P4-103: Effects of Anti-Tau Antibodies on Tau Aggregation, Phosphorylation and Microtubule Stability

Background: Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is characterized by the presence of extracellular amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques and intraneuronal neurofibrillary tangles assembled by the microtubuleassociated protein tau. Increasing evidence demonstrated that tau pathology played an important role in AD progression. Resveratrol (RSV) has previously proved to exert neuroprotective effect against AD by inhibiting Aβ generation and Aβ-induced neurocytotoxicity, while its effect on tau pathology is still unknown. Method: The effect of RSV on tau aggregation was measured by Thioflavin T fluorescence and Transmission electron microscope imaging. The effect of RSV on tau oligomer-induced cytotoxicity was assessed by MTT assay and the uptake of extracellular tau by N2a cells was determined by immunocytochemistry. 6-month-old male PS19 mice were treated with RSV or vehicle by oral administration (gavage) once a day for 5 weeks. The cognitive performance was determined using Morris water maze test, object recognition test and Y-maze test. The levels of phosphorylated-tau, gliosis, proinflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α and IL-1β, and synaptic proteins including synaptophysin and PSD95 in the brains of the mice were evaluated by immunoblotting, immunostaining and ELISA, respectively. Results: RSV significantly inhibited tau aggregation and tau oligomer-induced cytotoxicity, and blocked the uptake of extracellular tau oligomers by N2a cells. When applied to PS19 mice, RSV treatment effectively rescued cognitive deficits, reducing the levels of phosphorylated tau, neuroinflammation and synapse loss in the brains of mice. Conclusion: These findings suggest that RSV has promising therapeutic potential for AD and other tauopathies.

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Recent Updates in the Alzheimer’s Disease Etiopathology and Possible Treatment Approaches: A Narrative Review of Current Clinical Trials

Current Molecular Pharmacology ◽

10.2174/1874467213666200422090135 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 273-294 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Elahe Zarini-Gakiye ◽

Javad Amini ◽

Nima Sanadgol ◽

Gholamhassan Vaezi ◽

Kazem Parivar

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Clinical Trials ◽

Small Molecules ◽

Clinical Trial Design ◽

Treatment Approaches ◽

Drug Candidates ◽

Novel Treatments ◽

Approved Drugs ◽

Tau Aggregation

Background: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most frequent subtype of incurable neurodegenerative dementias and its etiopathology is still not clearly elucidated. Objective: Outline the ongoing clinical trials (CTs) in the field of AD, in order to find novel master regulators. Methods: We strictly reviewed all scientific reports from Clinicaltrials.gov and PubMed databases from January 2010 to January 2019. The search terms were “Alzheimer's disease” or “dementia” and “medicine” or “drug” or “treatment” and “clinical trials” and “interventions”. Manuscripts that met the objective of this study were included for further evaluations. Results: Drug candidates have been categorized into two main groups including antibodies, peptides or hormones (such as Ponezumab, Interferon β-1a, Solanezumab, Filgrastim, Levemir, Apidra, and Estrogen), and naturally-derived ingredients or small molecules (such as Paracetamol, Ginkgo, Escitalopram, Simvastatin, Cilostazo, and Ritalin-SR). The majority of natural candidates acted as anti-inflammatory or/and anti-oxidant and antibodies exert their actions via increasing amyloid-beta (Aβ) clearance or decreasing Tau aggregation. Among small molecules, most of them that are present in the last phases act as specific antagonists (Suvorexant, Idalopirdine, Intepirdine, Trazodone, Carvedilol, and Risperidone) or agonists (Dextromethorphan, Resveratrol, Brexpiprazole) and frequently ameliorate cognitive dysfunctions. Conclusion: The presences of a small number of candidates in the last phase suggest that a large number of candidates have had an undesirable side effect or were unable to pass essential eligibility for future phases. Among successful treatment approaches, clearance of Aβ, recovery of cognitive deficits, and control of acute neuroinflammation are widely chosen. It is predicted that some FDA-approved drugs, such as Paracetamol, Risperidone, Escitalopram, Simvastatin, Cilostazoand, and Ritalin-SR, could also be used in off-label ways for AD. This review improves our ability to recognize novel treatments for AD and suggests approaches for the clinical trial design for this devastating disease in the near future.

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Kinetics of tau aggregation reveals patient specific tau characteristics among Alzheimer's cases

Brain Communications ◽

10.1093/braincomms/fcab096 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Tarun V Kamath ◽

Naomi Klickstein ◽

Caitlin Commins ◽

Analiese R Fernandes ◽

Derek H Oakley ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Growth Phase ◽

Tau Proteins ◽

Patient Specific ◽

Lag Phase ◽

Plateau Phase ◽

Kinetic Assay ◽

Cellular Processes ◽

Morphological Differences ◽

Tau Aggregation ◽

Kinetics Of

Abstract The accumulation of tau aggregates throughout the human brain is the hallmark of a number of neurodegenerative conditions classified as tauopathies. Increasing evidence shows that tau aggregation occurs in a “prion-like” manner, in which a small amount of misfolded tau protein can induce other, naïve tau proteins to aggregate. Tau aggregates have been found to differ structurally among different tauopathies. Recently, however, we have suggested that tau oligomeric species may differ biochemically among individual patients with sporadic Alzheimer disease, and have also showed that the bioactivity of the tau species, measured using a cell-based bioassay, also varied among individuals. Here, we adopted a live-cell imaging approach to the standard cell-based bioassay to explore further whether the kinetics of aggregation also differentiated these patients. We found that aggregation can be observed to follow a consistent pattern in all cases, with a lag phase, a growth phase, and a plateau phase, which each provide quantitative parameters by which we characterize aggregation kinetics. The length of the lag phase and magnitude of the plateau phase are both dependent upon the concentration of seeding-competent tau, the relative enrichment of which differs among patients. The slope of the growth phase correlates with morphological differences in the tau aggregates, which may be reflective of underlying structural differences. This kinetic assay confirms and refines the concept of heterogeneity in the characteristics of tau proteopathic seeds among individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and is a method by which future studies may characterize longitudinal changes in tau aggregation and the cellular processes which may influence these changes.

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Inhibition of cell expansion enhances cortical microtubule stability in the root apex of Arabidopsis thaliana

Journal of Biological Research-Thessaloniki ◽

10.1186/s40709-021-00143-8 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 28 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Veronica Giourieva ◽

Emmanuel Panteris

Keyword(s):

Arabidopsis Thaliana ◽

Cell Wall ◽

Cell Expansion ◽

Cortical Microtubule ◽

Root Apex ◽

Cellulose Synthase ◽

Cellulose Biosynthesis ◽

Cortical Microtubules ◽

Wild Type ◽

Microtubule Stability

Abstract Background Cortical microtubules regulate cell expansion by determining cellulose microfibril orientation in the root apex of Arabidopsis thaliana. While the regulation of cell wall properties by cortical microtubules is well studied, the data on the influence of cell wall to cortical microtubule organization and stability remain scarce. Studies on cellulose biosynthesis mutants revealed that cortical microtubules depend on Cellulose Synthase A (CESA) function and/or cell expansion. Furthermore, it has been reported that cortical microtubules in cellulose-deficient mutants are hypersensitive to oryzalin. In this work, the persistence of cortical microtubules against anti-microtubule treatment was thoroughly studied in the roots of several cesa mutants, namely thanatos, mre1, any1, prc1-1 and rsw1, and the Cellulose Synthase Interacting 1 protein (csi1) mutant pom2-4. In addition, various treatments with drugs affecting cell expansion were performed on wild-type roots. Whole mount tubulin immunolabeling was applied in the above roots and observations were performed by confocal microscopy. Results Cortical microtubules in all mutants showed statistically significant increased persistence against anti-microtubule drugs, compared to those of the wild-type. Furthermore, to examine if the enhanced stability of cortical microtubules was due to reduced cellulose biosynthesis or to suppression of cell expansion, treatments of wild-type roots with 2,6-dichlorobenzonitrile (DCB) and Congo red were performed. After these treatments, cortical microtubules appeared more resistant to oryzalin, than in the control. Conclusions According to these findings, it may be concluded that inhibition of cell expansion, irrespective of the cause, results in increased microtubule stability in A. thaliana root. In addition, cell expansion does not only rely on cortical microtubule orientation but also plays a regulatory role in microtubule dynamics, as well. Various hypotheses may explain the increased cortical microtubule stability under decreased cell expansion such as the role of cell wall sensors and the presence of less dynamic cortical microtubules.

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Arrayed CRISPR reveals genetic regulators of tau aggregation, autophagy and mitochondria in Alzheimer’s disease model

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-82658-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Lishu Duan ◽

Mufeng Hu ◽

Joseph A. Tamm ◽

Yelena Y. Grinberg ◽

Fang Shen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Drug Discovery ◽

Disease Model ◽

Mitochondrial Morphology ◽

Individual Gene ◽

Human Genes ◽

Future Drug ◽

Tau Aggregation

AbstractAlzheimer’s disease (AD) is a common neurodegenerative disease with poor prognosis. New options for drug discovery targets are needed. We developed an imaging based arrayed CRISPR method to interrogate the human genome for modulation of in vitro correlates of AD features, and used this to assess 1525 human genes related to tau aggregation, autophagy and mitochondria. This work revealed (I) a network of tau aggregation modulators including the NF-κB pathway and inflammatory signaling, (II) a correlation between mitochondrial morphology, respiratory function and transcriptomics, (III) machine learning predicted novel roles of genes and pathways in autophagic processes and (IV) individual gene function inferences and interactions among biological processes via multi-feature clustering. These studies provide a platform to interrogate underexplored aspects of AD biology and offer several specific hypotheses for future drug discovery efforts.

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Borrelidin from Saltern-Derived Halophilic Nocardiopsis sp. Dissociates Amyloid-β and Tau Fibrils

Journal of Alzheimer s Disease Reports ◽

10.3233/adr-200247 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-7

Author(s):

Jisu Shin ◽

Seung-Hoon Yang ◽

Young Eun Du ◽

Keunwan Park ◽

DaWon Kim ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Amyloid Β ◽

Thioflavin T ◽

Drug Candidate ◽

Ht22 Cells ◽

Aβ Aggregation ◽

Actinomycete Strain ◽

Direct Dissociation ◽

Aβ Fibrils ◽

Tau Aggregation

Background: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by the aggregation of two pathological proteins, amyloid-β (Aβ) and tau, leading to neuronal and cognitive dysfunction. Clearance of either Aβ or tau aggregates by immunotherapy has become a potential therapy, as these aggregates are found in the brain ahead of the symptom onset. Given that Aβ and tau independently and cooperatively play critical roles in AD development, AD treatments might require therapeutic approaches to eliminate both aggregates together. Objective: We aimed to discover a chemical drug candidate from natural sources for direct dissociation of both insoluble Aβ and tau aggregates through in vitro assessments. Methods: We isolated four borrelidin chemicals from a saltern-derived halophilic actinomycete strain of rare genus Nocardiopsis and simulated their docking interactions with Aβ fibrils. Then, anti-cytotoxic, anti-Aβ, and anti-tau effects of borrelidins were examined by MTT assays with HT22 hippocampal cell line, thioflavin T assays, and gel electrophoresis. Results: When HT22 cells were exposed to Aβ aggregates, the treatment of borrelidins alleviates the Aβ-induced toxicity. These anti-cytotoxic effects can be derived from the inhibitory functions of borrelidins against the Aβ aggregation as shown in thioflavin T and gel electrophoretic analyses. Among them, especially borrelidin, which exhibits the highest probability of docking, not only dissociates Aβ aggregates but also directly regulates tau aggregation. Conclusion: Borrelidin dissociates insoluble Aβ and tau aggregates together and our findings support the view that it is possible to develop an alternative chemical approach mimicking anti-Aβ or anti-tau immunotherapy for clearance of both aggregates.

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