Abstract
On the basis of the previously proposed hierarchic organisation of the central nervous system (CNS) and of its syntropic behaviour, a view of neurodegenerative diseases focusing on the assemblage of abnormal multimeric proteins (pathologic protein mosaics (PMs)) is proposed. Thus, the main focus of the present paper is on Parkinson’s disease (PD) as a neurodegenerative disease, which has as crucial feature protein conformational alterations and formation of pathological PMs. Two interconnected cellular dysfunctions are discussed as main pathogenic factors of PD syndromes, namely mitochondrial deficits (i.e. energy failure, especially critical for Substantia Nigra DA neurons) and conformational protein alterations (due to genetic or environmental causes). Conformational protein alterations can trigger pathological phenomena via the loss and/or the gain of new functions. In particular, altered proteins can lead to the formation of abnormal PMs, which can, inter alia, cause distortion of cellular structures, toxic functions and/or formation of improper membrane ion channels. In view of the fact that disordered proteins can easily acquire unwanted conformation, the “disorder index” (DI) for proteins involved in PD has been evaluated. It has been found that both α-synuclein and tau-protein have high DI. This datum is in agreement with the observation that these two proteins synergistically promote polymerisation of each other into amyloid fibrils, favouring the formation of Lewy bodies.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abou-Sleiman PM, Muqit MM, Wood NW (2006) Expanding insights of mitochondrial dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease. Nat Rev Neurosci 7(3):207–219
Agnati LF, Fuxe K (1984) New concepts on the structure of the neuronal networks: the miniaturization and hierarchical organization of the central nervous system. (Hypothesis). Biosci Rep 4(2):93–98
Agnati LF, Zoli M, Merlo Pich E et al (1990) Aspects of neural plasticity in the central nervous system. VII. Theoretical aspects of brain communication and computation. Neurochem Int 16:479–500
Agnati LF, Cortelli P, Pettersson R et al (1995) The concept of trophic units in the central nervous system. Prog Neurobiol 46(6):561–574
Agnati LF, Santarossa L, Benfenati F et al (2002) Molecular basis of learning and memory: modelling based on receptor mosaics. In: Apolloni B, Kurfes F (eds) From synapses to rules. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York
Agnati LF, Franzen O, Ferré S et al (2003) Possibile role of intramembrane receptor-receptor interactions in memory and learning via formation of long-lived heteromeric complexes: focus on motor learning in the basal ganglia. J Neural Transm 65:195–222
Agnati LF, Santarossa L, Genedani S et al (2004) On the nested hierarchical organization of CNS: basic characteristics of neuronal molecular networks. In: Erdi P, Esposito A, Marinaro M, Scarpetta S (eds) Computational neuroscience: cortical dynamycs, lecture notes in computer sciences. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, New York
Agnati LF, Guidolin D, Genedani S et al (2005) How proteins come together in the plasma membrane and function in macromolecular assemblies: focus on receptor mosaics. J Mol Neurosci 26(2–3):133–154
Agnati LF, Genedani S, Carone C et al (2006a) The concept of Protein Mosaics: physiological role and relevance for Prion disease. Curr Proteomics 3:171–179
Agnati LF, Ferre S, Genedani S et al (2006b) Allosteric modulation of dopamine D2 receptors by homocysteine. J Proteome Res 5(11):3077–3083
Agnati LF, Guidolin D, Leo G et al (2007a) Role of cooperativity in protein folding and protein mosaic assemblage relevance for protein conformational diseases. Curr Protein Pept Sci 8(5):460–470
Agnati LF, Guidolin D, Carone C et al (2007b) Understanding neuronal molecular networks builds on neuronal cellular network architecture. Brain Res Rev. doi:10.1016/j.brainresrev.2007.11.002
Agnati LF, Leo G, Genedani S et al (2007c) Structural plasticity in G-protein coupled receptors as demonstrated by the allosteric actions of homocysteine and computer-assisted analysis of disordered domains. Brain Res Rev. doi:10.1016/j.brainresrev.2007.10.003
Alnemri ES (2007) HtrA2 and Parkinson’s disease: think PINK? Nat Cell Biol 9(11):1227–1229
Braak H, Del Tredici K, Rüb U et al (2003) Staging of brain pathology related to sporadic Parkinson’s disease. Neurobiol Aging 24(2):197–211
Braak H, de Vos RA, Bohl J et al (2006) Gastric alpha-synuclein immunoreactive inclusions in Meissner’s and Auerbach’s plexuses in cases staged for Parkinson’s disease-related brain pathology. Neurosci Lett 396(1):67–72
Cabin DE, Shimazu K, Murphy D et al (2002) Synaptic vesicle depletion correlates with attenuated synaptic responses to prolonged repetitive stimulation in mice lacking alpha-synuclein. J Neurosci 22(20):8797–8807
Campana V, Sarnataro D, Zurzolo C (2005) The highways and byways of prion protein trafficking. Trends Cell Biol 15(2):102–111
Chandra S, Gallardo G, Fernández-Chacón R et al (2005) Alpha-synuclein cooperates with CSPalpha in preventing neurodegeneration. Cell 123(3):383–396
Cheng Y, LeGall T, Oldfield CJ et al (2006) Abundance of intrinsic disorder in protein associated with cardiovascular disease. Biochemistry 45:10448–10460
Conforti L, Adalbert R, Coleman MP (2007) Neuronal death: where does the end begin? Trends Neurosci 30(4):159–166
Conway KA, Rochet JC, Bieganski RM et al (2001) Kinetic stabilization of the alpha-synuclein protofibril by a dopamine-alpha-synuclein adduct. Science 294(5545):1346–1349
Cookson MR, Van der Brug M (2008) Cell systems and the toxic mechanism(s) of alpha-synuclein. Exp Neurol 209(1):5–11
Díaz-Nido J, Wandosell F, Avila J (2002) Glycosaminoglycans and beta-amyloid, prion and tau peptides in neurodegenerative diseases. Peptides 23(7):1323–1332
Dobson CM (2003) Protein folding and misfolding. Nature 426:884–890
Dodson MW, Guo M (2007) Pink1, Parkin, DJ-1 and mitochondrial dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease. Curr Opin Neurobiol 17(3):331–337
Down TJ, Ambrose RF (2001) Syntropic ecotoxicology: a heuristic model for understanding the vulnerability of ecological systems to stress. Ecosystem Health 7(4):266–283
Dröge W, Schipper HM (2007) Oxidative stress and aberrant signaling in aging and cognitive decline. Aging Cell 6(3):361–370
Dunker AK, Brown CJ, Lawson JD et al (2002) Intrinsic disorder and protein function. Biochemistry 41:6573–6582
Fink AL (2006) The aggregation and fibrillation of alpha-synuclein. Acc Chem Res 39(9):628–634
Fortin DL, Nemani VM, Voglmaier SM et al (2005) Neural activity controls the synaptic accumulation of alpha-synuclein. J Neurosi 25(47):10913–10921
Fuxe K, Manger P, Genedani S et al (2006) The nigrostriatal DA pathway and Parkinson’s disease. J Neural Transm Suppl 70:71–83
Fuxe K, Marcellino D, Antonelli T et al (2008) The nigro-striatal DA neurons and mechanisms of their degeneration in Parkinson’s disease. In: Ribak C, Swanson L, Jones T, Lariva Sahd J, Aramburo de la Hoz C (eds) Development to degeneration and regeneration of the nervous system. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Galpern WR, Lang AE (2006) Interface between tauopathies and synucleinopathies: a tale of two proteins. Ann Neurol 59(3):449–458
Gandhi S, Muqit MM, Stanyer L et al (2006) PINK1 protein in normal human brain and Parkinson’s disease. Brain 129(Pt 7):1720–1731
Gong Y, Chang L, Viola KL et al (2003) Alzheimer’s disease-affected brain: presence of oligomeric A beta ligands (ADDLs) suggests a molecular basis for reversible memory loss. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 100(18):10417–10422
Gunasekaran K, Tsai CJ, Kumar S et al (2003) Extended disordered proteins: targeting function with less scaffold. Trends Biochem Sci 28:81–85
Haynes C, Oldfield CJ, Ji F et al (2006) Intrinsic disorder is a common feature of hub proteins from four eukaryotic interactomes. PLoS Comput Biol 2(8):e100
Hoozemans JJ, Chafekar SM, Baas F et al (2006) Always around, never the same: pathways of amyloid beta induced neurodegeneration throughout the pathogenic cascade of Alzheimer’s disease. Curr Med Chem 13(22):2599–2605
Jacob F (1970) La Logique du Vivant. Une Historie de l’Heredite. Gallimard, France
James TL, Liu H, Ulyanov NB et al (1997) Solution structure of a 142-residue recombinant prion protein corresponding to the infectious fragment of the scrapie isoform. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 94:10086–10091
Keller JN, Gee J, Ding Q (2002) The proteasome in brain aging. Ageing Res Rev 1(2):279–293
Kellings K, Meyer N, Mirenda C et al (1992) Further analysis of nucleic acids in purified scrapie prion preparations by improved return refocusing gel electrophoresis. J Gen Virol 73(Pt 4):1025–1029
Kirino T (2002) Ischemic tolerance. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 22(11):1283–1296
Lacor PN, Buniel MC, Chang L et al (2004) Synaptic targeting by Alzheimer’s-related amyloid oligomers. J Neurosci 24:10191–10200
Lambert MP, Barlow AK, Chromy BA et al (1998) Diffusible, nonfibrillar ligands derived from Ab1-42 are potent central nervous system neurotoxins. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 95:6448–6453
Lee VM, Giasson BI, Trojanowski JQ (2004) More than just two peas in a pod: common amyloidogenic properties of tau and alpha-synuclein in neurodegenerative diseases. Trends Neurosci 27(3):129–134
Lee HG, Castellani RJ, Zhu X et al (2005) Amyloid-beta in Alzheimer’s disease: the horse or the cart? Pathogenic or protective? Int J Exp Path 86(3):133–138
Lee SJ (2008) Origins and effects of extracellular α-synuclein: implications in Parkinson’s disease. J Mol Neurosci 34:17–22
Lee FJ, Liu F (2008) Genetic factors involved in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease. Brain Res Rev. doi:10.1016/j.brainresrev.2008.02.001
Linding R, Jensen LJ, Diella F et al (2003) Protein disorder prediction: implications for structural proteomics. Structure 11:1453–1459
Liu IH, Uversky VN, Munishkina LA et al (2005) Agrin binds alpha-synuclein and modulates alpha-synuclein fibrillation. Glycobiology 15(12):1320–1331
Mandel S, Grunblatt E, Riederer P et al (2005) Gene expression profiling of sporadic Parkinson’s disease substantia nigra pars compacta reveals impairment of ubiquitin-proteasome subunits, SKP1A, aldehyde dehydrogenase, and chaperone HSC-70. Ann NY Acad Sci 1053:356–375
Martin LJ, Pan Y, Price AC (2006) Parkinson’s disease alpha-synuclein transgenic mice develop neuronal mitochondrial degeneration and cell death. J Neurosci 26(1):41–50
Mattson M (2007) Calcium and neurodegeneration. Aging Cell 6(3):337–350
Masliah E, Rockenstein E, Veinbergs I et al (2001) Beta-amyloid peptides enhance alpha-synuclein accumulation and neuronal deficits in a transgenic mouse model linking Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 98(21):12245–12250
McCarty MF (2001) Does a vegan diet reduce risk for Parkinson’s disease? Med Hypotheses 57(3):318–323
Meredith GE, Halliday GM, Totterdell S (2004) A critical review of the development and importance of proteinaceous aggregates in animal models of Parkinson’s disease: new insights into Lewy body formation. Parkinsonism Relat Disord 10(4):191–202
Mills RD, Sim CH, Mok SS et al (2008) Biochemical aspect of the neuroprotective mechanism of pten-induced kinase-1 (PINK1). J Neurochem. doi:10.1111/j.1471–4159.2008.05249.x
Minton AP (2000) Implications of macromolecular crowding for protein assembly. Curr Opin Struct Biol 10(1):34–39
Outeiro TF, Tetzlaff J (2007) Mechanisms of disease II: cellular protein quality control. Semin Pediatr Neurol 14(1):15–25
Paleologou KE, Schmid AW, Rospigliosi CC et al (2008) Phosphorylation at S129, but not the phosphomimics S129E/D inhibits the fibrilization of alpha-synuclein. J Biol Chem. doi:10.1074/jbc.M800747200
Parsonage D, Karplus PA, Poole LB (2007) Substrate specificity and redox potential of AhpC, a bacterial peroxiredoxin. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. doi:0.1073_pnas.0708308105
Pitkänen A, Sutula TP (2002) Is epilepsy a progressive disorder? Prospects for new therapeutic approaches in temporal-lobe epilepsy. Lancet Neurol 1(3):173–181
Polymeropoulos MH, Lavedan C, Leroy E et al (1997) Mutation in the alpha-synuclein gene identified in families with Parkinson’s disease. Science 276(5321):2045–2047
Prusiner SB (1997) Prion Diseases and the BSE Crisis. Science 278:245–251
Prusiner SB (1998) Prions. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 95(23):13363–13383
Radivojac P, Obradovic Z, Brown CJ et al (2003) Prediction of boundaries between intrinsically ordered and disordered protein regions. Pac Symp Biocomput 8:216–227
Radivojac P, Obradovic Z, Smith DK et al (2004) Protein flexibility and intrinsic disorder. Protein Sci 13(1):71–80
Recchia A, Debetto P, Negro A et al (2004) α-Synuclein and Parkinson’s disease. FASEB J 18(6):617–626
Rego AC, Oliveira CR (2003) Mitochondrial dysfunction and reactive oxygen species in excitotoxicity and apoptosis: implications for the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases. Neurochem Res 28(10):1563–1574
Roher AE, Baudry J, Chaney MO et al (2000) Oligomerization and fibril assembly of the amyloid-beta protein. Biochim Biophys Acta 1502:31–43
Ross CA, Poirier MA (2004) Protein aggregation and neurodegenerative disease. Nat Med 10:S10–S17
Seshadri S, Beiser A, Selhub J et al (2002) Plasma homocysteine as a risk factor for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. N Engl J Med 346(7):476–483
Schrödinger E (1944) What is life? The physical aspects of the living cell. Cambridge University Press, London
Shen XM, Li H, Dryhurst G (2000) Oxidative metabolites of 5-S-cysteinyldopamine inhibit the alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complex: possible relevance to the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease. J Neural Transm 107(8–9):959–978
Shimoji M, Zhang L, Mandir AS et al (2005) Absence of inclusion body formation in the MPTP mouse model of Parkinson’s disease. Brain Res Mol Brain Res 134(1):103–108
Sidransky E (2006) Heterozygosity for a Mendelian disorder as a risk factor for complex disease. Clin Genet 70(4):275–282
Stahl N, Baldwin MA, Teplow DB et al (1993) Structural studies of the scrapie prion protein using mass spectrometry and amino acid sequencing. Biochemistry 32:1991–2002
Stephan A, Laroche S, Davis S (2001) Generation of aggregated beta-amyloid in the rat hippocampus impairs synaptic transmission and plasticity and causes memory deficits. J Neurosci 21:5703–5714
Stefani M, Dobson CM (2003) Protein aggregation and aggregate toxicity: new insights into protein folding, misfolding diseases and biological evolution. J Mol Med 81:678–699
Sulzer D (2007) Multiple hit hypotheses for dopamine neuron loss in Parkinson’s disease. Trends Neurosci 30(5):244–250
Surmeier DJ (2007) Calcium, ageing, and neuronal vulnerability in Parkinson’s disease. Lancet Neurol 6(10):933–938
Szent-Gyorgyi A (1977) Drive in living matter to perfect itself. Synthesis 1:14–26
Terman A, Gustafsson B, Brunk UT (2006) Mitochondrial damage and intralysosomal degradation in cellular aging. Mol Aspects Med 27(5–6):471–482
Thibault O, Gant JC, Landfield PW (2007) Expansion of the calcium hypothesis of brain aging and Alzheimer’s disease: minding the store. Aging Cell 6(3):307–317
Thomas B, Beal MF (2007) Parkinson’s disease. Hum Mol Genet 16(R2):R183–R194
Thomas MP, Chartrand K, Reynolds A et al (2007) Ion channel blockade attenuates aggregated alpha synuclein induction of microglial reactive oxygen species: relevance for the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease. J Neurochem 100(2):503–519
Toescu EC (2005) Normal brain ageing: models and mechanisms. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 360(1464):2347–2354
Unger JW (1998) Glial reaction in aging and Alzheimer’s disease. Microsc Res Tech 43:24–28
Uversky VN (2007) Neuropathology, biochemistry, and biophysics of alpha-synuclein aggregation. Neurochem 103(1):17–37
Weathers EA, Paulaitis ME, Woolf TB et al (2004) Reduced amino acid alphabet is sufficient to accurately recognize intrinsically disordered protein. FEBS Letters 576:348–352
Yavich L, Tanila H, Vepsäläinen S et al (2004) Role of alpha-synuclein in presynaptic dopamine recruitment. J Neurosci 24(49):11165–11170
Zecca L, Zucca FA, Wilms H et al (2003) Neuromelanin of the substantia nigra: a neuronal black hole with protective and toxic characteristics. Trends Neurosci 26(11):578–580
Acknowledgments
The work has been supported by an IRCCS and a PRIN grant. Thanks to Dott. A. Percesepe (Dep. of Medical Genetic) for suggestions on the Table.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Agnati, L.F., Baldelli, E., Andreoli, N. et al. On the key role played by altered protein conformation in Parkinson’s disease. J Neural Transm 115, 1285–1299 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-008-0072-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-008-0072-1