SPIN90 Deficiency Ameliorates Amyloid ß Accumulation by Regulating APP Trafficking in AD Model Mice.

Alzheimer's disease (AD), a common form of dementia, is caused in part by the aggregation and accumulation in the brain of amyloid ß (Aß), a product of the proteolytic cleavage of amyloid precursor protein (APP) in endosomes. Trafficking of APP, such as surface-intracellular recycling, is an early critical step required for Aß generation. Less is known, however, about the molecular mechanism regulating APP trafficking. This study investigated the mechanism by which SPIN90, along with Rab11, modulates APP trafficking, Aß motility and accumulation, and synaptic functionality. Brain Aß deposition was lower in the progeny of 5xFAD-SPIN90KO mice than in 5xFAD-SPIN90WT mice. Analysis of APP distribution and trafficking showed that the surface fraction of APP was locally distinct in axons and dendrites, with these distributions differing significantly in 5xFAD-SPIN90WT and 5xFAD-SPIN90KO mice, and that neural activity-driven APP trafficking to the surface and intracellular recycling were more actively mobilized in 5xFAD-SPIN90KO neurons. In addition, SPIN90 was found to be cotrafficked with APP via axons, with ablation of SPIN90 reducing the intracellular accumulation of APP in axons. Finally, synaptic transmission was restored over time in 5xFAD-SPIN90KO but not in 5xFAD-SPIN90WT neurons, suggesting SPIN90 is implicated in Aß production through the regulation of APP trafficking.

Neural stem cells derived from human midbrain organoids as a stable source for treating Parkinson's disease: Midbrain organoid-NSCs (Og-NSC) as a stable source for PD treatment.

Successful clinical translation of stem cell-based therapy largely relies on the scalable and reproducible preparation of donor cells with potent therapeutic capacities. In this study, midbrain organoids were yielded from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) to prepare cells for Parkinson's disease (PD) therapy. Neural stem/precursor cells (NSCs) isolated from midbrain organoids (Og-NSCs) expanded stably and differentiated into midbrain-type dopamine(mDA) neurons, and an unprecedentedly high proportion expressed midbrain-specific factors, with relatively low cell line and batch-to-batch variations. Single cell transcriptome analysis followed by in vitro assays indicated that the majority of cells in the Og-NSC cultures are ventral midbrain (VM)-patterned with low levels of cellular senescence/aging and mitochondrial stress, compared to those derived from 2D-culture environments. Notably, in contrast to current methods yielding mDA neurons without astrocyte differentiation, mDA neurons that differentiated from Og-NSCs were interspersed with astrocytes as in the physiologic brain environment. Thus, the Og-NSC-derived mDA neurons exhibited improved synaptic maturity, functionality, resistance to toxic insults, and faithful expressions of the midbrain-specific factors, in vitro and in vivo long after transplantation. Consequently, Og-NSC transplantation yielded potent therapeutic outcomes that are reproducible in PD model animals. Collectively, our observations demonstrate that the organoid-based method may satisfy the demands needed in the clinical setting of PD cell therapy.

Caveolin-1 deficiency impairs synaptic transmission in hippocampal neurons.

In addition to providing structural support, caveolin-1 (Cav1), a component of lipid rafts, including caveolae, in the plasma membrane, is involved in various cellular mechanisms, including signal transduction. Although pre-synaptic membrane dynamics and trafficking are essential cellular processes during synaptic vesicle exocytosis/synaptic transmission and synaptic vesicle endocytosis/synaptic retrieval, little is known about the involvement of Cav1 in synaptic vesicle dynamics. Here we demonstrate that synaptic vesicle exocytosis is significantly impaired in Cav1-knockdown (Cav1-KD) neurons. Specifically, the size of the synaptic recycled vesicle pool is modestly decreased in Cav1-KD synapses and the kinetics of synaptic vesicle endocytosis are somewhat slowed. Notably, neurons rescued by triple mutants of Cav1 lacking palmitoylation sites mutants show impairments in both synaptic transmission and retrieval. Collectively, our findings implicate Cav1 in activity-driven synaptic vesicle dynamics-both exocytosis and endocytosis-and demonstrate that palmitoylation of Cav1 is important for this activity.

Distinct synaptic vesicle recycling in inhibitory nerve terminals is coordinated by SV2A.

Proper brain function requires a balance between excitatory and inhibitory neuronal activity. This balance, which is disrupted in various neural disorders, ultimately depends on the functional properties of both excitatory and inhibitory neurons; however, how the physiological properties of presynaptic terminals are controlled in these neurons is largely unknown. In this study, we generated pHluorin-conjugated, synaptic vesicle-specific tracers that are preferentially expressed in excitatory or inhibitory nerve terminals. We found that synaptic vesicle recycling is ∼1.8-fold slower in inhibitory nerve terminals than excitatory nerve terminals, resulting in reduced efficacy of synaptic transmission in inhibitory presynaptic terminals during repetitive activities. Interestingly, this relative difference in trafficking efficiency is mediated by synaptic vesicle protein 2A (SV2A), which is more highly expressed in inhibitory synapses and differentially controls sorting of synaptic protein, synaptotagmin I. These findings indicate that SV2A coordinates distinct properties of synaptic vesicle recycling between excitatory and inhibitory synapses.

Autophagy at synapses in neurodegenerative diseases.

Autophagy is an essential process for maintaining cellular homeostasis, a critical process in all cell types. Because neurons are post-mitotic cells, maintaining cellular and functional homeostasis is more important in neurons than in other types of cells. Synapses are fundamental units needed for neural communication, and synapses with consistent protein quality are essential for neural functionality. Dysregulation of autophagy in neurons has been shown to be related to neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. This review describes the role of autophagy in the maintenance of synaptic functionality and the association between synaptic autophagy and neurodegenerative diseases.

Presynaptic Dysfunction by Familial Factors in Parkinson Disease.

Parkinson disease (PD) is the second most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer disease. The loss of specific brain area, the substantia nigra pars compacta is known as a major etiology, however it is not fully understood how this neurodegeneration is initiated and what precisely causes this disease. As one aspect of pathophysiology for PD, synaptic dysfunction (synaptopathy) is thought to be an earlier appearance for neurodegeneration. In addition, some of the familial factors cumulatively exhibit that these factors such as α-synuclein, leucine-rich repeat kinase 2, parkin, PTEN-induced kinase 1, and DJ-1 are involved in the regulation of synaptic function and missense mutants of familial factors found in PD-patient show dysregulation of synaptic functions. In this review, we have discussed the physiological function of these genetic factors in presynaptic terminal and how dysregulation of presynaptic function by genetic factors might be related to the pathogenesis of Parkinson disease.

DJ-1 deficiency impairs synaptic vesicle endocytosis and reavailability at nerve terminals.

Mutations in DJ-1 (PARK7) are a known cause of early-onset autosomal recessive Parkinson's disease (PD). Accumulating evidence indicates that abnormalities of synaptic vesicle trafficking underlie the pathophysiological mechanism of PD. In the present study, we explored whether DJ-1 is involved in CNS synaptic function. DJ-1 deficiency impaired synaptic vesicle endocytosis and reavailability without inducing structural alterations in synapses. Familial mutants of DJ-1 (M26I, E64D, and L166P) were unable to rescue defective endocytosis of synaptic vesicles, whereas WT DJ-1 expression completely restored endocytic function in DJ-1 KO neurons. The defective synaptic endocytosis shown in DJ-1 KO neurons may be attributable to alterations in membrane cholesterol level. Thus, DJ-1 appears essential for synaptic vesicle endocytosis and reavailability, and impairment of this function by familial mutants of DJ-1 may be related to the pathogenesis of PD.