Faculty Bibliography

The ABri and ADan amyloid peptides deposited in familial British and Danish neurodegenerative disorders are generated by processing mutant forms of the precursor protein BRI2. Although the pathogenic process that leads to deposition of amyloid in the brains of patients has been studied extensively, the cellular processes and normal function of the precursor protein did not receive much attention. We observed in a variety of transfected cell lines the presence of two independent proteolytic processing events. In addition to the previously described cleavage, which results in the production of carboxyl-terminal approximately 3 kDa wild-type peptide or approximately 4 kDa ABri or ADan peptides, we describe a novel amino-terminal cleavage site within BRI2. Both cleavages occur within the cis- or medial-Golgi. Following cleavage, the BRI2-derived carboxyl-terminal peptides are transported via a regulated secretory pathway into secretory vesicles in neuronal cells. Worth noting is that expression of wild-type British or Danish mutants of BRI2, in mouse neuroblastoma N2a cells that do not express endogenous BRI2, induces elongation of neurites, which suggests a role for this protein in differentiation of neuronal cells

Cystatin C, an inhibitor of cysteine proteases, colocalizes with amyloid beta (Abeta) in parenchymal and vascular amyloid deposits in brains of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, suggesting that cystatin C has a role in AD. Cystatin C also colocalizes with beta amyloid precursor protein (betaAPP) in transfected cultured cells. In vitro analysis of the association between the two proteins revealed that binding of cystatin C to full-length betaAPP does not affect the level of Abeta secretion. Here we studied the effect of in vivo overexpression of cystatin C on the levels of endogenous brain Abeta. We have generated lines of transgenic mice expressing either wild-type human cystatin C or the Leu68Gln variant that forms amyloid deposits in the cerebral vessels of Icelandic patients with hereditary cerebral hemorrhage, under control sequences of the human cystatin C gene. Western blot analysis of brain homogenates was used to select lines of mice expressing various levels of the transgene. Analysis of Abeta40 and Abeta42 concentrations in the brain showed no difference between transgenic mice and their nontransgenic littermates. Thus, in vivo overexpression of human cystatin C does not affect Abeta levels in mice that do not deposit Abeta

The ABri and ADan amyloid peptides deposited in familial British and Danish neurodegenerative disorders are generated by processing mutant forms of the precursor protein BRI2. Although the pathogenic process that leads to deposition of amyloid in the brains of patients has been studied extensively, the cellular processes and normal function of the precursor protein did not receive much attention. We observed in a variety of transfected cell lines the presence of two independent proteolytic processing events. In addition to the previously described cleavage, which results in the production of carb oxyl-terminal similar to3 kDa wild-type peptide or similar to4 kDa ABri or ADan peptides, we describe a novel amino-terminal cleavage site within BRI2. Both cleavages occur within the cis- or medial-Golgi. Following cleavage, the BRI2-derived carb oxyl-terminal peptides are transported via a regulated secretory pathway into secretory vesicles in neuronal cells. Worth noting is that expression of wild-type British or Danish mutants of BRI2, in mouse neuroblastoma N2a cells that do not express endogenous BRI2, induces elongation of neurites, which suggests a role for this protein in differentiation of neuronal cells

Variant human cystatin C (L68Q) is an amyloidogenic protein. It deposits in the cerebral vasculature of Icelandic patients with cerebral amyloid angiopathy, leading to stroke. Wild-type and variant cystatin C are cysteine proteinase inhibitors which form concentration dependent inactive dimers; however, variant cystatin C dimerizes at lower concentrations and has an increased susceptibility to a serine protease. We studied the effect of the L68Q amino acid substitution on cystatin C properties, utilizing full length cystatin C purified in mild conditions from media of cells stably transfected with either the wild-type or variant cystatin C genes. The variant cystatin C forms fibrils in vitro detectable by electron microscopy in conditions in which the wild-type protein forms amorphous aggregates. We also show by circular dichroism, steady-state fluorescence and Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy that the amino acid substitution modifies cystatin C structure by destabilizing alpha-helical structures and exposing the tryptophan residue to a more polar environment, yielding a more unfolded molecule. These spectral changes demonstrate that variant cystatin C has a three-dimensional structure different from that of the wild-type protein. The structural differences between variant and wild-type cystatin C account for the susceptibility of the variant protein to unfolding, proteolysis and fibrillogenesis

Immunohistochemical analysis of brains of patients with Alzheimer disease (AD) revealed that the cysteine proteinase inhibitor cystatin C colocalizes with amyloid beta-protein (Abeta) in parenchymal and vascular amyloid deposits. No evidence of cerebral hemorrhage was observed in any of the brains studied. Immunoelectron microscopy demonstrated dual staining of amyloid fibrils with anti-Abeta and anti-cystatin C antibodies. Cystatin C immunoreactivity was also observed in amyloid deposits in the brain of transgenic mice overexpressing human beta amyloid precursor protein. Massive deposition of the variant cystatin C in the cerebral vessels of patients with the Icelandic form of hereditary cerebral hemorrhage with amyloidosis is thought to be responsible for the pathological processes leading to stroke. Anti-cystatin C antibodies strongly labeled pyramidal neurons within cortical layers most prone to amyloid deposition in the brains of AD patients. Immunohistochemistry with antibodies against the carboxyl-terminus of Abeta(x-42) showed intracellular immunoreactivity in the same neuronal subpopulation. It remains to be established whether the association of cystatin C to Abeta plays a primary role in amyloidogenesis of AD or is a late event in which the protein is bound to the previously formed Abeta amyloid fibrils

A conformational transition between the normal cellular prion protein (PrPC) and the beta-sheet-rich pathological isoform (PrPSc) is a central event in the pathogenesis of spongiform encephalopathies. The prion infectious agent seems to contain mainly, if not exclusively, PrPSc, which has the ability to propagate its abnormal conformation by transforming the host PrPC into the pathological isoform. We have developed an in vitro system to induce the PrPC --> PrPSc conversion by incubating a cell-lysate containing mouse PrPC with partially purified mouse PrPSc. After 48 h of incubation with a 10-fold molar excess of PrPSc, the cellular protein acquired PK-resistance resembling a PrPSc-like state. Time course experiments suggest that the conversion follows a stepwise mechanism involving kinetic intermediates. The conversion was induced by PrPSc extracted from mice infected with two different prion strains, each propagating its characteristic Western blot profile. The latter results and the fact that all the cellular components are present in the conversion reaction suggest that PrPC-PrPSc interaction is highly specific and required for the conversion. No transformation was observed under the same conditions using purified proteins without cell-lysate. However, when PrPC-depleted cell-lysate was added to the purified proteins the conversion was recovered. These findings provide direct evidence for the participation of a chaperone-like activity involved in catalyzing the conversion of PrPC into PrPSc.