α-Synuclein Suppression by Targeted Small Interfering RNA in the Primate Substantia Nigra

The protein α-synuclein is involved in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. Its toxic potential appears to be enhanced by increased protein expression, providing a compelling rationale for therapeutic strategies aimed at reducing neuronal α-synuclein burden. Here, feasibility and safety of α-synuclein suppression were evaluated by treating monkeys with small interfering RNA (siRNA) directed against α-synuclein. The siRNA molecule was chemically modified to prevent degradation by exo- and endonucleases and directly infused into the left substantia nigra. Results compared levels of α-synuclein mRNA and protein in the infused (left) vs. untreated (right) hemisphere and revealed a significant 40–50% suppression of α-synuclein expression. These findings could not be attributable to non-specific effects of siRNA infusion since treatment of a separate set of animals with luciferase-targeting siRNA produced no changes in α-synuclein. Infusion with α-synuclein siRNA, while lowering α-synuclein expression, had no overt adverse consequences. In particular, it did not cause tissue inflammation and did not change (i) the number and phenotype of nigral dopaminergic neurons, and (ii) the concentrations of striatal dopamine and its metabolites. The data represent the first evidence of successful anti-α-synuclein intervention in the primate substantia nigra and support further development of RNA interference-based therapeutics

Inhibition of alpha-synuclein fibrillization by dopamine is mediated by interactions with five C-terminal residues and with E83 in the NAC region

The interplay between dopamine and alpha-synuclein (AS) plays a central role in Parkinson's disease (PD). PD results primarily from a severe and selective devastation of dopaminergic neurons in substantia nigra pars compacta. The neuropathological hallmark of the disease is the presence of intraneuronal proteinaceous inclusions known as Lewy bodies within the surviving neurons, enriched in filamentous AS. In vitro, dopamine inhibits AS fibril formation, but the molecular determinants of this inhibition remain obscure. Here we use molecular dynamic (MD) simulations to investigate the binding of dopamine and several of its derivatives onto conformers representative of an NMR ensemble of AS structures in aqueous solution. Within the limitations inherent to MD simulations of unstructured proteins, our calculations suggest that the ligands bind to the (125)YEMPS(129) region, consistent with experimental findings. The ligands are further stabilized by long-range electrostatic interactions with glutamate 83 (E83) in the NAC region. These results suggest that by forming these interactions with AS, dopamine may affect AS aggregation and fibrillization properties. To test this hypothesis, we investigated in vitro the effects of dopamine on the aggregation of mutants designed to alter or abolish these interactions. We found that point mutations in the (125)YEMPS(129) region do not affect AS aggregation, which is consistent with the fact that dopamine interacts non-specifically with this region. In contrast, and consistent with our modeling studies, the replacement of glutamate by alanine at position 83 (E83A) abolishes the ability of dopamine to inhibit AS fibrillization

Strong mitochondrial DNA support for a Cretaceous origin of modern avian lineages

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Determining an absolute timescale for avian evolutionary history has proven contentious. The two sources of information available, paleontological data and inference from extant molecular genetic sequences (colloquially, 'rocks' and 'clocks'), have appeared irreconcilable; the fossil record supports a Cenozoic origin for most modern lineages, whereas molecular genetic estimates suggest that these same lineages originated deep within the Cretaceous and survived the K-Pg (Cretaceous-Paleogene; formerly Cretaceous-Tertiary or K-T) mass-extinction event. These two sources of data therefore appear to support fundamentally different models of avian evolution. The paradox has been speculated to reflect deficiencies in the fossil record, unrecognized biases in the treatment of genetic data or both. Here we attempt to explore uncertainty and limit bias entering into molecular divergence time estimates through: (i) improved taxon (<it>n </it>= 135) and character (<it>n = </it>4594 bp mtDNA) sampling; (ii) inclusion of multiple cladistically tested internal fossil calibration points (<it>n </it>= 18); (iii) correction for lineage-specific rate heterogeneity using a variety of methods (<it>n </it>= 5); (iv) accommodation of uncertainty in tree topology; and (v) testing for possible effects of episodic evolution.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The various 'relaxed clock' methods all indicate that the major (basal) lineages of modern birds originated deep within the Cretaceous, although temporal intraordinal diversification patterns differ across methods. We find that topological uncertainty had a systematic but minor influence on date estimates for the origins of major clades, and Bayesian analyses assuming fixed topologies deliver similar results to analyses with unconstrained topologies. We also find that, contrary to expectation, rates of substitution are not autocorrelated across the tree in an ancestor-descendent fashion. Finally, we find no signature of episodic molecular evolution related to either speciation events or the K-Pg boundary that could systematically mislead inferences from genetic data.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The 'rock-clock' gap has been interpreted by some to be a result of the vagaries of molecular genetic divergence time estimates. However, despite measures to explore different forms of uncertainty in several key parameters, we fail to reconcile molecular genetic divergence time estimates with dates taken from the fossil record; instead, we find strong support for an ancient origin of modern bird lineages, with many extant orders and families arising in the mid-Cretaceous, consistent with previous molecular estimates. Although there is ample room for improvement on both sides of the 'rock-clock' divide (e.g. accounting for 'ghost' lineages in the fossil record and developing more realistic models of rate evolution for molecular genetic sequences), the consistent and conspicuous disagreement between these two sources of data more likely reflects a genuine difference between estimated ages of (i) stem-group origins and (ii) crown-group morphological diversifications, respectively. Further progress on this problem will benefit from greater communication between paleontologists and molecular phylogeneticists in accounting for error in avian lineage age estimates.</p

RNA interference-mediated knockdown of alpha-synuclein protects human dopaminergic neuroblastoma cells from MPP(+) toxicity and reduces dopamine transport.

The critical observation in the pathology of Parkinson's disease (PD) is that neurodegeneration is largely restricted to dopaminergic neurons that develop cytoplasmic inclusions called Lewy bodies. These aggregations contain the protein alpha-synuclein. Furthermore, it is becoming apparent that alpha-synuclein expression levels are a major factor in PD pathogenesis. Patients with additional copies of the alpha-synuclein gene develop PD with a severity proportional to levels of alpha-synuclein overexpression. Similarly, overexpression of alpha-synuclein in in vitro and in vivo models has been shown to be toxic. However, little is known about the effects of reducing alpha-synuclein expression in human neurons. To investigate this, we have developed a system in which levels of alpha-synuclein can be acutely suppressed by using RNA interference (RNAi) in a physiologically relevant human dopaminergic cellular model. By using small interfering RNA (siRNA) molecules targeted to endogenous alpha-synuclein, we achieved 80% protein knockdown. We show that alpha-synuclein knockdown has no effect on cellular survival either under normal growth conditions over 5 days or in the presence of the mitochondrial inhibitor rotenone. Knockdown does, however, confer resistance to the dopamine transporter (DAT)-dependent neurotoxin N-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP(+)). We then demonstrate for the first time that alpha-synuclein suppression decreases dopamine transport in human cells, reducing the maximal uptake velocity (V(max)) of dopamine and the surface density of its transporter by up to 50%. These results show that RNAi-mediated alpha-synuclein knockdown alters cellular dopamine homeostasis in human cells and may suggest a mechanism for the increased survival in the presence of MPP(+), a toxin used extensively to model Parkinson's disease

Delivering RNA interference to the mammalian brain.

RNA interference (RNAi) is a new modality in gene therapy which can elicit down-regulation of gene expression and has enormous potential in the treatment of neurological diseases. RNAi is a conserved system through which double stranded RNA (dsRNA) guides sequence specific mRNA degradation. The RNAi apparatus may be artificially triggered by delivery of naked siRNA molecules or by plasmid-based expression of dsRNA. Before these techniques can be used as effective treatments in the brain, efficient methods of in vivo delivery must be devised. This review first describes the mechanism of RNAi, and then critically examines both viral and non-viral methods for delivery of RNAi to the mammalian brain. There have been a number of important recent publications in this field and the progress towards effective in vivo delivery of RNAi to the central nervous system is discussed. Finally, potential problems that must be considered before applying this technology to the human brain are outlined

The effect of alpha-synuclein knockdown on MPP+ toxicity in models of human neurons.

The protein alpha-synuclein is central to the pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease (PD) but its role in the development of neurodegeneration remains unclear. alpha-Synuclein-knockout mice develop without gross abnormality and are resistant to 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP), a mitochondrial inhibitor widely used to model parkinsonism. Here we show that differentiated human dopaminergic neuron-like cells also have increased resistance to 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridine (MPP+), the active metabolite of MPTP, when alpha-synuclein is knocked down using RNA interference. In attempting to understand how this occurred we found that lowering alpha-synuclein levels caused changes to intracellular vesicles, dopamine transporter (DAT) and vesicular monoamine transporter (VMAT2), each of which is known to be an important component of the early events leading to MPP+ toxicity. Knockdown of alpha-synuclein reduced the availability of DAT on the neuronal surface by 50%, decreased the total number of intracellular vesicles by 37% but increased the density of VMAT2 molecules per vesicle by 2.8-fold. However, these changes were not associated with any reduction in MPP+ -induced superoxide production, suggesting that alpha-synuclein knockdown may have other downstream effects which are important. We then showed that alpha-synuclein knockdown prevented MPP+ -induced activation of nitric oxide synthase (NOS). Activation of NOS is an essential step in MPTP toxicity and increasing evidence points to nitrosative stress as being important in neurodegeneration. Overall, these results show that as well as having a number of effects on cellular events upstream of mitochondrial dysfunction alpha-synuclein affects pathways downstream of superoxide production, possibly involving regulation of NOS activity