Propagation Of Misfolded Proteins Research Articles

Misfolded protein propagation in an integrated computational model of structural network and LRRK2 gene expression.

It has been widely accepted that Parkinson's disease (PD) is triggered and shaped by propagation of misfolded α-synuclein. Converging neurophysiological evidence suggests that leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) is involved in membrane transport of PD pathogenesis. This study proposed an agent-based computational model by integrating structural connections and gene expression to investigate whether LRRK2 would affect the PD pathology propagation in central nervous system. Gene expression profiles from the Allen Human Brain Atlas (AHBA) and multimodal brain MRI images from Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) and Human Connectome Project (HCP) were employed for the model construction. The model results exhibit the involvement of LRRK2 gene expression remarkably elevated model fitting (r = 0.73) compared with the traditional susceptible-infected-removed (S-I-R) model (r=0.60). Specifically, our model revealed that LRRK2 is more likely to modulate pathology secretion out of neurons, rather than spreading into neurons. The findings support the theory of LRRK2 gene expression modulating cell-to-cell propagation of misfolded proteins. As a result, the proposed model would bring new insights of understanding PD mechanism in terms of misfolded α-synuclein propagation.

Mathematical Modeling of Protein Misfolding Mechanisms in Neurological Diseases: A Historical Overview.

Protein misfolding refers to a process where proteins become structurally abnormal and lose their specific 3-dimensional spatial configuration. The histopathological presence of misfolded protein (MP) aggregates has been associated as the primary evidence of multiple neurological diseases, including Prion diseases, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease. However, the exact mechanisms of MP aggregation and propagation, as well as their impact in the long-term patient’s clinical condition are still not well understood. With this aim, a variety of mathematical models has been proposed for a better insight into the kinetic rate laws that govern the microscopic processes of protein aggregation. Complementary, another class of large-scale models rely on modern molecular imaging techniques for describing the phenomenological effects of MP propagation over the whole brain. Unfortunately, those neuroimaging-based studies do not take full advantage of the tremendous capabilities offered by the chemical kinetics modeling approach. Actually, it has been barely acknowledged that the vast majority of large-scale models have foundations on previous mathematical approaches that describe the chemical kinetics of protein replication and propagation. The purpose of the current manuscript is to present a historical review about the development of mathematical models for describing both microscopic processes that occur during the MP aggregation and large-scale events that characterize the progression of neurodegenerative MP-mediated diseases.

Review: Membrane‐associated misfolded protein propagation in natural transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), synthetic prion diseases and Alzheimer's disease

Protein misfolding has long been recognized as a primary cause of systemic amyloidosis and, increasingly, template-mediated misfolding of native host proteins is now also considered to be central pathogenetic events in some neurodegenerative diseases. Alzheimer's disease, naturally occurring transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) and experimental disorders caused by misfolded prion protein (PrP) generated in vitro all share an imbalance of protein synthesis, aggregation and clearance that leads to protein aggregation, prompting some to suggest that Alzheimer's disease is caused by a prion-like mechanism. In TSEs, the host-coded, glycosyl-phosphoinositol (GPI) membrane-anchored prion protein (PrP(c) ) is misfolded into disease-associated, putatively infectious aggregates known as prions. In Alzheimer's disease the membrane-spanning Alzheimer's precursor protein (APP) is progressively cleaved within the plasmalemma to form Aβ peptide fragments that can form pathogenic extracellular aggregates while microtubule-associated tau proteins may also aggregate within neurones. Oligomeric Aβ peptides and full-length misfolded PrP show a common potential to convert native protein and aggregate on plasma membranes before subsequent release to form amyloid fibrils in the extracellular space. However, the nature, membrane topography and processing of the precursor and propagated proteins in prion and Alzheimer's disease all differ, and each group of diseases has distinctive spectra of additional pathological changes and clinical signs suggesting that fundamentally different disease mechanisms are involved.

Infectivity versus Seeding in Neurodegenerative Diseases Sharing a Prion-Like Mechanism.

Prions are considered the best example to prove that the biological information can be transferred protein to protein through a conformational change. The term “prion-like” is used to describe molecular mechanisms that share similarities with the mammalian prion protein self-perpetuating aggregation and spreading characteristics. Since prions are presumably composed only of protein and are infectious, the more similar the mechanisms that occur in the different neurodegenerative diseases, the more these processes will resemble an infection. In vitro and in vivo experiments carried out during the last decade in different neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's diseases (PD), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) have shown a convergence toward a unique mechanism of misfolded protein propagation. In spite of the term “infection” that could be used to explain the mechanism governing the diversity of the pathological processes, other concepts as “seeding” or “de novo induction” are being used to describe the in vivo propagation and transmissibility of misfolded proteins. The current studies are demanding an extended definition of “disease-causing agents” to include those already accepted as well as other misfolded proteins. In this new scenario, “seeding” would be a type of mechanism by which an infectious agent can be transmitted but should not be used to define a whole “infection” process.