Tau overexpression exacerbates neuropathology after repeated mild head impacts in male mice.

Repeated mild traumatic brain injury (rmTBI) can lead to development of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which is characterized by progressive neurodegeneration with presence of white matter damage, gliosis and hyper-phosphorylated tau. While animal models of rmTBI have been documented, few characterize the molecular pathogenesis and expression profiles of relevant injured brain regions. Additionally, while the usage of transgenic tau mice in rmTBI is prevalent, the effects of tau on pathological outcomes has not been well studied. Here we characterized a 42-impact closed-head rmTBI paradigm on 3-4 month old male C57BL/6 (WT) and Tau-overexpressing mice (Tau58.4). This injury paradigm resulted in chronic gliosis, T-cell infiltration, and demyelination of the optic nerve and associated white matter tracts at 1-month post-injury. At 3-months post-injury, Tau58.4 mice showed progressive neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration in multiple brain regions compared to WT mice. Corresponding to histopathology, RNAseq of the optic nerve tract at 1-month post-injury showed significant upregulation of inflammatory pathways and downregulation of myelin synthetic pathways in both genotypes. However, Tau58.4 mice showed additional changes in neurite development, protein processing, and cell stress. Comparisons with published transcriptomes of human Alzheimer's Disease and CTE revealed common signatures including neuroinflammation and downregulation of protein phosphatases. We next investigated the demyelination and T-cell infiltration phenotypes to determine whether these offer potential avenues for therapeutic intervention. Tau58.4 mice were treated with the histamine H3 receptor antagonist GSK239512 for 1-month post-injury to promote remyelination of white matter lesions. This restored myelin gene expression to sham levels but failed to repair the histopathologic lesions. Likewise, injured T-cell-deficient Rag2/Il2rg (R2G2) mice also showed evidence for inflammation and loss of myelin. However, unlike immune-competent mice, R2G2 mice had altered myeloid cell gene expression and fewer demyelinated lesions. Together this data shows that rmTBI leads to chronic white matter inflammatory demyelination and axonal loss exacerbated by human tau overexpression but suggests that immune-suppression and remyelination alone are insufficient to reverse damage.

Enhanced proteolytic clearance of plasma Aß by peripherally administered neprilysin does not result in reduced levels of brain Aß in mice.

Accumulation of ß-amyloid (Aß) in the brain is believed to contribute to the pathology of Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Aß levels are controlled by the production of Aß from amyloid precursor protein, degradation by proteases, and peripheral clearance. In this study we sought to determine whether enhancing clearance of plasma Aß with a peripherally administered Aß-degrading protease would reduce brain Aß levels through a peripheral sink. Neprilysin (NEP) is a zinc-dependent metalloprotease that is one of the key Aß-degrading enzymes in the brain. We developed a NEP fusion protein with in vitro degradation of Aß and a 10 day plasma half-life in mouse. Intravenous administration of NEP to wild-type and APP23 transgenic mice resulted in dose-dependent clearance of plasma Aß. However, this did not correspond to reduced levels of soluble brain Aß with treatment up to 5 weeks in WT mice or formic acid-extractable brain Aß with 3 month treatment in aged APP23. In contrast, intracranial injection of NEP resulted in an acute decrease in soluble brain Aß. We found no change in amyloid precursor protein gene expression in mice treated with intravenous NEP, suggesting that the lack of effects in the brain following this route of administration was not caused by compensatory upregulation of Aß production. Taken together, these results suggest a lack of a robust peripheral Aß efflux sink through which brain amyloid burdens can be therapeutically reduced.

Discovery of inhibitors of the channel-activating protease prostasin (CAP1/PRSS8) utilizing structure-based design.

Structure-based design was utilized to guide the early stage optimization of a substrate-like inhibitor to afford potent peptidomimetic inhibitors of the channel-activating protease prostasin. The first X-ray crystal structures of prostasin with small molecule inhibitors bound to the active site are also reported.

Discovery of a Small-Molecule Modulator of Glycosaminoglycan Sulfation.

Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) play critical roles in diverse processes ranging from viral infection to neuroregeneration. Their regiospecific sulfation patterns, which are generated by sulfotransferases, are key structural determinants that underlie their biological activity. Small-molecule modulators of these sulfotransferases could serve as powerful tools for understanding the physiological functions of GAGs, as well as potential therapeutic leads for human diseases. Here, we report the development of the first cell-permeable, small-molecule inhibitor selective for GAG sulfotransferases, which was obtained using a high-throughput screen targeted against Chst15, the sulfotransferase responsible for biosynthesis of chondroitin sulfate-E (CS-E). We demonstrate that the molecule specifically inhibits GAG sulfotransferases in vitro, decreases CS-E and overall sulfation levels on cell-surface and secreted chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs), and reverses CSPG-mediated inhibition of axonal growth. These studies pave the way toward a new set of pharmacological tools for interrogating GAG sulfation-dependent processes and may represent a novel therapeutic approach for neuroregeneration.