Fight Aging!

Researchers here demonstrate a method of interfering in the spread of alpha-synuclein aggregates, an approach that may slow the progression of synucleopathies such as Parkinson's disease. Like a number of other age-related neurodegenerative conditions, these are associated with and probably driven by the growing presence of specific misfolded or damaged proteins. The ideal approach is to find ways to safely remove these proteins, or understand and resolve the underlying reasons for their accumulation, both of which are paths that are so far proving to be more challenging than expected. Much of the research community remains focused on attempts to alter the late stage biochemistry of disease progression, however, as is the case here, rather than taking aim at root causes. This can be effective, but it is usually going to be much harder to prevent pathology without fixing the root causes than it is by going after those root causes.

Researchers report they have identified a protein that enables a toxic natural aggregate to spread from cell to cell in a mammal's brain - and a way to block that protein's action. The new findings hinge on how aggregates of alpha-synuclein protein enter brain cells. Abnormal clumps of alpha-synuclein protein are often found in autopsies of people with Parkinson's disease and are thought to cause the death of dopamine-producing brain cells. A few years ago, researchers published evidence for a novel theory that Parkinson's disease progresses as alpha-synuclein aggregates spread from brain cell to brain cell, inducing previously normal alpha-synuclein protein to aggregate, and gradually move from the "lower" brain structures responsible for movement and basic functions to "higher" areas associated with processes like memory and reasoning. "There was a lot of skepticism, but then other labs showed alpha-synuclein might spread from cell to cell."

The researchers knew they were looking for a certain kind of protein called a transmembrane receptor, which is found on the outside of a cell and works like a lock in a door, admitting only proteins with the right "key." They first found a type of cells alpha-synuclein aggregates could not enter - a line of human brain cancer cells grown in the laboratory. The next step was to add genes for transmembrane receptors one by one to the cells and see whether any of them allowed the aggregates in. Three of the proteins did, and one, LAG3, had a heavy preference for latching on to alpha-synuclein aggregates over nonclumped alpha-synuclein. The team next bred mice that lacked the gene for LAG3 and injected them with alpha-synuclein aggregates. "Typical mice develop Parkinson's-like symptoms soon after they're injected, and within six months, half of their dopamine-making neurons die. But mice without LAG3 were almost completely protected from these effects."

Antibodies that blocked LAG3 had similar protective effects in cultured neurons, the researchers found. "We were excited to find not only how alpha-synuclein aggregates spread through the brain, but also that their progress could be blocked by existing antibodies." Antibodies targeting LAG3 are already in clinical trials to test whether they can beef up the immune system during chemotherapy. If those trials demonstrate the drugs' safety, the process of testing them as therapeutics for Parkinsons' disease might be sped up, he says. For now, the research team is planning to continue testing LAG3 antibodies in mice and to further explore LAG3's function.

Link: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-10/jhm-nts101116.php