| 1. |
- Alikhani, Nyosha, et al.
(författare)
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Decreased proteolytic activity of the mitochondrial amyloid-β degrading enzyme, PreP peptidasome, in Alzheimer's disease brain mitochondria
- 2011
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Ingår i: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. - 1387-2877 .- 1875-8908. ; 27:1, s. 75-87
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Accumulation of amyloid-β peptide (Aβ), the neurotoxic peptide implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD), has been shown in brain mitochondria of AD patients and of AD transgenic mouse models. The presence of Aβ in mitochondria leads to free radical generation and neuronal stress. Recently, we identified the presequence protease, PreP, localized in the mitochondrial matrix in mammalian mitochondria as the novel mitochondrial Aβ-degrading enzyme. In the present study, we examined PreP activity in the mitochondrial matrix of the human brain's temporal lobe, an area of the brain highly susceptible to Aβ accumulation and reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. We found significantly lower hPreP activity in AD brains compared with non-AD age-matched controls. By contrast, in the cerebellum, a brain region typically spared from Aβ accumulation, there was no significant difference in hPreP activity when comparing AD samples to non-AD controls. We also found significantly reduced PreP activity in the mitochondrial matrix of AD transgenic mouse brains (Tg mAβPP and Tg mAβPP/ABAD) when compared to non-transgenic aged-matched mice. Furthermore, mitochondrial fractions isolated from AD brains and Tg mAβPP mice had higher levels of 4-hydroxynonenal, an oxidative product, as compared with those from non-AD and nonTg mice. Accordingly, activity of cytochrome c oxidase was significantly reduced in the AD mitochondria. These findings suggest that decreased PreP proteolytic activity, possibly due to enhanced ROS production, contributes to Aβ accumulation in mitochondria leading to the mitochondrial toxicity and neuronal death that is exacerbated in AD. Clearance of mitochondrial Aβ by PreP may thus be of importance in the pathology of AD.
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| 4. |
- Alikhani, Nyosha, et al.
(författare)
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Mitochondria and Alzheimer's disease : amyloid-beta peptide uptake and degradation by the presequence protease, hPreP
- 2009
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Ingår i: Journal of Bioenergetics and Biomembranes. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0145-479X .- 1573-6881. ; 41:5, s. 447-451
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Several lines of evidence suggest mitochondrial dysfunction as a possible underlying mechanism of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Accumulation of the amyloid-beta peptide (Abeta), a neurotoxic peptide implicated in the pathogenesis of AD, has been detected in brain mitochondria of AD patients and AD transgenic mouse models. In vitro evidence suggests that the Abeta causes mitochondrial dysfunction e.g. oxidative stress, mitochondrial fragmentation and decreased activity of cytochrome c oxidase and TCA cycle enzymes. Here we review the link between mitochondrial dysfunctions and AD. In particular we focus on the mechanism for Abeta uptake by mitochondria and on the recently identified Abeta degrading protease in human brain mitochondria.
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| 5. |
- Alikhani, Nyosha, et al.
(författare)
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Targeting Capacity and Conservation of PreP Homologues Localization in Mitochondria of Different Species
- 2011
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Ingår i: Journal of Molecular Biology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0022-2836 .- 1089-8638. ; 410:3, s. 400-410
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mitochondrial presequences and other unstructured peptides are degraded inside mitochondria by presequence proteases (PrePs) identified in Arabidopsis thaliana (AtPreP), humans (hPreP), and yeast (Cym1/Mop112). The presequences of A. thaliana and human PreP are predicted to consist of 85 and 29 amino acids, respectively, whereas the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Cym1/Mop112 presequence contains only 7 residues. These differences may explain the reported targeting of homologous proteins to different mitochondrial subcompartments. Here we have investigated the targeting capacity of the PreP homologues' presequences. We have produced fusion constructs containing N-terminal portions of AtPreP(1-125), hPreP(1-69), and Cym1(1-40) coupled to green fluorescent protein (GFP) and studied their import into isolated plant, mammalian, and yeast mitochondria, followed by mitochondrial subfractionation. Whereas the AtPreP presequence has the capacity to target GFP into the mitochondrial matrix of all three species, the hPreP presequence only targets GFP to the matrix of mammalian and yeast mitochondria. The Cym1/Mop112 presequence has an overall much weaker targeting capacity and only ensures mitochondrial sorting in its host species yeast. Revisiting the submitochondrial localization of Cym1 revealed that endogenous Cym1/Mop112 is localized to the matrix space, as has been previously reported for the plant and human homologues. Moreover, complementation studies in yeast show that native AtPreP restores the growth phenotype of yeast cells lacking Cym1, demonstrating functional conservation.
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| 6. |
- Alikhani, Nyosha, 1978-
(författare)
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The Mitochondrial Peptidasome, PreP, relation to Alzheimer Disease
- 2009
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Amyloid-β (Aβ) is the toxic peptide implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer Disease (AD). Accumulation of Aβ has been shown in brain mitochondria from AD patients and AD mice models. The occurrence of Aβ in the mitochondrial matrix leads to free radical generation and apoptosis in neurons.In our studies, Aβ was found in brain mitochondria of living patients with plaque pathology. Extracellular Aβ was taken up by neuroblastoma cells and was found in the mitochondria. Moreover, we showed that Aβ40 and Aβ42 are transported into mitochondria via the Translocase of the Outer Membrane, the TOM machinery.We have identified the mitochondrial Aβ-degrading protease hPreP, in human brain mitochondrial matrix. PreP is a metalloprotease, originally identified as presequence protease, but was also shown to degrade other unstructured peptides including Aβ. Immunoinactivation of PreP in human brain mitochondria revealed PreP to be the protease responsible for Aβ degradation in mitochondria.Also, we have investigated if genetic variation in the gene encoding hPreP is associated with AD by genotyping 19 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the Swedish population. The study did not show a genetic association between any of the genotyped SNPs and the risk to AD. However, the biochemical analysis of four SNPs selected on the basis of their location within a structural homology model of hPreP revealed a decreased activity compared to wildtype.Interestingly, the activity of PreP in human brain mitochondrial matrix in AD individuals was significantly lower compared to non-dement aged-matched controls. These findings were also confirmed in brain mitochondrial matrix of AD mouse models. These results suggest that a decreased PreP activity may contribute to Aβ aggregation and accumulation inside mitochondria leading to neuronal death in AD. In summary, our findings show that the degradation of Aβ by hPreP may be of importance in the pathology of AD.
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| 7. |
- Berglund, Anna-Karin, et al.
(författare)
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Defining the Determinants for Dual Targeting of Amino Acyl-tRNA Synthetases to Mitochondria and Chloroplasts
- 2009
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Ingår i: Journal of Molecular Biology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0022-2836 .- 1089-8638. ; 393:4, s. 803-814
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Most of the organellar amino acyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs) are dually targeted to both mitochondria and chloroplasts using dual targeting peptides (dTPs). We have investigated the targeting properties and domain structure of dTPs of seven aaRSs by studying the in vitro and in vivo import of N-terminal deleted constructs of dTPs fused to green fluorescent protein. The deletion constructs were designed based on prediction programs, TargetP and Predotar, as well as LogoPlots derived from organellar proteomes in Arabidopsis thaliana. In vitro import was performed either into a single isolated organelle or as dual import (i.e., into a mixture of isolated mitochondria and chloroplasts followed by reisolation of the organelles). In vivo import was investigated as transient expression of the green fluorescent protein constructs in Nicotiana benthamiana protoplasts. Characterization of recognition determinants showed that the N-terminal portions of TyrRS-, ValRS- and ThrRS-dTPs (27, 22 and 23 amino acids, respectively) are required for targeting into both mitochondria and chloroplasts. Surprisingly, these N-terminal portions contain no or very few arginines (or lysines) but very high number of hydroxylated residues (26–51%). For two aaRSs, a domain structure of the dTP became evident. Removal of 20 residues from the dTP of ProRS abolished chloroplastic import, indicating that the N-terminal region was required for chloroplast targeting, whereas deletion of 16 N-terminal amino acids from AspRS-dTP inhibited the mitochondrial import, showing that in this case, the N-terminal portion was required for the mitochondrial import. Finally, deletion of N-terminal regions of dTPs for IleRS and LysRS did not affect dual targeting. In summary, it can be concluded that there is no general rule for how the determinants for dual targeting are distributed within dTPs; in most cases, the N-terminal portion is essential for import into both organelles, but in a few cases, a domain structure was observed.
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| 8. |
- Berglund, Anna-Karin, 1979-
(författare)
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Dual Targeting of Proteins to Mitochondria and Chloroplasts
- 2009
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The vast majority of mitochondrial and chloroplastic proteins are nuclear encoded, synthesized in the cytosol and imported into the respective organelle using an N-terminal extension, the targeting peptide (TP). After import into the organelle, the TP is cleaved off and degraded by the Presequence protease (PreP). The import process is thought to be highly specific, however there is a group of proteins that are localised to both mitochondria and chloroplasts, using an ambiguous, dual targeting peptide (dTP). The aim of this thesis was to investigate targeting properties of dTPs. Analysis of the amino acid content of all currently known dually targeted proteins revealed that the dTPs are enriched in hydroxylated, hydrophobic and positively charged residues, lacking acidic residues, whereas the content of serine, arginine and proline is intermediary in comparison to the mitochondrial and chloroplastic TPs. dTPs do not form amphiphilic a-helices, characteristic of the mitochondrial TPs, but the helical structure can be induced in membrane mimetic environment, as revealed by spectroscopic studies of a dTP of an aminoacyl- tRNA-synthetase (aaRS). In vitro and in vivo import experiments of fusion constructs containing N-terminal truncations of seven aaRS-dTPs coupled to green fluorescent protein (GFP) demonstrated different organisation of targeting determinants showing that the N-terminal portion of dTPs was crucial for import into both organelles or at least one organelle for different constructs. In addition, studies of targeting capacity of the TPs of PreP homologues from plant, mammal and yeast (AtPreP, hPreP and Mop112) showed species dependent intra-mitochondrial localisation of the coupled GFP and demonstrated functional complementation of an intermembrane space located Mop112 with a matrix located AtPreP. The studies presented here contribute to understanding of the intracellular and intra-mitochondrial sorting process of proteins in the eukaryotic cell.
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| 9. |
- Berglund, Anna-Karin, et al.
(författare)
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Dual Targeting to Mitochondria and Chloroplasts : Characterization of Thr–tRNA Synthetase Targeting Peptide
- 2009
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Ingår i: Molecular Plant. - Shanghai : Oxford University Press. - 1674-2052. ; 2:6, s. 1298-1309
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- There is a group of proteins that are encoded by a single gene, expressed as a single precursor protein and dually targeted to both mitochondria and chloroplasts using an ambiguous targeting peptide. Sequence analysis of 43 dual targeted proteins in comparison with 385 mitochondrial proteins and 567 chloroplast proteins of Arabidopsis thaliana revealed an overall significant increase in phenylalanines, leucines, and serines and a decrease in acidic amino acids and glycine in dual targeting peptides (dTPs). The N-terminal portion of dTPs has significantly more serines than mTPs. The number of arginines is similar to those in mTPs, but almost twice as high as those in cTPs. We have investigated targeting determinants of the dual targeting peptide of Thr-tRNA synthetase (ThrRS-dTP) studying organellar import of N- and C-terminal deletion constructs of ThrRS-dTP coupled to GFP. These results show that the 23 amino acid long N-terminal portion of ThrRS-dTP is crucial but not sufficient for the organellar import. The C-terminal deletions revealed that the shortest peptide that was capable of conferring dual targeting was 60 amino acids long. We have purified the ThrRS-dTP(2-60) to homogeneity after its expression as a fusion construct with GST followed by CNBr cleavage and ion exchange chromatography. The purified ThrRS-dTP(2-60) inhibited import of pF(1)beta into mitochondria and of pSSU into chloroplasts at mu M concentrations showing that dual and organelle-specific proteins use the same organellar import pathways. Furthermore, the CD spectra of ThrRS-dTP(2-60) indicated that the peptide has the propensity for forming alpha-helical structure in membrane mimetic environments; however, the membrane charge was not important for the amount of induced helical structure. This is the first study in which a dual targeting peptide has been purified and investigated by biochemical and biophysical means.
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