Prionopathies and Prionlike Protein Aberrations in Neurodegenerative Diseases

Neurographics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-148
Author(s):  
K.N. Anderson ◽  
W.B. Overcast ◽  
J.R. Brosch ◽  
B.D. Graner ◽  
M.C. Veronesi
Keyword(s):  
Neurodegenerative Diseases ◽  
Protein Misfolding ◽  
Clinical Presentation ◽  
Prion Diseases ◽  
Imaging Biomarkers ◽  
Amyloid Pet ◽  
Imaging Features ◽  
Jakob Disease ◽  
The Common ◽  
Neuro Imaging

Protein misfolding has been an area of intense research and is implicated in a number of neurodegenerative diseases. Key proteins in the brain lose their native ability to fold and instead assume abnormal conformations. Misfolded proteins cluster to form pathologic aggregates, which cause cellular dysfunction, neuronal death, and neurodegeneration. The prionopathies are best known among the neurodegenerative diseases for their ability to misfold, self-propagate, and infect other organisms. There is increasing evidence of a rationale for a prionlike mechanism of spread of other neurodegenerative diseases through a similar seeding mechanism. In this review, we detail the role of a key protein aberration known to the various prion diseases, including sporadic, variant, and iatrogenic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease; variably protease-sensitive prionopathy; Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker disease; fatal familial insomnia; and kuru. We also discuss the clinical presentation, the available, and emerging imaging options for these diseases. In the second part of this review, we delineate how a prionlike seeding process may be driving the progression of other neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson disease, Alzheimer disease, and Huntington disease. A discussion of clinical presentation and imaging features of these example diseases follows to make a case for a common approach to developing imaging biomarkers and therapies of these diseases.Learning Objective: Upon completion of this article, one should be able to describe the various types of prion diseases, recognize and identify the common the neuro-imaging findings in prion diseases, describe seeding mechanism of prion disease, list the common amyloid PET tracers used for Alzheimer’s disease, and list common imaging biomarkers in neurodegenerative diseases.

The neuroepidemiology of human prion disease

2020 ◽  
pp. 367-378
Author(s):  
Patrick JM Urwin ◽  
Anna M Molesworth
Keyword(s):  
Prion Protein ◽  
Prion Disease ◽  
Protein Misfolding ◽  
Prion Diseases ◽  
Prion Protein Gene ◽  
Human Prion Disease ◽  
Disease States ◽  
Jakob Disease ◽  
The Central Nervous System ◽  
Sporadic Disease

Human prion diseases comprise a number of rare and fatal neurodegenerative conditions that result from the accumulation in the central nervous system of an abnormal form of a naturally occurring protein, called the prion protein. The diseases occur in genetic, sporadic, and acquired forms: genetic disease is associated with mutations in the prion protein gene (PRNP); sporadic disease is thought to result from a spontaneous protein misfolding event; acquired disease results from transmission of infection from an animal or another human. The potential transmissibility of the prion in any of these forms, either in disease states or during the incubation period, has implications for public health. Here we focus on Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), including variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD), although we will also discuss other forms of human prion disease.

scholarly journals Detection of Pathognomonic Biomarker PrPSc and the Contribution of Cell Free-Amplification Techniques to the Diagnosis of Prion Diseases

Biomolecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 469
Author(s):  
Hasier Eraña ◽  
Jorge M. Charco ◽  
Ezequiel González-Miranda ◽  
Sandra García-Martínez ◽  
Rafael López-Moreno ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neurodegenerative Diseases ◽  
Protein Misfolding ◽  
Prion Diseases ◽  
Immunohistochemical Analysis ◽  
Body Fluids ◽  
Detection Methods ◽  
Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies ◽  
Spongiform Encephalopathies ◽  
Prion Propagation

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies or prion diseases are rapidly progressive neurodegenerative diseases, the clinical manifestation of which can resemble other promptly evolving neurological maladies. Therefore, the unequivocal ante-mortem diagnosis is highly challenging and was only possible by histopathological and immunohistochemical analysis of the brain at necropsy. Although surrogate biomarkers of neurological damage have become invaluable to complement clinical data and provide more accurate diagnostics at early stages, other neurodegenerative diseases show similar alterations hindering the differential diagnosis. To solve that, the detection of the pathognomonic biomarker of disease, PrPSc, the aberrantly folded isoform of the prion protein, could be used. However, the amounts in easily accessible tissues or body fluids at pre-clinical or early clinical stages are extremely low for the standard detection methods. The solution comes from the recent development of in vitro prion propagation techniques, such as Protein Misfolding Cyclic Amplification (PMCA) and Real Time-Quaking Induced Conversion (RT-QuIC), which have been already applied to detect minute amounts of PrPSc in different matrixes and make early diagnosis of prion diseases feasible in a near future. Herein, the most relevant tissues and body fluids in which PrPSc has been detected in animals and humans are being reviewed, especially those in which cell-free prion propagation systems have been used with diagnostic purposes.

scholarly journals Rapid and Sensitive RT-QuIC Detection of Human Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Using Cerebrospinal Fluid

mBio ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina D. Orrú ◽  
Bradley R. Groveman ◽  
Andrew G. Hughson ◽  
Gianluigi Zanusso ◽  
Michael B. Coulthart ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cerebrospinal Fluid ◽  
Protein Misfolding ◽  
Prion Diseases ◽  
Analytical Sensitivity ◽  
Enhanced Sensitivity ◽  
Highly Sensitive ◽  
Jakob Disease ◽  
Misfolding Diseases ◽  
Amyloid Diseases ◽  
Sporadic Cjd

ABSTRACT  Fast, definitive diagnosis of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is important in assessing patient care options and transmission risks. Real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) assays of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and nasal-brushing specimens are valuable in distinguishing CJD from non-CJD conditions but have required 2.5 to 5 days. Here, an improved RT-QuIC assay is described which identified positive CSF samples within 4 to 14 h with better analytical sensitivity. Moreover, analysis of 11 CJD patients demonstrated that while 7 were RT-QuIC positive using the previous conditions, 10 were positive using the new assay. In these and further analyses, a total of 46 of 48 CSF samples from sporadic CJD patients were positive, while all 39 non-CJD patients were negative, giving 95.8% diagnostic sensitivity and 100% specificity. This second-generation RT-QuIC assay markedly improved the speed and sensitivity of detecting prion seeds in CSF specimens from CJD patients. This should enhance prospects for rapid and accurate ante mortem CJD diagnosis. IMPORTANCE A long-standing problem in dealing with various neurodegenerative protein misfolding diseases is early and accurate diagnosis. This issue is particularly important with human prion diseases, such as CJD, because prions are deadly, transmissible, and unusually resistant to decontamination. The recently developed RT-QuIC test allows for highly sensitive and specific detection of CJD in human cerebrospinal fluid and is being broadly implemented as a key diagnostic tool. However, as currently applied, RT-QuIC takes 2.5 to 5 days and misses 11 to 23% of CJD cases. Now, we have markedly improved RT-QuIC analysis of human CSF such that CJD and non-CJD patients can be discriminated in a matter of hours rather than days with enhanced sensitivity. These improvements should allow for much faster, more accurate, and practical testing for CJD. In broader terms, our study provides a prototype for tests for misfolded protein aggregates that cause many important amyloid diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and tauopathies.

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.

scholarly journals Rare Pancreatic Tumors

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (01) ◽  
pp. 064-074
Author(s):  
Amitkumar Choudhari ◽  
Pooja Kembhavi ◽  
Mukta Ramadwar ◽  
Aparna Katdare ◽  
Vasundhara Smriti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neuroendocrine Tumor ◽  
Pancreatic Neoplasms ◽  
Clinical Presentation ◽  
Pancreatic Neoplasm ◽  
Ductal Adenocarcinoma ◽  
Pancreatic Tumors ◽  
Imaging Features ◽  
Patient Demographics ◽  
The Common ◽  
Cystic Pancreatic Neoplasms

Abstract Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, neuroendocrine tumor, and cystic pancreatic neoplasms are the common pancreatic tumors most radiologists are familiar with. In this article we review the clinical presentation, pathophysiology, and radiology of rare pancreatic neoplasms. While the imaging features are usually nonspecific and diagnosis is based on pathology, the radiology along with patient demographics, history, and laboratory parameters can often help indicate the diagnosis of an uncommon pancreatic neoplasm and guide appropriate management in these cases.

scholarly journals Ligands binding to the cellular prion protein induce its protective proteolytic release with therapeutic potential in neurodegenerative proteinopathies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luise Linsenmeier ◽  
Behnam Mohammadi ◽  
Mohsin Shafiq ◽  
Karl Frontzek ◽  
Julia Baer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neurodegenerative Diseases ◽  
Prion Protein ◽  
Protein Misfolding ◽  
Therapeutic Potential ◽  
Prion Diseases ◽  
Neuronal Cell ◽  
Cellular Prion Protein ◽  
Protective Mechanism ◽  
Neuroprotective Effects ◽  
Binding Characteristics

The cellular prion protein (PrPC) is a central player in neurodegenerative diseases caused by protein misfolding, such as prion diseases or Alzheimer's disease (AD). Expression levels of this GPI-anchored glycoprotein, especially at the neuronal cell surface, critically correlate with various pathomechanistic aspects underlying these diseases, such as templated misfolding (in prion diseases) and neurotoxicity and, hence, with disease progression and severity. In stark contrast to cell-associated PrPC, soluble extracellular forms or fragments of PrP are linked with neuroprotective effects, which is likely due to their ability to interfere with neurotoxic disease-associated protein conformers in the interstitial fluid. Fittingly, the endogenous proteolytic release of PrPC by the metalloprotease ADAM10 ('shedding') was characterized as a protective mechanism. Here, using a recently generated cleavage-site specific antibody, we shed new light on earlier studies by demonstrating that shed PrP (sPrP) negatively correlates with conformational conversion (in prion disease) and is markedly redistributed in murine brain in the presence of prion deposits or AD-associated amyloid plaques indicating a blocking and sequestrating activity. Importantly, we reveal that administration of certain PrP-directed antibodies and other ligands results in increased PrP shedding in cells and organotypic brain slice cultures. We also provide mechanistic and structural insight into this shedding-stimulating effect. In addition, we identified a striking exception to this, as one particular neuroprotective antibody, due to its special binding characteristics, did not cause increased shedding but rather strong surface clustering followed by fast endocytosis and degradation of PrPC. Both mechanisms may contribute to the beneficial action described for some PrP-directed antibodies/ligands and pave the way for new therapeutic strategies against devastating and currently incurable neurodegenerative diseases.

scholarly journals PMCA Applications for Prion Detection in Peripheral Tissues of Patients with Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

Biomolecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 405 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giorgio Giaccone ◽  
Fabio Moda
Keyword(s):  
Protein Misfolding ◽  
Prion Diseases ◽  
Disease Diagnosis ◽  
Diagnostic Techniques ◽  
Spongiform Encephalopathy ◽  
Variant Form ◽  
Definite Diagnosis ◽  
Peripheral Tissues ◽  
New Variant ◽  
Jakob Disease

Prion diseases are neurodegenerative and invariably fatal conditions that affect humans and animals. In particular, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) are paradigmatic forms of human and animal prion diseases, respectively. Human exposure to BSE through contaminated food caused the appearance of the new variant form of CJD (vCJD). These diseases are caused by an abnormal prion protein named PrPSc (or prion), which accumulates in the brain and leads to the onset of the disease. Their definite diagnosis can be formulated only at post-mortem after biochemical and neuropathological identification of PrPSc. Thanks to the advent of an innovative technique named protein misfolding cyclic amplification (PMCA), traces of PrPSc, undetectable with the standard diagnostic techniques, were found in peripheral tissues of patients with vCJD, even at preclinical stages. The technology is currently being used in specialized laboratories and can be exploited for helping physicians in formulating an early and definite diagnosis of vCJD using peripheral tissues. However, this assay is currently unable to detect prions associated with the sporadic CJD (sCJD) forms, which are more frequent than vCJD. This review will focus on the most recent advances and applications of PMCA in the field of vCJD and other human prion disease diagnosis.

scholarly journals Early Generation of New PrPSc on Blood Vessels after Brain Microinjection of Scrapie in Mice

mBio ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce Chesebro ◽  
James Striebel ◽  
Alejandra Rangel ◽  
Katie Phillips ◽  
Andrew Hughson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Central Nervous System ◽  
Nervous System ◽  
Basement Membrane ◽  
Neurodegenerative Diseases ◽  
Blood Vessels ◽  
Protein Misfolding ◽  
Interstitial Fluid ◽  
Prion Diseases ◽  
The Central Nervous System ◽  
The Brain

ABSTRACT Aggregation of misfolded host proteins in the central nervous system is believed to be important in the pathogenic process in several neurodegenerative diseases of humans, including prion diseases, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease. In these diseases, protein misfolding and aggregation appear to expand through a process of seeded polymerization. Prion diseases occur in both humans and animals and are experimentally transmissible orally or by injection, thus providing a controllable model of other neurodegenerative protein misfolding diseases. In rodents and ruminants, prion disease has a slow course, lasting months to years. Although prion infectivity has been detected in brain tissue at 3 to 4 weeks postinfection (p.i.), the details of early prion replication in the brain are not well understood. Here we studied the localization and quantitation of PrPSc generation in vivo starting at 30 min postmicroinjection of scrapie into the brain. In C57BL mice at 3 days p.i., generation of new PrPSc was detected by immunohistochemistry and immunoblot assays, and at 7 days p.i., new generation was confirmed by real-time quaking-induced conversion assay. The main site of new PrPSc generation was near the outer basement membrane of small and medium blood vessels. The finding and localization of replication at this site so early after injection have not been reported previously. This predominantly perivascular location suggested that structural components of the blood vessel basement membrane or perivascular astrocytes might act as cofactors in the initial generation of PrPSc. The location of PrPSc replication at the basement membrane also implies a role for the brain interstitial fluid drainage in the early infection process. IMPORTANCE Neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and prion diseases, of humans are characterized by misfolding and aggregation of certain proteins, resulting in the destruction of brain tissue. In these diseases, the damage process spreads progressively within the central nervous system, but only prion diseases are known to be transmissible between individuals. Here we used microinjection of infectious prion protein (PrPSc) into the mouse brain to model early events of iatrogenic prion transmission via surgical instruments or tissue grafts. At 3 and 7 days postinjection, we detected the generation of new PrPSc, mostly on the outer walls of blood vessels near the injection site. This location and very early replication were surprising and unique. Perivascular prion replication suggested the transport of injected PrPSc via brain interstitial fluid to the basement membranes of blood vessels, where interactions with possible cofactors made by astrocytes or endothelia might facilitate the earliest cycles of prion infection.

scholarly journals Characterization of mesenchymal stem cells in sheep naturally infected with scrapie

2015 ◽  
Vol 96 (12) ◽  
pp. 3715-3726 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego R. Mediano ◽  
David Sanz-Rubio ◽  
Rosa Bolea ◽  
Belén Marín ◽  
Francisco J. Vázquez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cells ◽  
Mesenchymal Stem Cells ◽  
Protein Misfolding ◽  
Prion Diseases ◽  
Transcript Level ◽  
Cellular Prion Protein ◽  
Jakob Disease

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can be infected with prions and have been proposed as in vitro cell-based models for prion replication. In addition, autologous MSCs are of interest for cell therapy in neurodegenerative diseases. To the best of our knowledge, the effect of prion diseases on the characteristics of these cells has never been investigated. Here, we analysed the properties of MSCs obtained from bone marrow (BM-MSCs) and peripheral blood (PB-MSCs) of sheep naturally infected with scrapie — a large mammal model for the study of prion diseases. After three passages of expansion, MSCs derived from scrapie animals displayed similar adipogenic, chondrogenic and osteogenic differentiation ability as cells from healthy controls, although a subtle decrease in the proliferation potential was observed. Exceptionally, mesenchymal markers such as CD29 were significantly upregulated at the transcript level compared with controls. Scrapie MSCs were able to transdifferentiate into neuron-like cells, but displayed lower levels of neurogenic markers at basal conditions, which could limit this potential. The expression levels of cellular prion protein (PrPC) were highly variable between cultures, and no significant differences were observed between control and scrapie-derived MSCs. However, during neurogenic differentiation the expression of PrPC was upregulated in MSCs. This characteristic could be useful for developing in vitro models for prion replication. Despite the infectivity reported for MSCs obtained from scrapie-infected mice and Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease patients, protein misfolding cyclic amplification did not detect PrPSc in BM- or PB-MSCs from scrapie-infected sheep, which limits their use for in vivo diagnosis for scrapie.

scholarly journals Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease and Other Proteinopathies in Comorbidity

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Parobkova ◽  
Julie van der Zee ◽  
Lubina Dillen ◽  
Christine Van Broeckhoven ◽  
Robert Rusina ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neurodegenerative Diseases ◽  
Prion Diseases ◽  
Missense Variant ◽  
Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies ◽  
Disease Genes ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
Spongiform Encephalopathies ◽  
Variant Of Uncertain Significance ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Jakob Disease

Background: Sporadic Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (sCJD) is the most common type of a group of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (prion diseases). The etiology of the sporadic form of CJD is still unclear. sCJD can occur in combination with other neurodegenerative diseases, which further complicates the diagnosis. Alzheimer's disease (AD), e.g., is often seen in conjunction with sCJD.Method: In this study, we performed a systematic analysis of 15 genes related to the most important neurodegenerative diseases - AD, frontotemporal dementia, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, prion disease, and Parkinson's disease - in a cohort of sCJD and sCJD in comorbidity with AD and primary age-related proteinopathy (PART). A total of 30 neuropathologically verified cases of sCJD with and without additional proteinopathies were included in the study. In addition, we compared microtubule-associated protein tau (MAPT) haplotypes between sCJD patients and patients with sCJD and PART or sCJD and AD. Then we studied the interaction between the Apolipoprotein E gene (APOE) and PRNP in sCJD patients.Results: We did not find any causal mutations in the neurodegenerative disease genes. We did detect a p.E318G missense variant of uncertain significance (VUS) in PSEN1 in three patients. In PRNP, we also found a previously described non-pathogenic insertion (p.P84_Q91Q).Conclusion: Our pilot study failed to find any critical differences between pure sCJD and sCJD in conjunction with other comorbid neurodegenerative diseases. Further investigations are needed to better understand this phenomenon.

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