ß-amyloid fibrils with high affinity. Most of the AD patients showed prominent retention of [11C]BF-227 in the neocortex. In addition, neocortical retention of BF-227 was observed in the subjects with mild cognitive impairment who converted to AD during follow-up. DLB patients had elevated [11C]BF-227 uptake in the neocortex. However, FTD and sCJD patients showed no cortical retention of [11C]BF-227. Patients with multiple system atrophy had elevated BF-227 binding in the putamen. Finally, GSS patients had elevated BF-227 uptake in the cerebellum and other brain regions. This chapter confirms that BF-227 can selectively bind to a-synuclein and prion protein deposits using postmortem brain samples. Based on these findings, [11C]BF-227 is not necessarily specific for ß-amyloid in AD patients. However, this tracer could be used to detect various types of protein aggregates in the brain.

Engineered models for studying blood-brain-barrier-associated brain physiology and pathology

Organoid ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. e10
Author(s):  
Hong Nam Kim
Keyword(s):  
Neurodegenerative Diseases ◽  
Blood Brain Barrier ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Brain Barrier ◽  
Sufficient Information ◽  
Transport Barrier ◽  
Brain Physiology ◽  
Blood Brain ◽  
The Brain

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a transport barrier that suppresses the translocation of potentially harmful substances to the brain tissue. Although the BBB is known to be associated with many kinds of neuropathology, such as neuroinflammation and neurodegenerative diseases, the conventionally used animal and Transwell models cannot provide sufficient information due to genetic and functional heterogeneity in comparison with humans and limited monitoring capabilities. Recently, human cell-based three-dimensional BBB models have been developed, and these models provide in vivo-like BBB structures and functions. In this review, we provide an overview of the recent advances in BBB models with a particular focus on the simulation of BBB-associated brain physiology and neuropathology. To this end, important factors for recapitulating the in vivo characteristics of the BBB are described. Furthermore, approaches to recapitulate the BBB physiology using engineering methods are summarized. The applications of BBB models in the study of neuropathology, such as inflammation and neurodegenerative diseases, are also presented.

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