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- Agholme, Lotta, et al.
(författare)
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Low-dose γ-secretase inhibition increases secretion of Aβ peptides and intracellular oligomeric Aβ.
- 2017
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Ingår i: Molecular and cellular neurosciences. - : Elsevier BV. - 1095-9327 .- 1044-7431. ; 85, s. 211-219
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- γ-Secretase inhibitors have been considered promising drug candidates against Alzheimer's disease (AD) due to their ability to reduce amyloid-β (Aβ) production. However, clinical trials have been halted due to lack of clinical efficacy and/or side effects. Recent in vitro studies suggest that low doses of γ-secretase inhibitors may instead increase Aβ production. Using a stem cell-derived human model of cortical neurons and low doses of the γ-secretase inhibitor DAPT, the effects on a variety of Aβ peptides were studied using mass spectrometry. One major focus was to develop a novel method for specific detection of oligomeric Aβ (oAβ), and this was used to study the effects of low-dose γ-secretase inhibitor treatment on intracellular oAβ accumulation. Low-dose treatment (2 and 20nM) with DAPT increased the secretion of several Aβ peptides, especially Aβx-42. Furthermore, using the novel method for oAβ detection, we found that 2nM DAPT treatment of cortical neurons resulted in increased oAβ accumulation. Thus, low dose-treatment with DAPT causes both increased production of long, aggregation-prone Aβ peptides and accumulation of intracellular Aβ oligomers, both believed to contribute to AD pathology.
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| 2. |
- Cicognola, Claudia, et al.
(författare)
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Tauopathy-Associated Tau Fragment Ending at Amino Acid 224 Is Generated by Calpain-2 Cleavage.
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD. - 1875-8908. ; 74:4, s. 1143-1156
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tau aggregation in neurons and glial cells characterizes tauopathies as Alzheimer's disease (AD), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), and corticobasal degeneration (CBD). Tau proteolysis has been proposed as a trigger for tau aggregation and tau fragments have been observed in brain and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Our group identified a major tau cleavage at amino acid (aa) 224 in CSF; N-terminal tau fragments ending at aa 224 (N-224) were significantly increased in AD and lacked correlation to total tau (t-tau) and phosphorylated tau (p-tau) in PSP and CBD.Previous studies have shown cleavage from calpain proteases at sites adjacent to aa 224. Our aim was to investigate if calpain-1 or -2 could be responsible for cleavage at aa 224.Proteolytic activity of calpain-1, calpain-2, and brain protein extract was assessed on a custom tau peptide (aa 220-228), engineered with fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) technology. Findings were confirmed with in-gel trypsination and mass spectrometry (MS) analysis of brain-derived bands with proteolytic activity on the FRET substrate. Finally, knock-down of the calpain-2 catalytic subunit gene (CAPN2) was performed in a neuroblastoma cell line (SH-SY5Y).Calpain-2 and brain protein extract, but not calpain-1, showed proteolytic activity on the FRET substrate. MS analysis of active gel bands revealed presence of calpain-2 subunits, but not calpain-1. Calpain-2 depletion and chemical inhibition suppressed proteolysis of the FRET substrate. CAPN2 knock-down caused a 76.4% reduction of N-224 tau in the cell-conditioned media.Further investigation of the calpain-2 pathway in the pathogenesis of tauopathies is encouraged.
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