Glycodendrimers as Potential Multitalented Therapeutics in Alzheimer’s Disease

Finding successful therapies for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the most challenging tasks existing for human health. Several drugs have been found and validated in preclinical studies with some success, but not with the desired breakthroughs in the following clinical development phases. AD causes multiple brain dysfunctions that can be described as a brain organ failure, resulting in significant cognitive decline. Aggregation of amyloid proteins and neuronal loss are the hallmarks of AD. Thus, one of the strategies to treat AD is to find a multifunctional drug that may combine both anti-aggregation and neuroprotective properties. Such a candidate could be chemically modified dendrimers. Dendrimers are branched, nonlinear molecules with multiple reactive groups located on their surface. Chemical modification of reactive surface groups defines the property of the dendrimers. In this chapter, I will discuss poly(propylene imine) dendrimers with the surface functionalized with histidine and maltose as an example of a multifunctional therapeutic drug candidate able to protect the memory of AD transgenic model mice

Poly(propylene imine) dendrimers with histidine-maltose shell as novel type of nanoparticles for synapse and memory protection

Poly(propylene imine) dendrimers have been shown to be promising 3-dimensional polymers for the use in the pharmaceutical and biomedical applications. Our aims of this study were first, to synthesize a novel type of dendrimer with poly(propylene imine) core and maltose-histidine shell (G4HisMal) assessing if maltose-histidine shell can improve the biocompatibility and the ability to cross the blood-brain barrier, and second, to investigate the potential of G4HisMal to protect Alzheimer disease transgenic mice from memory impairment. Our data demonstrate that G4HisMal has significantly improved biocompatibility and ability to cross the blood-brain barrier in vivo. Therefore, we suggest that a maltose-histidine shell can be used to improve biocompatibility and ability to cross the blood-brain barrier of dendrimers. Moreover, G4HisMal demonstrated properties for synapse and memory protection when administered to Alzheimer disease transgenic mice. Therefore, G4HisMal can be considered as a promising drug candidate to prevent Alzheimer disease via synapse protection. © 2019 The Author

In situ identification and G4-PPI-His-Mal-dendrimer-induced reduction of early-stage amyloid aggregates in Alzheimer’s disease transgenic mice using synchrotron-based infrared imaging

Amyloid plaques composed of Aβ amyloid peptides and neurofibrillary tangles are a pathological hallmark of Alzheimer Disease. In situ identification of early-stage amyloid aggregates in Alzheimer's disease is relevant for their importance as potential targets for effective drugs. Synchrotron-based infrared imaging is here used to identify early-stage oligomeric/granular aggregated amyloid species in situ in the brain of APP/PS1 transgenic mice for the first time. Also, APP/PS1 mice show fibrillary aggregates at 6 and 12 months. A significant decreased burden of early-stage aggregates and fibrillary aggregates is obtained following treatment with poly(propylene imine) dendrimers with histidine-maltose shell (a neurodegenerative protector) in 6-month-old APP/PS1 mice, thus demonstrating their putative therapeutic properties of in AD models. Identification, localization, and characterization using infrared imaging of these non-fibrillary species in the cerebral cortex at early stages of AD progression in transgenic mice point to their relevance as putative pharmacological targets. No less important, early detection of these structures may be useful in the search for markers for non-invasive diagnostic techniques

Poly(propylene imine) dendrimers with histidine-maltose shell as novel type of nanoparticles for synapse and memory protection

Poly(propylene imine) dendrimers have been shown to be promising 3-dimensional polymers for the use in the pharmaceutical andbiomedical applications. Our aims of this study were first, to synthesize a novel type of dendrimer with poly(propylene imine) core andmaltose-histidine shell (G4HisMal) assessing if maltose-histidine shell can improve the biocompatibility and the ability to cross the blood-brain barrier, and second, to investigate the potential of G4HisMal to protect Alzheimer disease transgenic mice from memory impairment.Our data demonstrate that G4HisMal has significantly improved biocompatibility and ability to cross the blood-brain barrier in vivo.Therefore, we suggest that a maltose-histidine shell can be used to improve biocompatibility and ability to cross the blood-brain barrier ofdendrimers. Moreover, G4HisMal demonstrated properties for synapse and memory protection when administered to Alzheimer diseasetransgenic mice. Therefore, G4HisMal can be considered as a promising drug candidate to prevent Alzheimer disease via synapse protection

Formalin-free fixation and xylene-free tissue processing preserves cell-hydrogel interactions for histological evaluation of 3D calcium alginate tissue engineered constructs

Histological evaluation of tissue-engineered products, including hydrogels for cellular encapsulation, is a critical and invaluable tool for assessing the product across multiple stages of its lifecycle from manufacture to implantation. However, many tissue-engineered products are comprised of polymers and hydrogels which are not optimized for use with conventional methods of tissue fixation and histological processing. Routine histology utilizes a combination of chemical fixatives, such as formaldehyde, and solvents such as xylene which have been optimized for use with native biological tissues due to their high protein and lipid content. Previous work has highlighted the challenges associated with processing hydrogels for routine histology due to their high water content and lack of diverse chemical moieties amenable for tissue fixation with traditional fixatives. Thus, hydrogel-based tissue engineering products are prone to histological artifacts during their validation which can lead to challenges in correctly interpreting results. In addition, chemicals used in conventional histological approaches are associated with significant health and environmental concerns due to their toxicity and there is thus an urgent need to identify suitable replacements. Here we use a multifactorial design of experiments approach to identify processing parameters capable of preserving cell-biomaterial interactions in a prototypical hydrogel system: ionically crosslinked calcium alginate. We identify a formalin free fixative which better retains cell-biomaterial interactions and calcium alginate hydrogel integrity as compared to the state-of-the-art formalin-based approaches. In addition, we demonstrate that this approach is compatible with a diversity of manufacturing techniques used to fabricate calcium alginate-based scaffolds for tissue engineering and cell therapy, including histological evaluation of cellular encapsulation in 3D tubes and thin tissue engineering scaffolds (∼50 μm). Furthermore, we show that formalin-free fixation can be used to retain cell-biomaterial interactions and hydrogel architecture in hybrid alginate-gelatin based scaffolds for use with histology and scanning electron microscopy. Taken together, these findings are a significant step forward towards improving histological evaluation of ionically crosslinked calcium alginate hydrogels and help make their validation less toxic, thus more environmentally friendly and sustainable

Inflammatory bowel disease induces pathological α-synuclein aggregation in the human gut and brain

© 2024 The Authors. Neuropathology and Applied Neurobiology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Neuropathological Society. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.[Aims] According to Braak's hypothesis, it is plausible that Parkinson's disease (PD) originates in the enteric nervous system (ENS) and spreads to the brain through the vagus nerve. In this work, we studied whether inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) in humans can progress with the emergence of pathogenic α-synuclein (α-syn) in the gastrointestinal tract and midbrain dopaminergic neurons.[Methods] We have analysed the gut and the ventral midbrain from subjects previously diagnosed with IBD and form a DSS-based rat model of gut inflammation in terms of α-syn pathology.[Results] Our data support the existence of pathogenic α-syn in both the gut and the brain, thus reinforcing the potential role of the ENS as a contributing factor in PD aetiology. Additionally, we have analysed the effect of a DSS-based rat model of gut inflammation to demonstrate (i) the appearance of P-α-syn inclusions in both Auerbach's and Meissner's plexuses (gut), (ii) an increase in α-syn expression in the ventral mesencephalon (brain) and (iii) the degeneration of nigral dopaminergic neurons, which all are considered classical hallmarks in PD.[Conclusion] These results strongly support the plausibility of Braak's hypothesis and emphasise the significance of peripheral inflammation and the gut-brain axis in initiating α-syn aggregation and transport to the substantia nigra, resulting in neurodegeneration.This work was supported by grants from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (SAF2015-64171-R) and the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (RTI2018-098830-B-I00). AIRP and JLLG were funded by a grant of the Spanish Ministerio de Salud (PI17/00828). MSS, SS and NRS were funded by Cancer Research UK (grant number C5255/A15935). VE was funded by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship. MJP, MDVC and PGM were supported by a grant from the Junta de Andalucía (CTS 5884) and thank Prof. Dr. A.A. Ilundáin for the support provided.Peer reviewe

Influence of Cu(II) and Glycodendrimers on Amyloid-beta-Peptide Aggregation

La malaltia d’Alzheimer es caracteritza per l’acumulació de plaques extracel.lulars amiloides, formades pels anomenats pèptids amiloides (Aβ40). L’homeòstasi del coure (Cu) es veu afectada en l’etiologia de la malaltia d’Alzheimer, encara que el seu rol és un fet controvertit. Per a l’estudi de la influència del Cu(II) en l’agregació del pèptid amiloide, la morfologia i l’estructura secundària dels agregats amiloides formats en presència de Cu(II) s’han utilitzat AFM, TEM, SEM, SAXS, FTIR i espectrometria de fluorescència. A més, els efectes tòxics d’aquests agregats s’han estudiat en cèl.lules neuronals. Els resultats obtinguts mostren que aquests agregats són amorfos i presenten una toxicitat més alta que les fibres. Per a l’estudi dels dendrímers de maltosa com a possibles moduladors de l’agregació i de la toxicitat del pèptide amiloide. S’ha confirmat que aquests dendrimers no són tòxics en cèl.lules neuronals i que són capaços de modular l’agregació i toxicitat del pèptid amiloide. Aquests resultats permeten considerar als dendrimers de maltosa com a possibles eines per a reduir la toxicitat dels pèptids amilodies.Senile plaques of Alzheimer’s disease patients are composed primarily of the amyloid-β-peptide (Aβ). Recent studies implicate Cu(II) in the aetiology of AD. The role of Cu(II) in ADis currently highly disputed. Influence of Cu(II) on Aβ aggregation and amyloidogenic properties of glycodendrimers were investigated in this thesis. AFM, TEM, SEM, SAXS, FTIR and fluorescence spectroscopy were used to study a morphology and a secondary structure of Aβ-Cu(II) aggregates. The toxic effects of Aβ40-Cu(II) amorphous aggregates was confirmed for neuronal cell lines. It was shown that maltose glycodendrimers can be efficiently used to modulate Alzheimer’s amyloid peptide aggregation and inhibit cell toxicity by facilitating the clustering of amyloid fibrils. These results show that glycodendrimers are promising non-toxic agents in the search for anti-amyloidogenic compounds. It was also suggested that fibril clumping may be anti-amyloid toxicity strategy

The intracellular milieu of Parkinson’s disease patient brain cells modulates alpha-synuclein protein aggregation

Recent studies suggest that brain cell type specific intracellular environments may play important roles in the generation of structurally different protein aggregates that define neurodegenerative diseases. Using human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) and biochemical and vibrational spectroscopy techniques, we studied whether Parkinson’s disease (PD) patient genomes could modulate alpha-synuclein (aSYN) protein aggregates formation. We found increased β-sheets and aggregated aSYN in PD patient hiPSC-derived midbrain cells, compared to controls. Importantly, we discovered that aSYN protein aggregation is modulated by patient brain cells’ intracellular milieus at the primary nucleation phase. Additionally, we found changes in the formation of aSYN fibrils when employing cellular extracts from familial PD compared to idiopathic PD, in a Thioflavin T-based fluorescence assay. The data suggest that changes in cellular milieu induced by patient genomes trigger structural changes of aSYN potentially leading to the formation of strains having different structures, properties and seeding propensities

Prion-like seeding and nucleation of intracellular amyloid-β

Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain tissue can act as a seed to accelerate aggregation of amyloid-β (Aβ) into plaques in AD transgenic mice. Aβ seeds have been hypothesized to accelerate plaque formation in a prion-like manner of templated seeding and intercellular propagation. However, the structure(s) and location(s) of the Aβ seeds remain unknown. Moreover, in contrast to tau and α-synuclein, an in vitro system with prion-like Aβ has not been reported. Here we treat human APP expressing N2a cells with AD transgenic mouse brain extracts to induce inclusions of Aβ in a subset of cells. We isolate cells with induced Aβ inclusions and using immunocytochemistry, western blot and infrared spectroscopy show that these cells produce oligomeric Aβ over multiple replicative generations. Further, we demonstrate that cell lysates of clones with induced oligomeric Aβ can induce aggregation in previously untreated N2a APP cells. These data strengthen the case that Aβ acts as a prion-like protein, demonstrate that Aβ seeds can be intracellular oligomers and for the first time provide a cellular model of nucleated seeding of Aβ

Detection of pre-plaque amyloid aggregation using FTIR

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by misfolding and aggregation of naturally occurring beta-amyloid peptides (Aβ). These aggregates are thought to be pathogenic to neurons, although the conformation of the pathogenic Aβ species remains unclear. Biochemical extraction methods and different microscopy techniques (TEM, confocal) can be used to identify pathogenic Aβ species in the brain, although such methods can alter protein conformation or are n ot designed to determine structural details of protein assemblies