Biology subjects

Diamond, M. I.

Publications and source records attributed to Diamond, M. I..

5 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2018

Native tau structure is disrupted by disease-associated mutations that promote aggregation

Tauopathies are neurodegenerative diseases characterized by intracellular amyloid deposits of tau protein. Missense mutations in the tau gene (MAPT) correlate with aggregation propensity and cause dominantly inherited tauopathies, but their biophysical mechanism driving amyloid formation is poorly understood. Many disease-associated mutations localize within taus repeat domain at inter-repeat interfaces proximal to amyloidogenic sequences, such as 306VQIVYK311. Using cross-linking mass spectrometry, intramolecular FRET, recombinant protein and synthetic peptide systems, in silico modeling, and cell models, we conclude that the aggregation prone 306VQIVYK311 motif forms metastable compact structures with the upstream sequence that modulates aggregation propensity. Disease-associated mutations, isomerization of a critical proline, or alternative splicing are all sufficient to destabilize this local structure and trigger spontaneous aggregation. These findings provide a biophysical framework to explain the basis of early conformational changes that may underlie genetic and sporadic tau pathogenesis.

biophysics↗

bioRxiv2018

Tau monomer encodes strains

Tauopathies have diverse presentation, progression, and neuropathology. They are linked to tau prion strains, self-replicating assemblies of unique quaternary conformation. Strains can be propagated indefinitely in cultured cells, and induce unique patterns of transmissible neuropathology upon inoculation into mice. Aggregates from a single strain reproduce only that strain upon re-inoculation into cells or mice. DS9 and DS10 cell lines propagate distinct synthetic strains. Surprisingly, DS9 monomer inoculated into naive cells encoded an identical \"sub-strain,\" whereas DS10 monomer encoded multiple sub-strains. Sub-strains produced distinct pathology upon inoculation into a tauopathy mouse model (PS19). Brain-derived tau monomer from an Alzheimers brain encoded a single strain. Monomer from a corticobasal degeneration brain encoded three sub-strains in which monomer from each encoded all three upon re-inoculation into cells. Tau monomer thus adopts multiple, stable seed-competent conformations, each of which encodes a limited number of strains. This provides insights into the origins of distinct tauopathies.

biochemistry↗

bioRxiv2018

Tau seeding activity anticipates phospho-tau pathology in Alzheimer’s disease

Alzheimers disease (AD) is characterized by accumulation of tau neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) and, according to the prion model, transcellular propagation of pathological \"seeds\" may underlie its progression. Staging of NFT pathology with phospho-tau antibody is useful to classify AD and primary age-related tauopathy (PART) cases. The locus coeruleus (LC) shows the earliest phospho-tau signal, whereas other studies suggest that pathology begins in the transentorhinal/entorhinal cortices (TRE/EC). The relationship of tau seeding activity, phospho-tau pathology, and progression of neurodegeneration remains obscure. Consequently, we employed an established cellular biosensor assay to quantify tau seeding activity in fixed human tissue, in parallel with AT8 phospho-tau staining of immediately adjacent sections. We studied four brain regions from each of n=247 individuals across a range of disease stages. We detected the earliest and most robust seeding activity in the TRE/EC. The LC did not uniformly exhibit seeding activity until later NFT stages. We also detected seeding activity in the first temporal gyrus and visual cortex at stages before NFTs and/or AT8-immunopositivity were detectable. AD and putative PART cases exhibited similar patterns of seeding activity that anticipated histopathology across all NFT stages. Our findings are consistent with the prion model and suggest that pathological seeding activity begins in the TRE/EC rather than in the LC, and may offer an important addition to classical histopathology.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2017

Distinct glycosaminoglycan chain length and sulfation patterns required for cellular uptake of Tau, Aβ, and α-Synuclein

Transcellular propagation of aggregate \"seeds\" has been proposed to mediate progression of neurodegenerative diseases in tauopathies and -synucleinopathies. We have previously determined that tau and -synuclein aggregates bind heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) on the cell surface. This mediates uptake and intracellular seeding. The specificity and mode of binding to HSPGs has been unknown. We used modified heparins to determine the size and sulfation requirements of glycosaminoglycan (GAGs) binding to aggregates in biochemical and cell uptake and seeding assays. Aggregates of tau require a precise GAG architecture with defined sulfate moieties in the N- and 6-O-positions, whereas -synuclein and A{beta} rely slightly more on overall charge on the GAGs. To determine the genetic requirements for aggregate uptake, we individually knocked out the major genes of the HSPG synthesis pathway using CRISPR/Cas9 in HEK293T cells. Knockout of EXT1, EXT2 and EXTL3, N-sulfotransferase (NDST1), and 6-O-sulfotransferase (HS6ST2) significantly reduced tau uptake. -Synuclein was not sensitive to HS6ST2 knockout. Good correlation between pharmacologic and genetic manipulation of GAG binding by tau and -synuclein indicates specificity that may help elucidate a path to mechanism-based inhibition of transcellular propagation of pathology.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2017

Inert and seed-competent tau monomers elucidate the structural origins of aggregation

Tauopathies feature progressive accumulation of tau amyloids. Pathology may begin when these amplify from a protein template, or seed, whose structure is unknown. We have purified and characterized distinct forms of tau monomer--inert (Mi) and seed-competent (Ms). Recombinant Ms triggered intracellular tau aggregation, induced tau fibrillization in vitro, and self-assembled. Ms from Alzheimers disease also seeded aggregation and self-assembled in vitro to form seed-competent multimers. We used crosslinking with mass spectrometry to probe structural differences in Mi vs. Ms. Crosslinks informed models of local peptide structure within the repeat domain which suggest relative inaccessibility of residues that drive aggregation (VQIINK/VQIVYK) in Mi, and exposure in Ms. Limited proteolysis supported this idea. Although tau monomer has been considered to be natively unstructured, our findings belie this assumption and suggest that initiation of pathological aggregation could begin with conversion of tau monomer from an inert to a seed-competent form.

neuroscience↗