Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a non-amyloid disease in which extensive misfolding of SOD1 is unique to the familial form

Mutations in superoxide dismutase (SOD1) cause amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal neurodegenerative disease characterized by the loss of upper and lower motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord. It has been suggested that the toxicity of mutant SOD1 results from its misfolding and accumulation on the cytoplasmic faces of intracellular organelles, including the mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of ALS-affected tissues. Recently, macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) was shown to directly inhibit the accumulation of misfolded SOD1 and its binding to intracellular membranes, but the role of endogenous MIF in modulating SOD1 misfolding in vivo remains unknown. To elucidate this role, we bred MIF-deficient mice with SOD1 G85R mice, which express a dismutase-inactive mutant of SOD1 and are considered a model of familial ALS. We found that the accumulation of misfolded SOD1, its association with mitochondrial and ER membranes, and the levels of sedimentable insoluble SOD1 aggregates were significantly higher in the spinal cords of SOD1 G85R -MIF −/− mice than in their SOD1 G85R -MIF +/+ littermates. Moreover, increasing MIF expression in neuronal cultures inhibited the accumulation of misfolded SOD1 and rescued from mutant SOD1-induced cell death. In contrast, the complete elimination of endogenous MIF accelerated disease onset and late disease progression and shortened the lifespan of the SOD1 G85R mutant mice. These findings indicate that MIF plays a significant role in the folding and misfolding of SOD1 in vivo, and they have implications for the potential therapeutic role of upregulating MIF within the nervous system to modulate the selective accumulation of misfolded SOD1.ALS | mutant SOD1 mouse | mutant SOD1 | misfolded SOD1 | MIF

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Endogenous macrophage migration inhibitory factor reduces the accumulation and toxicity of misfolded SOD1 in a mouse model of ALS

Leyton-Jaimes

Benaim

Abu-Hamad

et al. 2016

“…Here we found that exogenous aggregates composed of the normally folded mutant SOD1, which are not pure amyloids (19,20), penetrate in cells, induce misfolding of the soluble mutant protein and efficiently transfer from cell to cell. Furthermore, we found that mutant SOD1 misfolding induced by exogenous seeds is selfpropagating.…”

mentioning

confidence: 84%

Prion-like propagation of mutant superoxide dismutase-1 misfolding in neuronal cells

Münch

O’Brien

Bertolotti

2011

426

427

Deposition of proteins of aberrant conformation is the hallmark of many neurodegenerative diseases. Misfolding of the normally globular mutant superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD1) is a central, early, but poorly understood event in the pathogenic cascade leading to familial forms of ALS. Here we report that aggregates composed of an ALS-causing SOD1 mutant penetrate inside cells by macropinocytosis and rapidly exit the macropinocytic compartment to nucleate aggregation of the cytosolic, otherwise soluble, mutant SOD1 protein. Once initiated, mutant SOD1 aggregation is selfperpetuating. Mutant SOD1 aggregates transfer from cell to cell with remarkable efficiency, a process that does not require contacts between cells but depends on the extracellular release of aggregates. This study reveals that SOD1 aggregates, propagate in a prion-like manner in neuronal cells and sheds light on the mechanisms underlying aggregate uptake and cell-to-cell transfer.amyotrophic lateral sclerosis | amyloid | transmission | protein folding | endocytosis

“…Amyloid is a type of aggregate structure formed by many disease-associated proteins, and perhaps by all proteins, often under destabilizing conditions (4). Although there has been some controversy concerning the amyloid-like nature of large insoluble aggregates in mutant SOD1 mice models of ALS, amyloid aggregates are not observed in ALS patients (5)(6)(7). Here, we characterize the formation of small, soluble, nonamyloid aggregates by mutant SOD1.…”

mentioning

confidence: 93%

Decreased stability and increased formation of soluble aggregates by immature superoxide dismutase do not account for disease severity in ALS

Vassall¹,

Stubbs²,

Primmer³

et al. 2011

100

145

Protein aggregation is a hallmark of many diseases, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), where aggregation of Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) is implicated in causing neurodegeneration. Recent studies have suggested that destabilization and aggregation of the most immature form of SOD1, the disulfide-reduced, unmetallated (apo) protein is particularly important in causing ALS. We report herein in depth analyses of the effects of chemically and structurally diverse ALS-associated mutations on the stability and aggregation of reduced apo SOD1. In contrast with previous studies, we find that various reduced apo SOD1 mutants undergo highly reversible thermal denaturation with little aggregation, enabling quantitative thermodynamic stability analyses. In the absence of ALS-associated mutations, reduced apo SOD1 is marginally stable but predominantly folded. Mutations generally result in slight decreases to substantial increases in the fraction of unfolded protein. Calorimetry, ultracentrifugation, and light scattering show that all mutations enhance aggregation propensity, with the effects varying widely, from subtle increases in most cases, to pronounced formation of 40–100 nm soluble aggregates by A4V, a mutation that is associated with particularly short disease duration. Interestingly, although there is a correlation between observed aggregation and stability, there is minimal to no correlation between observed aggregation, predicted aggregation propensity, and disease characteristics. These findings suggest that reduced apo SOD1 does not play a dominant role in modulating disease. Rather, additional and/or multiple forms of SOD1 and additional biophysical and biological factors are needed to account for the toxicity of mutant SOD1 in ALS.