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http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/vr.141.11.270 | DOI Listing |
Decades after their initial observation in prion-infected brain tissues, the identities of virus-like dense particles, varicose tubules, and oval bodies containing parallel bands and fibrils have remained elusive. Our recent work revealed that a phenotype of dilation of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), most notable for the perinuclear space (PNS), contributes to spongiform degeneration. To assess the significance of this phenotype for the etiology of prion diseases, we explored whether it can be functionally linked to other neuropathological hallmarks observed in these diseases, as this would indicate it to be a central event.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Chem Neurosci
January 2025
School of Health & Life Sciences, Teesside University, Middlesbrough TS1 3BX, United Kingdom.
The aggregation of α-synuclein is crucial to the development of Lewy body diseases, including Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies. The aggregation pathway of α-synuclein typically involves a defined sequence of nucleation, elongation, and secondary nucleation, exhibiting prion-like spreading. This study employed Raman spectroscopy and machine learning analysis, alongside complementary techniques, to characterize the biomolecular changes during the fibrillation of purified recombinant wild-type α-synuclein protein.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeurobiol Dis
January 2025
Office of the Saskatchewan Multiple Sclerosis Clinical Research Chair, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7K 0M7, Canada; Neurology Division, Department of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK S7N 0X8, Canada. Electronic address:
RNA binding protein dysfunction is a pathogenic feature of multiple neurological diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS). Neurodegeneration (the loss of, or damage to neurons and axons) is the primary driver of disease progression in MS. Herein, we utilized a novel, neuron-specific model of neurodegeneration by transducing primary mouse neurons with mutant forms of the RNA binding protein heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A1 (hnRNP A1) identified from MS patients, including one within the M9-nuclear localization sequence of hnRNP A1 (A1(P275S)) and a second in the prion-like domain of hnRNP A1 (A1(F263S)) to test the hypothesis that neuronal hnRNP A1 dysfunction drives neurodegeneration in MS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Neurochem
January 2025
Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
Highly abundant in neurons, the cellular prion protein (PrP) is an obligatory precursor to the disease-associated misfolded isoform denoted PrP that accumulates in the rare neurodegenerative disorders referred to either as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) or as prion diseases. The ability of PrP to serve as a substrate for this template-mediated conversion process depends on several criteria but importantly includes the presence or absence of certain endoproteolytic events performed at the cell surface or in acidic endolysosomal compartments. The major endoproteolytic events affecting PrP are referred to as α- and β-cleavages, and in this review we outline the sites within PrP at which the cleavages occur, the mechanisms potentially responsible and their relevance to pathology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBrain
January 2025
Medical Research Council Prion Unit, University College London Institute of Prion Diseases, London, W1W 7FF, UK.
Prions are assemblies of misfolded prion protein that cause several fatal and transmissible neurodegenerative diseases, with the most common phenotype in humans being sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD). Aside from variation of the prion protein itself, molecular risk factors are not well understood. Prion and prion-like mechanisms are thought to underpin common neurodegenerative disorders meaning that the elucidation of mechanisms could have broad relevance.
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