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In Alzheimer disease, Tau pathology is thought to propagate from cell to cell throughout interconnected brain areas. However, the forms of Tau released into the brain interstitial fluid (ISF) in vivo during the development of Tauopathy and their pathological relevance remain unclear. Combining in vivo microdialysis and biochemical analysis, we find that in Tau transgenic mice, human Tau (hTau) present in brain ISF is truncated and comprises at least 10 distinct fragments spanning the entire Tau protein. The fragmentation pattern is similar across different Tau transgenic models, pathological stages and brain areas. ISF hTau concentration decreases during Tauopathy progression, while its phosphorylation increases. ISF from mice with established Tauopathy induces Tau aggregation in HEK293-Tau biosensor cells. Notably, immunodepletion of ISF phosphorylated Tau, but not Tau fragments, significantly reduces its ability to seed Tau aggregation and only a fraction of Tau, separated by ultracentrifugation, is seeding competent. These results indicate that ISF seeding competence is driven by a small subset of Tau, which potentially contribute to the propagation of Tau pathology.HighlightsIn interstitial fluid (ISF) of transgenic mice, Tau comprises >10 distinct fragmentsISF Tau decreases with Tauopathy progression, while its phosphorylation increasesOnly ISF from mice with established Tauopathy is seeding competent in vitroRemoval of phospho-Tau reduces ISF seeding competenceISF seeding competence is driven by less soluble, aggregated and phosphorylated TauGraphical abstract

Tau is a microtubule-binding protein that can receive various post-translational modifications (PTMs) including phosphorylation, methylation, acetylation, glycosylation, nitration, sumoylation and truncation. Hyperphosphorylation of tau is linked to its aggregation and the formation of neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), which are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). While more than 70 phosphorylation sites have been detected previously on NFT tau, studies of oligomeric and detergent-soluble tau in human brains during the early stages of AD are lacking. Here we apply a comprehensive electrochemiluminescence ELISA assay to analyze twenty-five different PTM sites as well as tau oligomerization in control and sporadic AD brain. The samples were classified as Braak stages 0–I, II or III–IV, corresponding to the progression of microscopically detectable tau pathology throughout different brain regions. We found that soluble tau multimers are strongly increased at Braak stages III–IV in all brain regions under investigation, including the temporal cortex, which does not contain NFTs or misfolded oligomers at this stage of pathology. We additionally identified five phosphorylation sites that are specifically and consistently increased across the entorhinal cortex, hippocampus and temporal cortex in the same donors. Three of these sites correlate with tau multimerization in all three brain regions, but do not overlap with the epitopes of phospho-sensitive antibodies commonly used for the immunohistochemical detection of NFTs. Our results thus suggest that soluble multimers are characterized by a small set of specific phosphorylation events that differ from those dominating in mature NFTs. These findings shed light on early PTM changes of tau during AD pathogenesis in human brains.

Traditionally, the family of caspases has been subcategorised according to their respective main roles in mediating apoptosis or inflammation. However, recent studies have revealed that caspases participate in diverse cellular functions beyond their canonical roles. Caspase-6 (C6) is one such protease known for its role as a pro-apoptotic executioner caspase and its aberrant activity in several neurodegenerative diseases. In addition to apoptosis, C6 has been shown to regulate B-cell activation and differentiation in plasma cells as well as macrophage activation. Furthermore, C6 has recently been postulated to play a role in mediating the inflammatory response through the production of TNF-α. In this study we further examine the role of C6 in mediating the inflammatory response and its contribution to the manifestation of behavioural abnormalities in mice. We find that C6 is a positive regulator of TNF-α transcription in macrophages and that ablation of C6 reduces lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced TNF-α levels in plasma. Furthermore, loss of C6 attenuates LPS-induced behavioural changes in mice and protects neurons from cytokine-mediated toxicity. These data further support the involvement of C6 in the inflammatory response and point to a previously unknown role for C6 in the pathophysiology of depression.

Oxidative stress is a prominent feature of Huntington disease (HD), and we have shown previously that reduced levels of hace1 (HECT domain and Ankyrin repeat containing E3 ubiquitin protein ligase 1) in patient striatum may contribute to the pathogenesis of HD. Hace1 promotes the stability of Nrf2 and thus plays an important role in antioxidant response mechanisms, which are dysfunctional in HD. Moreover, hace1 overexpression mitigates mutant huntingtin (mHTT)-induced oxidative stress in vitro through promotion of the Nrf2 antioxidant response. Here, we show that the genetic ablation of hace1 in the YAC128 mouse model of HD accelerates motor deficits and exacerbates cognitive and psychiatric phenotypes in vivo. We find that both the expression of mHTT and the ablation of hace1 alone are sufficient to cause deficits in astrocytic mitochondrial respiration. We confirm the crucial role of hace1 in astrocytes in vivo, since its ablation is sufficient to cause dramatic astrogliosis in wild-type FVB/N mice. Astrogliosis is not observed in the presence of mHTT but a strong dysregulation in the expression of astrocytic markers in HACE1-/- x YAC128 striatum suggests an additive effect of mHTT expression and hace1 loss on this cell type. HACE1-/- x YAC128 mice and primary cells derived from these animals therefore provide model systems that will allow for the further dissection of Nrf2 pathways and astrocyte dysfunction in the context of HD.

Human tauopathies including Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are characterized by alterations in the post-translational modification (PTM) pattern of Tau, leading to the formation of insoluble aggregates, neuronal dysfunction and degeneration. Using a mass spectrometry approach, we identified multiple sites of lysine monomethylation on Tau isolated from a detergent-soluble fraction of human brain, some of which were increased in early AD samples. Brain tissues derived from a mouse model of tauopathy demonstrate an age-dependent increase in methylation at specific sites, with methylated Tau enriched in the soluble nuclear fraction and not associated with hyperphosphorylated, insoluble Tau species. Furthermore, we show that the protein lysine methyltransferase SETD7 methylates Tau at K132 and demonstrate an interaction with K130, an additional methylation site in close vicinity. These findings shed light on the function of a novel type of PTM on Tau that provide a potential signal for its translocation to different subcellular sites. Since the mislocalization and depletion of Tau from axons is associated with tauopathies, our findings may furthermore provide insight into this disease-associated phenomenon.

BackgroundTau cleavage by different proteolytic enzymes generates short, aggregation-prone fragments that have been implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Asparagine endopeptidase (AEP) activity in particular has been associated with tau dysfunction and aggregation, and the activity of the protease is increased in both aging and AD.Methods and ResultsUsing a mass spectrometry approach we identified a novel tau cleavage site at N167 and confirmed its processing by AEP. In combination with the previously known site at N368, we show that AEP cleavage yields a tau fragment that is present in both control and AD brains at similar levels. AEP is a lysosomal enzyme, and our data suggest that it is expressed in microglia rather than in neurons. Accordingly, we observe tau cleavage at N167 and N368 after endocytotic uptake into microglia, but not neurons. However, tau168-368 does not accumulate in microglia and we thus conclude that the fragment is part of a proteolytic cascade leading to tau degradation.ConclusionsWhile we confirm previous studies showing increased overall AEP activity in AD brains, our data suggests that AEP-mediated cleavage of tau is a physiological event occurring during microglial degradation of the secreted neuronal protein. The disease-associated increase in active AEP may thus be related to pro-inflammatory conditions in AD brains, and our findings argue against AEP inhibition as a therapeutic approach in AD.

Tau is a microtubule-binding protein that can receive various post-translational modifications (PTMs) including phosphorylation, methylation, acetylation, glycosylation, nitration, sumoylation and truncation. Hyperphosphorylation of tau is linked to its aggregation and the formation of neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), which are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). While more than 70 phosphorylation sites have been detected previously on NFT tau, studies of oligomeric and detergent-soluble tau in human brains during the early stages of AD are lacking. Here we apply a comprehensive electrochemiluminescence ELISA assay to analyze twenty-five different PTM sites as well as tau oligomerization in control and sporadic AD brain. The samples were classified as Braak stages 0-I, II or III-IV, respectively, corresponding to the progression of microscopically detectable tau pathology throughout different brain regions. We find that soluble tau oligomers are strongly increased at Braak stages III-IV in all brain regions under investigation, including the temporal cortex, which does not contain NFTs at this stage of pathology. We additionally identified five phosphorylation sites that are specifically and consistently increased across the entorhinal cortex, hippocampus and temporal cortex in the same donors. Three of these sites correlate with tau oligomerization in all three brain regions, but do not overlap with the epitopes of phospho-sensitive antibodies commonly used for the immunohistochemical detection of NFTs. Our results thus suggest that soluble oligomers are characterized by a small set of specific phosphorylation events that differ from those dominating in mature NFTs and shed light on early PTM changes of tau during AD pathogenesis in human brains.

Caspase-6 (CASP6) has an important role in axonal degeneration during neuronal apoptosis and in the neurodegenerative diseases Alzheimer and Huntington disease. Decreasing CASP6 activity may help to restore neuronal function in these and other diseases such as stroke and ischemia, where increased CASP6 activity has been implicated. The key to finding approaches to decrease CASP6 activity is a deeper understanding of the mechanisms regulating CASP6 activation. We show that CASP6 is posttranslationally palmitoylated by the palmitoyl acyltransferase HIP14 and that the palmitoylation of CASP6 inhibits its activation. Palmitoylation of CASP6 is decreased both in Hip14−/− mice, where HIP14 is absent, and in YAC128 mice, a model of Huntington disease, where HIP14 is dysfunctional and where CASP6 activity is increased. Molecular modeling suggests that palmitoylation of CASP6 may inhibit its activation via steric blockage of the substrate-binding groove and inhibition of CASP6 dimerization, both essential for CASP6 function. Our studies identify palmitoylation as a novel CASP6 modification and as a key regulator of CASP6 activity.

Huntington disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder caused by an expansion of a polyglutamine repeat in the huntingtin (HTT) protein. Aberrant activation of caspase-6 and cleavage of mutant HTT generating the toxic N-terminal 586 HTT fragment are important steps in the pathogenesis of HD. Similarly, alterations in the insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) signaling pathway have been implicated in the disease as a result of decreased plasma IGF-1 levels in HD patients. In addition, two recent studies have demonstrated therapeutic benefit of IGF-1 treatment in mouse models of HD. Since IGF-1 promotes pro-survival pathways, we examined the relationship between IGF-1 signaling and aberrant caspase-6 activation in HD. Using immortalized mouse striatal cells expressing wild-type (STHdhQ7) or mutant HTT (STHdhQ111), we show that reduced levels of IGF-1 are associated with enhanced activation of caspase-6, increased cell death, and mutant HTT cleavage in a cellular stress paradigm. We demonstrate that IGF-1 supplementation reverses these effects and lowers the level of the toxic 586 HTT fragment. In addition, transcriptional analysis in the R6/2 HD transgenic mouse model demonstrated that the IGF-1 signaling system is dysregulated at multiple levels in several tissues including liver, muscle, and brain. Among these changes, we found increased expression of IGF-1 binding protein 3 (IGFBP-3), which may further reduce the bioavailability of IGF-1 as a consequence of increased IGF-1 binding. Our findings thus suggest that the therapeutic benefit of IGF-1 supplementation in HD may be significantly improved if other defects in the IGF-1 signaling pathway are corrected concurrently.

Aberrant activation of caspase-6 (C6) in the absence of other hallmarks of apoptosis has been demonstrated in cells and tissues from patients with Huntington disease (HD) and animal models. C6 activity correlates with disease progression in patients with HD and the cleavage of mutant huntingtin (mHTT) protein is thought to strongly contribute to disease pathogenesis. Here we show that the mHTT1-586 fragment generated by C6 cleavage interacts with the zymogen form of the enzyme, stabilizing a conformation that contains an active site and is prone to full activation. This shift toward enhanced activity can be prevented by a small-molecule inhibitor that blocks the interaction between C6 and mHTT1-586. Molecular docking studies suggest that the inhibitor binds an allosteric site in the C6 zymogen. The interaction of mHTT1-586 with C6 may therefore promote a self-reinforcing, feedforward cycle of C6 zymogen activation and mHTT cleavage driving HD pathogenesis.

Huntington disease (HD) is caused by the expression of mutant huntingtin (mHTT) bearing a polyglutamine expansion. In HD, mHTT accumulation is accompanied by a dysfunction in basal autophagy, which manifests as specific defects in cargo loading during selective autophagy. Here we show that the expression of mHTT resistant to proteolysis at the caspase cleavage site D586 (C6R mHTT) increases autophagy, which may be due to its increased binding to the autophagy adapter p62. This is accompanied by faster degradation of C6R mHTT in vitro and a lack of mHTT accumulation the C6R mouse model with age. These findings may explain the previously observed neuroprotective properties of C6R mHTT. As the C6R mutation cannot be easily translated into a therapeutic approach, we show that a scheduled feeding paradigm is sufficient to lower mHTT levels in YAC128 mice expressing cleavable mHTT. This is consistent with a previous model, where the presence of cleavable mHTT impairs basal autophagy, while fasting-induced autophagy remains functional. In HD, mHTT clearance and autophagy may become increasingly impaired as a function of age and disease stage, because of gradually increased activity of mHTT-processing enzymes. Our findings imply that mHTT clearance could be enhanced by a regulated dietary schedule that promotes autophagy. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s40478-018-0518-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Over the past decade, increasing evidence has implied a significant connection between caspase-6 activity and the pathogenesis of Huntington's disease (HD). Consequently, inhibiting caspase-6 activity was suggested as a promising therapeutic strategy to reduce mutant Huntingtin toxicity, and to provide protection from mutant Huntingtin-induced motor and behavioral deficits. Here, we describe a novel caspase-6 inhibitor peptide based on the huntingtin caspase-6 cleavage site, fused with a cell-penetrating sequence. The peptide reduces mutant Huntingtin proteolysis by caspase-6, and protects cells from mutant Huntingtin toxicity. Continuous subcutaneous administration of the peptide protected pre-symptomatic BACHD mice from motor deficits and behavioral abnormalities. Moreover, administration of the peptide in an advanced disease state resulted in the partial recovery of motor performance, and an alleviation of depression-related behavior and cognitive deficits. Our findings reveal the potential of substrate-based caspase inhibition as a therapeutic strategy, and present a promising agent for the treatment of HD.

The expression of mutant huntingtin (mHTT) causes Huntington disease (HD), and lowering its levels is therefore an attractive therapeutic strategy. Here we show that scheduled feeding significantly decreases mHTT protein levels through enhanced autophagy in the CNS of an HD mouse model, while short term fasting is sufficient to observe similar effects in peripheral tissue. Furthermore, preventing proteolysis at the caspase-6 cleavage site D586 (C6R) makes mHTT a better substrate for autophagy, additionally increasing its clearance. Mice expressing mutant C6R also exhibit increased autophagy at baseline compared to an HD model with cleavable mHTT, suggesting that the native function of HTT in promoting autophagy is disrupted upon cleavage and re-established by prevention of cleavage by caspase-6. In HD patients, mHTT clearance and autophagy may therefore become increasingly impaired as a function of age and disease stage by gradually increased activity of mHTT-processing enzymes.

Activation of caspase-6 in the striatum of both presymptomatic and affected persons with Huntington's disease (HD) is an early event in the disease pathogenesis. However, little is known about the role of caspase-6 outside the central nervous system (CNS) and whether caspase activation might play a role in the peripheral phenotypes, such as muscle wasting observed in HD. We assessed skeletal muscle tissue from HD patients and well-characterized mouse models of HD. Cleavage of the caspase-6 specific substrate lamin A is significantly increased in skeletal muscle obtained from HD patients as well as in muscle tissues from two different HD mouse models. p53, a transcriptional activator of caspase-6, is upregulated in neuronal cells and tissues expressing mutant huntingtin. Activation of p53 leads to a dramatic increase in levels of caspase-6 mRNA, caspase-6 activity and cleavage of lamin A. Using mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) from YAC128 mice, we show that this increase in caspase-6 activity can be mitigated by pifithrin-α (pifα), an inhibitor of p53 transcriptional activity, but not through the inhibition of p53's mitochondrial pro-apoptotic function. Remarkably, the p53-mediated increase in caspase-6 expression and activation is exacerbated in cells and tissues of both neuronal and peripheral origin expressing mutant huntingtin (Htt). These findings suggest that the presence of the mutant Htt protein enhances p53 activity and lowers the apoptotic threshold, which activates caspase-6. Furthermore, these results suggest that this pathway is activated both within and outside the CNS in HD and may contribute to both loss of CNS neurons and muscle atrophy.

Background: The amelioration of behavioral and neuropathological deficits in mice expressing caspase-6-resistant (C6R) mutant huntingtin (mhtt), despite the presence of an expanded polyglutamine tract, highlights proteolysis of htt at the 586aa caspase-6 (casp6) site may be an important mechanism in the pathogenesis of Huntington disease (HD). One possible explanation of these effects is that C6R mhtt could act as a dominant negative on mhtt. Objective and Methods: To determine if the neuroprotective effect observed in the C6R mice is due to dominant negative effects, we crossed the C6R mice to the YAC128 HD mouse model to generate mice expressing both caspase-cleavable and C6R mhtt (YAC/C6R) concurrently and assessed previously defined behavioral and neuropathological endpoints. Results: Our results demonstrate that YAC/C6R animals exhibit similar motor abnormalities and learning deficits as the YAC128 mice. Neuropathological analysis reveals a significant decrease in brain weight and striatal volume in the YAC/C6R mice comparable to the YAC128 mice. In contrast, and similar to previous findings, C6R mice demonstrate preserved brain weight and striatal volume. As expected, body weight is significantly increased in the YAC/C6R mice due to the increased levels of htt. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that the lack of an HD phenotype in the C6R mice is most likely due to the absence of cleavage of htt and not due to suppression of expression of mhtt.

Caspases are cysteine-aspartic proteases that post-translationally modify their substrates through cleavage at specific sites, which causes either substrate inactivation or a gain of function through the generation of active fragments. Currently, each caspase is categorized as either an initiator of apoptosis or an end-stage executioner. Caspase-6 was originally identified as an executioner caspase owing to its role in cleavage of nuclear lamins. However, it has since been shown that caspase-6 cleaves caspases-2, 3 and 8. Furthermore, active caspase-6 is present in post mortem brains of Huntington and Alzheimer disease subjects that do not yet display apoptotic morphology, which suggests a function distinct from its well-validated executioner role. In this review, we discuss evidence to date regarding the role of caspase-6 in neurodegeneration. The findings suggest that selective inhibitors of caspase-6 may have therapeutic potential for various neurodegenerative disorders.

Levels of full-length huntingtin (FL htt) influence organ and body weight, independent of polyglutamine length. The growth hormone-insulin like growth factor-1 (GH-IGF-1) axis is well established as a regulator of organ growth and body weight. In this study, we investigate the involvement of the IGF-1 pathway in mediating the effect of htt on body weight. IGF-1 expression was examined in transgenic mouse lines expressing different levels of FL wild-type (WT) htt (YAC18 mice), FL mutant htt (YAC128 and BACHD mice) and truncated mutant htt (shortstop mice). We demonstrate that htt influences body weight by modulating the IGF-1 pathway. Plasma IGF-1 levels correlate with body weight and htt levels in the transgenic YAC mice expressing human htt. The effect of htt on IGF-1 expression is independent of CAG size. No effect on body weight is observed in transgenic YAC mice expressing a truncated N-terminal htt fragment (shortstop), indicating that FL htt is required for the modulation of IGF-1 expression. Treatment with 17beta-estradiol (17beta-ED) lowers the levels of circulating IGF-1 in mammals. Treatment of YAC128 with 17beta-ED, but not placebo, reduces plasma IGF-1 levels and decreases the body weight of YAC128 animals to WT levels. Furthermore, given the ubiquitous expression of IGF-1 within the central nervous system, we also examined the impact of FL htt levels on IGF-1 expression in different regions of the brain, including the striatum, cerebellum of YAC18, YAC128 and littermate WT mice. We demonstrate that the levels of FL htt influence IGF-1 expression in striatal tissues. Our data identify a novel function for FL htt in influencing IGF-1 expression.

Huntington's disease is caused by an expanded CAG repeat in the gene encoding huntingtin (HTT), resulting in loss of striatal and cortical neurons. Given that the gene product is widely expressed, it remains unclear why neurons are selectively targeted. Here we show the relationship between synaptic and extrasynaptic activity, inclusion formation of mutant huntingtin protein (mtHtt) and neuronal survival. Synaptic N-methyl-D-aspartate-type glutamate receptor (NMDAR) activity induces mtHtt inclusions via a T complex-1 (TCP-1) ring complex (TRiC)-dependent mechanism, rendering neurons more resistant to mtHtt-mediated cell death. In contrast, stimulation of extrasynaptic NMDARs increases the vulnerability of mtHtt-containing neurons to cell death by impairing the neuroprotective cyclic AMP response element-binding protein (CREB)-peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator-1alpha (PGC-1alpha) cascade and increasing the level of the small guanine nucleotide-binding protein Rhes, which is known to sumoylate and disaggregate mtHtt. Treatment of transgenic mice expressing a yeast artificial chromosome containing 128 CAG repeats (YAC128) with low-dose memantine blocks extrasynaptic (but not synaptic) NMDARs and ameliorates neuropathological and behavioral manifestations. By contrast, high-dose memantine, which blocks both extrasynaptic and synaptic NMDAR activity, decreases neuronal inclusions and worsens these outcomes. Our findings offer a rational therapeutic approach for protecting susceptible neurons in Huntington's disease.

An accepted prerequisite for clinical trials of a compound in humans is the successful alleviation of the disease in animal models. For some diseases, however, successful translation of drug effects from mouse models to the bedside has been limited. One question is whether the current models accurately reproduce the human disease. Here, we examine the mouse models that are available for therapeutic testing in Huntington disease (HD), a late-onset neurodegenerative disorder for which there is no effective treatment. The current mouse models show different degrees of similarity to the human condition. Significant phenotypic differences are seen in mouse models that express either truncated or full-length human, or full-length mouse, mutant huntingtin (mHTT). These differences in phenotypic expression may be attributable to the influences of protein context, mouse strain and a difference in regulatory sequences between the mouse Htt and human HTT genes.

Laquinimod is an immunomodulatory compound that has shown neuroprotective benefits in clinical trials for multiple sclerosis. Laquinimod ameliorates both white and gray matter damage in human patients, and prevents axonal degeneration in animal models of multiple sclerosis. Axonal damage and white matter loss are a common feature shared between different neurodegenerative diseases. Caspase-6 activation plays an important role in axonal degeneration on the molecular level. Increased activity of caspase-6 has been demonstrated in brain tissue from presymptomatic Huntington disease mutation carriers, and it is an early marker of axonal dysfunction. Since laquinimod is currently undergoing a clinical trial in Huntington disease (LEGATO-HD, clinicaltrials.gov ID: NCT02215616), we set out to evaluate its impact on neuronal caspase-6 activation. We find that laquinimod ameliorates DNA-damage induced activation of caspase-6 in primary neuronal cultures. This is an indirect effect that is not mediated by direct inhibition of the enzyme. The investigation of potential caspase-6 activating mechanisms revealed that laquinimod reduces the expression of Bax, a pro-apoptotic molecule that causes mitochondrial cytochrome c release and caspase activation. Bax expression is furthermore increased in striatal tissues from the YAC128 mouse model of HD in an age-dependent manner. Our results demonstrate that laquinimod can directly downregulate neuronal apoptosis pathways relevant for axonal degeneration in addition to its known effects on astrocytes and microglia in the CNS. It targets a pathway that is relevant for the pathogenesis of HD, supporting the hypothesis that laquinimod may provide clinical benefit.

Caspase-6 (CASP6) has emerged as an important player in Huntington disease (HD), Alzheimer disease (AD) and cerebral ischemia, where it is activated early in the disease process. CASP6 also plays a key role in axonal degeneration, further underscoring the importance of this protease in neurodegenerative pathways. As a protein's function is modulated by its protein-protein interactions, we performed a high-throughput yeast-2-hybrid (Y2H) screen against ∼17,000 human proteins to gain further insight into the function of CASP6. We identified a high-confidence list of 87 potential CASP6 interactors. From this list, 61% are predicted to contain a CASP6 recognition site. Of nine candidate substrates assessed, six are cleaved by CASP6. Proteins that did not contain a predicted CASP6 recognition site were assessed using a LUMIER assay approach, and 51% were further validated as interactors by this method. Of note, 54% of the high-confidence interactors identified show alterations in human HD brain at the mRNA level, and there is a significant enrichment for previously validated huntingtin (HTT) interactors. One protein of interest, STK3, a pro-apoptotic kinase, was validated biochemically to be a CASP6 substrate. Furthermore, our results demonstrate that in striatal cells expressing mutant huntingtin (mHTT), an increase in full length and fragment levels of STK3 are observed. We further show that caspase-3 is not essential for the endogenous cleavage of STK3. Characterization of the interaction network provides important new information regarding key pathways of interactors of CASP6 and highlights potential novel therapeutic targets for HD, AD and cerebral ischemia.

Autophagy is an important biological process that is essential for the removal of damaged organelles and toxic or aggregated proteins by delivering them to the lysosome for degradation. Consequently, autophagy has become a primary target for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases that involve aggregating proteins. In Huntington disease (HD), an expansion of the polyglutamine (polyQ) tract in the N-terminus of the huntingtin (HTT) protein leads to protein aggregation. However, HD is unique among the neurodegenerative proteinopathies in that autophagy is not only dysfunctional but wild type (wt) HTT also appears to play several roles in regulating the dynamics of autophagy. Herein, we attempt to integrate the recently described novel roles of wtHTT and altered autophagy in HD.

Neurological defects in trichothiodystrophy reveal a coactivator function of TFIIH Compe et al. (2007) Nature Neuroscience 10: 1414–1422

Oxidative stress plays a key role in late onset diseases including cancer and neurodegenerative diseases such as Huntington disease. Therefore, uncovering regulators of the antioxidant stress responses is important for understanding the course of these diseases. Indeed, the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF2), a master regulator of the cellular antioxidative stress response, is deregulated in both cancer and neurodegeneration. Similar to NRF2, the tumor suppressor Homologous to the E6-AP Carboxyl Terminus (HECT) domain and Ankyrin repeat containing E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase 1 (HACE1) plays a protective role against stress-induced tumorigenesis in mice, but its roles in the antioxidative stress response or its involvement in neurodegeneration have not been investigated. To this end we examined Hace1 WT and KO mice and found that Hace1 KO animals exhibited increased oxidative stress in brain and that the antioxidative stress response was impaired. Moreover, HACE1 was found to be essential for optimal NRF2 activation in cells challenged with oxidative stress, as HACE1 depletion resulted in reduced NRF2 activity, stability, and protein synthesis, leading to lower tolerance against oxidative stress triggers. Strikingly, we found a reduction of HACE1 levels in the striatum of Huntington disease patients, implicating HACE1 in the pathology of Huntington disease. Moreover, ectopic expression of HACE1 in striatal neuronal progenitor cells provided protection against mutant Huntingtin-induced redox imbalance and hypersensitivity to oxidative stress, by augmenting NRF2 functions. These findings reveal that the tumor suppressor HACE1 plays a role in the NRF2 antioxidative stress response pathway and in neurodegeneration.

International audience; Huntington disease (HD), a neurodegenerative disorder caused by an expanded CAG repeat in the HTT gene, remains without a treatment to modify the course of the illness. Lithium, a drug widely used for the treatment of bipolar disorder, has been shown to exert neuroprotective effects in a number of models of neurological disease but may have various toxic effects at conventional therapeutic doses. We examined whether NP03, a novel low-dose lithium microemulsion, would improve the disease phenotypes in the YAC128 mouse model of HD. We demonstrate that NP03 improves motor function, ameliorates the neuropathological deficits in striatal volume, neuronal counts, and DARPP-32 expression, and partially rescues testicular atrophy in YAC128 mice. These positive effects were accompanied by improvements in multiple biochemical endpoints associated with the pathogenesis of HD, including normalization of caspase-6-activation and amelioration of deficits in BDNF levels, and with no lithium-related toxicity. Our findings demonstrate that NP03 ameliorates the motor and neuropathological phenotypes in the YAC128 mouse model of HD, and represents a potential therapeutic approach for HD.

Necroptosis is a form of programmed cell death that occurs in the absence of caspase activation and depends on the activity of the receptor-interacting protein kinases. Inactivation of these kinases by caspase-mediated cleavage has been shown to be essential for successful embryonic development, survival and activation of certain cell types. The initiator of extrinsic apoptosis, caspase-8, which has a pro-death as well as a pro-life function, has been assigned this role. In the present study we demonstrate that caspase-6, an executioner caspase, performs this role during apoptosis induced through the intrinsic pathway. In addition, we demonstrate that in the absence of caspase activity, intrinsic triggers of apoptosis induce the receptor-interacting-kinase-1-dependent production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. We show that ubiquitously expressed caspase-6 has a supporting role in apoptosis by cleaving this kinase, thus preventing production of inflammatory cytokines as well as inhibiting the necroptotic pathway. These findings shed new light on the regulation of necroptosis as well as cell death in an inflammatory environment wherein cells receive both intrinsic and extrinsic death signals.

Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, is a cellular pathway involved in normal cell turnover, developmental tissue remodeling, embryonic development, cellular homeostasis maintenance and chemical-induced cell death. Caspases are a family of intracellular proteases that play a key role in apoptosis. Aberrant activation of caspases has been implicated in human diseases. In particular, numerous findings implicate Caspase-6 (Casp6) in neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer disease (AD) and Huntington disease (HD), highlighting the need for a deeper understanding of Casp6 biology and its role in brain development. The use of targeted caspase-deficient mice has been instrumental for studying the involvement of caspases in apoptosis. The goal of this study was to perform an in-depth neuroanatomical and behavioral characterization of constitutive Casp6-deficient (Casp6-/-) mice in order to understand the physiological function of Casp6 in brain development, structure and function. We demonstrate that Casp6-/- neurons are protected against excitotoxicity, nerve growth factor deprivation and myelin-induced axonal degeneration. Furthermore, Casp6-deficient mice show an age-dependent increase in cortical and striatal volume. In addition, these mice show a hypoactive phenotype and display learning deficits. The age-dependent behavioral and region-specific neuroanatomical changes observed in the Casp6-/- mice suggest that Casp6 deficiency has a more pronounced effect in brain regions that are involved in neurodegenerative diseases, such as the striatum in HD and the cortex in AD.

Neurodegenerative diseases, exemplified by Alzheimer's disease and Huntington's disease, are characterized by progressive neuropsychiatric dysfunction and loss of specific neuronal subtypes. Although there are differences in the exact sites of pathology, and the clinical profiles of these two conditions only partially overlap, considerable similarities in disease mechanisms and pathogenic pathways can be observed. These shared mechanisms raise the possibility of exploiting common therapeutic targets for drug development. As Huntington's disease has a monogenic cause, it is possible to accurately identify individuals who carry the Huntington's disease mutation but do not yet manifest symptoms. These individuals could act as a model for Alzheimer's disease to test therapeutic interventions that target shared pathogenic pathways.

Background Huntington Disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder in which caspase activation and cleavage of substrates, including the huntingtin protein, has been invoked as a pathological mechanism. Specific changes in caspase-2 (casp2) activity have been suggested to contribute to the pathogenesis of HD, however unique casp2 cleavage substrates have remained elusive. We thus utilized mice completely lacking casp2 (casp2-/-) to examine the role played by casp2 in the progression of HD. This 'substrate agnostic' approach allows us to query the effect of casp2 on HD progression without pre-defining proteolytic substrates of interest. Results YAC128 HD model mice lacking casp2 show protection from well-validated motor and cognitive features of HD, including performance on rotarod, swimming T-maze, pre-pulse inhibition, spontaneous alternation and locomotor tasks. However, the specific pathological features of the YAC128 mice including striatal volume loss and testicular degeneration are unaltered in mice lacking casp2. The application of high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques validates specific neuropathology in the YAC128 mice that is not altered by ablation of casp2. Conclusions The rescue of behavioral phenotypes in the absence of pathological improvement suggests that different pathways may be operative in the dysfunction of neural circuitry in HD leading to behavioral changes compared to the processes leading to cell death and volume loss. Inhibition of caspase-2 activity may be associated with symptomatic improvement in HD.

Huntington disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by an elongated polyglutamine tract in huntingtin (htt). htt normally undergoes different posttranslational modifications (PTMs), including phosphorylation, SUMOylation, ubiquitination, acetylation, proteolytic cleavage, and palmitoylation. In the presence of the HD mutation, some PTMs are significantly altered and can result in changes in the clinical phenotype. A rate-limiting PTM is defined as one that can result in significant effects on the phenotype in animal models. For example, the prevention of proteolysis at D586 as well as constitutive phosphorylation at S13 and S16 can obviate the expression of phenotypic features of HD. The enzymes involved in these modifications such as caspase-6, the IκB kinase (IKK) complex, and still to be characterized phosphatases therefore represent promising therapeutic targets for HD. Identifying and testing specific modulators of PTMs now constitute the next big challenges in order to further validate these targets and proceed towards the goal of a mechanism-based treatment for HD.

Aberrant activation of caspase-6 has recently emerged as a major contributor to the pathogeneses of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's and Huntington disease. Commercially available assays to measure caspase-6 activity commonly use the VEID peptide as a substrate. However these methods are not well suited to specifically assess caspase-6 activity in the presence of other, confounding protease activities, as often encountered in cell and tissue samples. Here we report the development of a method that overcomes this limitation by using a protein substrate, lamin A, which is highly specific for caspase-6 cleavage at amino acid 230. Using a neo-epitope antibody against cleaved lamin A, we developed an electrochemiluminescence-based ELISA assay that is suitable to specifically detect and quantify caspase-6 activity in highly apoptotic cell extracts. The method is more sensitive than VEID-based assays and can be adapted to a high-content imaging platform for high-throughput screening. This method should be useful to screen for and characterize caspase-6 inhibitor compounds and other interventions to decrease intracellular caspase-6 activity for applications in neurodegenerative disorders.

Background Laquinimod is an immunomodulatory compound that reduces relapse rate, brain atrophy and disability progression in multiple sclerosis. It has well-documented effects on inflammation, is widely distributed in the CNS and has been shown to ameliorate axonal damage in vitro and in vivo through an unknown mechanism. We have shown recently that caspase-6 is an important mediator in axonal degeneration, since sympathetic neurons derived from caspase-6 -/- mice do not degenerate when cultured in the absence of neuronal growth factor (NGF). We therefore investigated whether the beneficial effect of Laquinimod on axonal damage is mediated by caspase-6. Aim To investigate neuron-specific beneficial effects of Laquinimod. Methods Cell-free and cell-based enzymatic activity assays were used to determine whether Laquinimod directly inhibits caspase-6. To investigate an effect on intraneuronal caspase-6 activity, primary cortical neurons were treated with camptothecin in the presence or absence of Laquinimod, and cleavage of the caspase-6 specific substrate lamin A was quantified by ELISA. Axonal degeneration of primary sympathetic neurons from the superior cerebral ganglion was induced by NGF withdrawal in the presence or absence of Laquinimod. Results Laquinimod did not directly inhibit caspase-6 activity in cell-free or transfection-based cellular systems. However, the presence of Laquinimod in camptothecin-stressed primary cortical neuron cultures led to a significant decrease in caspase-6 activation. In cultures of primary superior cerebral ganglion neurons, Laquinimod partially protected axons from degeneration after NGF withdrawal, a process that is specifically dependent on caspase-6 activity, in agreement with the reduction of caspase-6 activity observed in stressed cortical neurons. Conclusions The beneficial effects of Laquinimod described so far involve neuroprotection through the downregulation of glial activation, whereas our findings represent a novel, purely neuronal mechanism of action for this drug. We propose that by preventing neuronal caspase-6 activation and axonal degeneration, Laquinimod might also provide benefits in other neurodegenerative disorders such as Huntington’s disease that are associated with excessive activation of caspase-6.

Protein misfolding and formation of beta-sheet-rich amyloid fibrils or aggregates is related to cellular toxicity and decay in various human disorders including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Recently, we demonstrated that the polyphenol (-)-epi-gallocatechine gallate (EGCG) inhibits alpha-synuclein and amyloid-beta fibrillogenesis. It associates with natively unfolded polypeptides and promotes the self-assembly of unstructured oligomers of a new type. Whether EGCG disassembles preformed amyloid fibrils, however, remained unclear. Here, we show that EGCG has the ability to convert large, mature alpha-synuclein and amyloid-beta fibrils into smaller, amorphous protein aggregates that are nontoxic to mammalian cells. Mechanistic studies revealed that the compound directly binds to beta-sheet-rich aggregates and mediates the conformational change without their disassembly into monomers or small diffusible oligomers. These findings suggest that EGCG is a potent remodeling agent of mature amyloid fibrils.

Lung disease is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in cystic fibrosis (CF), an autosomal recessive disease caused by mutations in CFTR. In CF, chronic infection and dysregulated neutrophilic inflammation lead to progressive airway destruction. The severity of CF lung disease has significant heritability, independent of CFTR genotype1. To identify genetic modifiers, we performed a genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) scan in one cohort of CF patients, replicating top candidates in an independent cohort. This approach identified IFRD1 as a modifier of CF lung disease severity. IFRD1 is a histone deacetylase (HDAC)-dependent transcriptional co-regulator expressed during terminal neutrophil differentiation. Neutrophils, but not macrophages, from Ifrd1-deficient mice exhibited blunted effector function, associated with decreased NF-κB p65 transactivation. In vivo, IFRD1 deficiency caused delayed bacterial clearance from the airway, but also less inflammation and disease—a phenotype primarily dependent on hematopoietic cell expression, or lack of expression, of IFRD1. In humans, IFRD1 polymorphisms were significantly associated with variation in neutrophil effector function. These data suggest that IFRD1 modulates the pathogenesis of CF lung disease through regulation of neutrophil effector function.

Huntington's disease (HD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder for which only symptomatic treatments of limited effectiveness are available. Preventing early misfolding steps and thereby aggregation of the polyglutamine (polyQ)-containing protein huntingtin (htt) in neurons of patients may represent an attractive therapeutic strategy to postpone the onset and progression of HD. Here, we demonstrate that the green tea polyphenol (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) potently inhibits the aggregation of mutant htt exon 1 protein in a dose-dependent manner. Dot-blot assays and atomic force microscopy studies revealed that EGCG modulates misfolding and oligomerization of mutant htt exon 1 protein in vitro, indicating that it interferes with very early events in the aggregation process. Also, EGCG significantly reduced polyQ-mediated htt protein aggregation and cytotoxicity in an yeast model of HD. When EGCG was fed to transgenic HD flies overexpressing a pathogenic htt exon 1 protein, photoreceptor degeneration and motor function improved. These results indicate that modulators of htt exon 1 misfolding and oligomerization like EGCG are likely to reduce polyQ-mediated toxicity in vivo. Our studies may provide the basis for the development of a novel pharmacotherapy for HD and related polyQ disorders.

Genome-wide screen for modifiers of ataxin-3 neurodegeneration in Drosophila Bilen et al. (2007) PLoS Genetics 3: 1950–1963